Murdochian captives. Influence and refutation of Marcel Proust in Iris Murdoch’s novels
Abstract
Murdoch was a strong admirer of Marcel Proust. Nevertheless, she didn’t accept his idea of suffering as a source of knowledge for the artist. To the narrator´s belief in In Search of Time Lost of having redeemed his life through his art, Murdoch opposes in Metaphysics as a Guide to Morals the irredemptiveness of the harm he inflicted and suffered. This contrast can be observed as well in the three novels in which she replicates the Proustian motive of the captive: The Unicorn, The Sea, the Sea and An Accidental Man. They three show wickedness and pain while they celebrate the variety and contingency of the world. In contrast with the drama presented by Proust, which results in a learning process for the artist, Murdoch sees suffering as source and outcome of moral misery, and oblivion as a legitimate flight from pain through life´s contingency.
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