A Shadow of Truth: Honor Klein in Iris Murdoch’s A Severed Head
Iris Murdoch’s novel A Severed Head (1961) is an example of convoluted relationships that may appear hilarious upon superficial analysis. A close reading, however, reveals the suffering triggered by the behaviour of the central characters. The most mysterious female protagonist, the sexually ambival...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Charles University
2019-07-01
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| Series: | Prague Journal of English Studies |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.2478/pjes-2019-0002 |
| _version_ | 1797228401624350720 |
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| author | Kašpárková Barbora |
| author_facet | Kašpárková Barbora |
| author_sort | Kašpárková Barbora |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Iris Murdoch’s novel A Severed Head (1961) is an example of convoluted relationships that may appear hilarious upon superficial analysis. A close reading, however, reveals the suffering triggered by the behaviour of the central characters. The most mysterious female protagonist, the sexually ambivalent Honor Klein, deploys a wide range of possible interpretations. Honor’s powerful figure is like an axis around which the rest of the characters rotate and without whom the plot would fall apart. The question is, nonetheless, if she is a real figure or not. This paper argues that this pivotal character is not a real person but a dreamy and ghostly concentration of elements in relation to the protagonist Martin Lynch-Gibbon. Honor Klein is a force, is suspicion, and fear, and seems to be an external projection of Martin’s subconscious imaginary fears and trauma. She has a similar narrative function as Shakespeare‘s ghosts in, e.g., Macbeth, Hamlet and Julius Caesar. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-24T14:56:07Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-e3527bc4cb5749859ad46289dfc805d4 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2336-2685 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-24T14:56:07Z |
| publishDate | 2019-07-01 |
| publisher | Charles University |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Prague Journal of English Studies |
| spelling | doaj.art-e3527bc4cb5749859ad46289dfc805d42024-04-02T18:48:26ZengCharles UniversityPrague Journal of English Studies2336-26852019-07-0181213410.2478/pjes-2019-0002pjes-2019-0002A Shadow of Truth: Honor Klein in Iris Murdoch’s A Severed HeadKašpárková Barbora0Masaryk University, Brno, Czech RepublicIris Murdoch’s novel A Severed Head (1961) is an example of convoluted relationships that may appear hilarious upon superficial analysis. A close reading, however, reveals the suffering triggered by the behaviour of the central characters. The most mysterious female protagonist, the sexually ambivalent Honor Klein, deploys a wide range of possible interpretations. Honor’s powerful figure is like an axis around which the rest of the characters rotate and without whom the plot would fall apart. The question is, nonetheless, if she is a real figure or not. This paper argues that this pivotal character is not a real person but a dreamy and ghostly concentration of elements in relation to the protagonist Martin Lynch-Gibbon. Honor Klein is a force, is suspicion, and fear, and seems to be an external projection of Martin’s subconscious imaginary fears and trauma. She has a similar narrative function as Shakespeare‘s ghosts in, e.g., Macbeth, Hamlet and Julius Caesar.https://doi.org/10.2478/pjes-2019-0002iris murdocha severed headhonor kleinmartin lynch-gibbonpsychoanalysisspectrehamlet |
| spellingShingle | Kašpárková Barbora A Shadow of Truth: Honor Klein in Iris Murdoch’s A Severed Head Prague Journal of English Studies iris murdoch a severed head honor klein martin lynch-gibbon psychoanalysis spectre hamlet |
| title | A Shadow of Truth: Honor Klein in Iris Murdoch’s A Severed Head |
| title_full | A Shadow of Truth: Honor Klein in Iris Murdoch’s A Severed Head |
| title_fullStr | A Shadow of Truth: Honor Klein in Iris Murdoch’s A Severed Head |
| title_full_unstemmed | A Shadow of Truth: Honor Klein in Iris Murdoch’s A Severed Head |
| title_short | A Shadow of Truth: Honor Klein in Iris Murdoch’s A Severed Head |
| title_sort | shadow of truth honor klein in iris murdoch s a severed head |
| topic | iris murdoch a severed head honor klein martin lynch-gibbon psychoanalysis spectre hamlet |
| url | https://doi.org/10.2478/pjes-2019-0002 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT kasparkovabarbora ashadowoftruthhonorkleininirismurdochsaseveredhead AT kasparkovabarbora shadowoftruthhonorkleininirismurdochsaseveredhead |