Male Narrators In Iris Murdoch's Novels

Iris Murdoch is not a feminist writer. The present thesis attempts to analyze her seven novels that are all narrated by male protagonists. With the feminist narrative theory as the basis, this undertaking puts Murdoch's works within a body of contemporary women writers' fiction. The aim of this thesis is to display that by employing the gender-transgressing male narration, Murdoch does a good job in representing the gender differences and different positions men and women occupy respectively in domestic and social context. Murdoch most skillfully depicts the projections of women's larger-than-life images in men's minds and also sets up many vivid and memorable male characters. This thesis does not narrowly view Murdoch's novels from a feminist perspective, but just put emphasis on the theme of love and sexuality with a gender-awareness viewpoint.