Romantic Love, Gender Imbalance and Feminist Readings in Iris Murdoch’s The Sea, The Sea

• Published in: Critical survey (Oxford, England) Vol. 34; no. 1; pp. 27 - 44
• Main Author: García-Avello, Macarena
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Berghahn Books, Inc 01.03.2022
• Subjects: Aesthetics; Authorship; Biographies; British & Irish literature; Contemporary literature; English literature; Epistemology; Erotica; Exegesis & hermeneutics; Feminism; Feminist literary criticism; Fiction; Gender; Heroism & heroes; Ideology; Intersectionality; Irish literature; Literary characters; Literary criticism; Literary devices; Literary influences; Literature; Misogyny; Morality; Murdoch, Iris (1919-1999); Narrative techniques; Narratives; Novels; Patriarchy; Philosophy; Plot (Narrative); Publishing; Publishing industry; Writers
• ISSN: 0011-1570; 1752-2293
• DOI: 10.3167/cs.2021.340103

Even though Iris Murdoch’s novels depict a profoundly patriarchal society, most scholars have generally failed to identify any feminist aspirations in her work. This article aims to reassess her legacy as a writer by analysing from a feminist perspective one of her most acclaimed novels, The Sea, The Sea (1978). The tension between the androcentric approach of a self-deluded male narrator and a female author whose worldview is strongly influenced by her gender results in a feminist critique which is not based on the recovery of a female voice, but on the exploration of patriarchy within the novel and the production of a feminist epistemology derived from a dialogue between Murdoch’s fiction and philosophy.