Uttering Of Female Voices Framed By Male Narration:a Feminist Reading Of Iris Murdoch's The Sea,the Sea

Iris Murdoch was a famous post war writer and philosopher. Most of her novels are concerned about the themes of philosophy, morality and art, thus, her works have mostly been interpreted with regard to her philosophical stand, especially to her emphasis on the process of achieving "Goodness". Although her unique adoption of first person male narration has drawn some critics'attention, most of these critics are only interested in the narrative skills embodied in this way of narration; few of them have related it to the expression of the feminist thoughts in her novels. This thesis is designed to analyze the feminist thoughts in her booker prize winner The Sea, the Sea, hoping to provide a new perspective for the reading of Iris Murdoch's novels and give more insight into the understanding of the themes of this novel. Through a close reading of the novel, this thesis aims to reveal the different ways in which female voices break out of the frame of male narration.The thesis consists of four chapters. The first chapter gives a brief introduction of Murdoch's life and her literary achievement and a general survey of Murdoch studies both at home and abroad. It also explains the focus and structure of this thesis. The second chapter renders an analysis of the male narrator's oppression of the female characters'speeches. It first reveals the male narrator as a jealous, possessive, self-centered and fanciful man and then discusses his submergence, interruption and distortion of female speeches. The third chapter highlights women's efforts to protect their rights through their speeches. They accuse the male narrator of the harm he brings to their lives, criticize his views on marriage and love and persuade him to abandon his male-centric fantasies and show respect for women. The last chapter brings the thesis to an end by summarizing its previous analyses and restating its viewpoint that, though oppressed by male narration, the female characters manage to utter their voices.Based on the theories of discourse analysis and feminist criticism, this thesis, through a close reading of the novel, discloses male oppression of female characters and reveals the ways the female characters manage to express themselves, hoping to help expand the research scope of Iris Murdoch study.