Metaphors of Vision: A Fellowship of the Arts in the Novels of Iris Murdoch

Abstract

<p>With a particular focus on painting, this study examines the major allusions to the visual arts in the novels of Iris Murdoch. Although some critics have recognized the important role the arts have to play in these novels, their discussions tend to be too general. This thesis attempts a more detailed look at the most significant grouping of the arts in the Murdoch canon, for as Murdoch herself believes, visual structures are fundamental to explanation in any field. The works of art treated here are considered as metaphors of vision, and these are set against the other major metaphors of vision in the novels, those relating to water imagery, for the emphasis on art in the early and middle stages of Murdoch's career shifts to one on nature in the later novels.</p>