Love And Goodness In Iris Murdoch's The Black Prince

The Black Prince is Iris Murdoch's only novel that wins the James Tait Black Memorial prize. This novel is one of Murdoch's most successful attempts at marrying philosophy and novel. It clearly shows us Iris Murdoch's philosophical idea of goodness. The search for human goodness is the central preoccupation. Moreover, this novel's subtitle"A Celebration of Love"suggests that it is a novel about love. The Black Prince is a novel about the relationship between love and goodness.This thesis aims to probe into the places of Freudian Eros and Platonic Eros respectively in the quest of goodness, through a general introduction of Murdoch's concept of love and goodness, through the analyses of the obstacle and means to Bradley's search for goodness and through a detailed analysis of Bradley's relationship with other female characters in the novel. This thesis falls into three chapters.Chapter One, first introduces the significance and the source of goodness and two criteria of judging goodness. Then the obstacle to Bradley's search for goodness will be expounded. At last, the means to Bradley's search for goodness will be analyzed.Chapter Two first rebuts the Freudian reading of The Black Prince, including the homosexuality of Bradley and the mother-and-son incest. Then, it explores the relationship between Freudian Eros and goodness through the analysis of the relationship between Bradley and two female characters, Christian and Rachel.Chapter Three explores the relationship between Platonic Eros and goodness. This part analyzes the relationship between Bradley and Julian. His falling in love with Julian enables him to see the world as it really is and pay attention to others. And by seeing the reality and being unself, Bradley is most likely to become good.On the basis of the three chapters above, a conclusion can be drawn: Freudian Eros cannot lead to human goodness and Platonic Eros is the only means that leads to human goodness. To achieve goodness and become maturely good man one must pay attention to the real world and people around oneself. It is only by acting in this way that one can achieve goodness and finally become a virtuous and spiritually mature human being.