Iris Murdoch (Magill’s Literary Annual 1991-2005)
At a glance:
- Author: Peter J. Conradi
- First Published: 2001
- Type of Work: Biography
- Time of Work: 1919-1999
- Setting: England, France, and Austria
- Principal Characters: (Dame Jean) Iris Murdoch, Wills John Murdoch, Irene Cooper Alice Richardson Murdoch, John Bayley, Eduard Fraenkel, David MacKinnon, Frank Thompson, Franz Baermann Steiner, Elias Canetti, Arnoldo Momigliano
- Genres: Nonfiction, Biography
- Subjects: 1950’s, 1960’s, 1970’s, Philosophy or philosophers, France or French people, Twentieth century, Authors or writers, 1940’s, 1910’s, 1920’s, 1930’s, 1980’s, Novelists, England or English people, 1990’s, Austria or Austrians
- Locales: France, England, Austria
The novels, essays, and even the poems of Iris Murdoch invariably consider what it means to lead a good life and how power can corrupt goodness. This overwhelming question emerges whether her works are set against the chaos of twentieth century Britain, as panegyrics or self-studies, or as theoretical inquiries. If one reads Peter J. Conradi’s Iris Murdoch: A Life with this in mind, every element of its subject’s productive life has had its logical place. Liberal, freethinking parents produced an uninhibited child who even in her early schooling had largely rejected Plato’s...
[The entire page is 1668 words long]
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