The Problematized Home:A Moral Philosophical Reading Of Iris Murdoch's The Sea,the Sea And The Bell

As a distinguished British novelist and philosopher in the twentieth century,Iris Murdoch has made quite some accomplishments in both literary writings and philosophical works.She took the inquiry into the complicated human relationships as her central task and endeavored to uncover the ills of individual's relationships with others and the exterior world,aiming to guide readers to pursue a better and healthier life,which is fully manifested in her novels The Sea,the Sea and The Bell,two contextualized cases of home as problematized.By virtue of deploying Murdoch's moral philosophy,female criticism together with related sociological and anthropological understandings of the idea of home,this thesis strives to make a thorough investigation into the whole process of characters'journeys of home-seeking from the depressing state of homelessness to the subsequent failed quests for their own ideal homes,aspiring to uncover the root causes for the recurrent failures..Murdoch's moral philosophy argues that fantasizing is an inescapable state of human mind.And this innate personal fantasy results in human egoism.For Murdoch,the moral task of an individual is to resist the tendency of fantasy,to discard egoism and learn to pay selfless attention to others.In this way,one can gradually form a truthful perception of the reality and ultimately get close to or even achieve the Goodness.The concept of Goodness,as the core concept of Murdoch's philosophy means the truthful perception of the reality outside oneself.Protagonists in The Sea,the Sea and The Bell are typically Murdochican egoistic heroes.Possessed by personal fantasies,they fail to form a truthful vision of the reality.Thus the so-called ideal home they are painstakingly pursuing is likewise a sort of fantasy.Indeed,the related sociological and anthropological studies find that home emerges as the result of individual's strategies of control in the name of protecting the home as a public good.Moreover,feminist criticisms perceive that home,generally viewed as a feminine space,can be the locus of oppression for females instead of a haven for them to retreat.From this respect,the so-called ideal home protagonists are so obsessed with is in fact beset with contradictions.But pathetically those protagonists tried every means to realize this illusory vision.They overlooked the existence of others and sacrificed others' benefits for their own sake,leading to their complete failures to establish moral and healthy human relationships.Through making a thorough survey of individuals' quests for the so-called ideal home,Murdoch points out the grave errors modern men have made while understanding the idea of home.Her representations of the home in a negative light subvert the problematic ideology of home.By doing so,she aims to trigger readers reflections about the problems of home.That is how we can build a better home that lays emphasis on elevating one's inner morality.For this,Murdoch advocates that individuals should not confine oneself to pursuing certain physical ideal home.But instead,they should overcome the tendency of fantasy and go beyond the forms of the reality,thus embark on the spiritual quest of healthier human relationships.