An Analysis Of Iris Murdoch's Novels From Existentialism

Iris Murdoch (1919-1999) is considered one of the most productive and prominent writers of postwar British literature. Meanwhile, she is also a great philosopher and an outstanding fictional theorist in Britain. Her novels mainly discuss the issues concerning human's existence, the free choice, the significance of goodness and the concept of individual. This paper intends to analyze Murdoch's novels from existentialism. Through the analysis of the philosophical themes in her novels and the discussion of her literary theory, we can more profoundly understand Murdoch's creative thinking.This thesis consists of introduction, main body and conclusion. The introduction part first presents a brief introduction to existentialism including its ideological origins and the main representatives. And besides that the influence of existentialism on Murdoch is explored. Murdoch was greatly influenced by the existentialist philosopher Sartre. And existentialist features can be seen in many of Murdoch's marvelous novels.The main body is divided into three chapters.Chapter one puts its emphasis on a full analysis of the determination of the situation in Murdoch's novels. Existence is"self-making-in-a-situation". Characters in Murdoch's novels are put into certain, even extreme situations and they have to make a choice under certain conditions.And Chapter two mainly illustrates the authenticity of characters in Murdoch's novels. Characters in her novels bear its unquestionable authenticity.Chapter three is the main part of this thesis. It elaborates the existentialist themes presented in Murdoch's novels. Murdoch tried to explore some philosophical and moral problems: human existence and freedom, pursuing human goodness and the animadversion to the autism.Based on the previous illustration and analysis in each chapter, a conclusion is drawn that Murdoch expressed her philosophical thoughts in her novels. She considered that only by shifting our attention from selfness to otherness can we truly achieve love and goodness in this world of contingency. Meanwhile, true love helps us overcome our natural selfness.