ng Jean-Paul Sartre and Samuel Beckett influenced her early writing. By the time she began to write Murdoch was a convinced adherent of the existentialist trend in philosophy and these problems rule the focus of her attention in many of her novels. Her first novel, Under the Net (1954), has extensive existential derivations. She published two books on philosophy: Sartre, Romantic Rationalist and The Sovereignty of Good Over Other Conceptions.always strived to be a realist in her novels and mentioned that not once in her interviews and critical essays on literature and style. Although honest, intelligent, and well written, the novels of Iris Murdoch nevertheless lack clear definition. Her manner was that of intricate weavings, blending both reality and dreams, and all that enveloped in a complicated psychological pudding . Under the Net fits into the humorous pattern set by Kingsley Amis in Lucky Jim (1954) and John Wain in Hurry on Down (1953). Her Jake Donaghue of this novel is akin to Amis s Jim Dixon and Wain s Charles Lumley, in that he maintains his own kind of somewhat dubious integrity and tries to make his way without forsaking his dignity, and increasingly difficult accomplishment in a world which offers devilish rewards for loss of integrity and dignity. Jake is an angry middle-aged man who mocks society and its respectability. He moves playfully around law and order; he does small things on the sly-swims in the Thames at night, steals a performing dog, sneaks in and out of locked apartments, steals food. His is a puerile existence in which he remains pure even while carrying on his adolescent activities.the Net, The Flight from the Enchanter , The Sandcastle, and The Bell established Iris Murdoch s point of view and method, and set up the major themes of her career: her wish to preserve in fiction the sense of the contingent , the unpredictability of human nature, the contraries of ordinary character, the intractability of the world where we live. s novels written in the 60s and 70s of the twentieth century such as A Severed Head (1961), The Time of the Angels (1966), A Fairly Honorable Defeat (1970), The Sacred and Profane Love Machine (1974), The Black Prince (1973), Henry and Cato (1976) are full of senseless crimes , horrors and intricate love affairs. The extreme situations in which she places her characters spring from the synthesis of two contradictory propositions that underlie her works. These propositions run as follows: Everything must happen in accordance with the laws of logic therefore nothing that happens is intrinsically surprising and Everything that happens is contingent, therefore it is free and involves a total response of the human personality, therefore it is always surprising. So the world of Iris Murdoch is a mixture of most of the elements of our everyday life and experience, and symbolic elements loaded with implications and puzzles. In her latest novels the writer s inlaid vision has become suppressed and obscured in a way by somewhat pessimistic approach to the individual and society.characters are memorable primarily because they do have a realistic psychological and philosophical basis. Unlike those of many modern writers, Murdoch s characters exist independently, not as a reflection of their author, and she presents them, even demonic figures like Julius King in A Fairy Honourable Defeat, lovingly and without judgment. In keeping with her moral philosophy, few of Murdoch s characters possess correct vision, but many experience momentary enlightenment.Unicorn, one of Murdoch s best novels, gives a picture of different human passions and relationships. Marian Taylor, a young educated woman was asked as a private teacher to a family living in very lonely place. Very soon Marian begins to notice very strange, mysterious and unusual things about the place and the people.is the dominant theme of Murdoch s later novels. They emphasize and aspire towards the truth-conveying capacity of art, for Murdoch believes that great art reveals truths for generations to come, and she insists on the artist s duty to tell truth as he sees it. Critics complain about unevenness, the need for editing, and intellectualism, but there is no denying the rich and varied texture of the Murdoch world, peopled with real and various characters.Bell. For Iris Murdoch, there are basically two kinds of people. There are those for...
