TITLE:
The Goodness and Truth-Analysis on the Thesis and Value of Iris Murdoch’s Novels
AUTHORS:
Jiayuan Chen, Jia Gao
KEYWORDS:
Iris Murdoch, Existentialism, Solipsism, The Goodness, Selflessness, Truth
JOURNAL NAME:
Advances in Literary Study,
Vol.7 No.2,
April
2,
2019
ABSTRACT: Iris Murdoch is a prolific female writer in the British
contemporary literary world. In response to the spiritual and moral dilemma in the
British society in the 1950s, Murdoch showed her concerns about egoists and society
in her four early novels, trying the utmost to help those trapped in self-difficulties
get out of trouble. From the perspective of existentialism, this paper is going
to reveal the moral improvement process from firstly being ego to concern more with
the needs and wishes of others via analyzing some excerpts of Under the Net (1954) and Against Dryness (1997), so as to demonstrate the common theme expressed by Murdoch—pursue genuine
morality by caring about others. This paper will discuss the goodness and truth-analysis
on the thesis and value of Iris Murdoch’s novels.