Iris Murdoch’s Use of First-Person Narrative in The Black Prince
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Date
2004-04
Authors
Dooley, Gillian Mary
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
English Studies
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Abstract
Many critics place Iris Murdoch’s first-person novels, narrated by a more or less egotistical and
unperceptive male who is also the protagonist, near the summit of her achievement as a novelist, and most agree that The Black Prince (1973) is one of the
best, if not the best, of all her works.
In a novel like this, which is full of veiled meanings, ironies and mixed messages, how
does the reader decide where the truth lies? How can a narrator such as Bradley Pearson, who is patently misguided throughout much of the book’s action, convince us that at the time of writing he has attained true wisdom from his ordeals? And what made Murdoch choose, for the fourth time, to impersonate her protagonist in this “complex and brilliant exploration of the relationship between the author and her male narrator” (Johnson 35)?
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Keywords
Iris Murdoch, The Black Prince, First-person narrative, Point of view, Voice, Narrative techniques, Male narrators
Citation
Gillian Dooley. ‘Iris Murdoch’s Use of First-Person Narrative in The Black Prince.’ English Studies, Vol. 85, no. 2, April 2004, p. 134-146.