A Shadow of Truth : Honor Klein in Iris Murdoch’s A Severed Head

KAŠPÁRKOVÁ, Barbora. A Shadow of Truth : Honor Klein in Iris Murdoch’s A Severed Head. Prague Journal of English Studies. Prague: Charles University, 2019, vol. 8, No 1, p. 21-34. ISSN 1804-8722. Available from: https://dx.doi.org/10.2478/pjes-2019-0002.

Basic information

• Original name: A Shadow of Truth : Honor Klein in Iris Murdoch’s A Severed Head
• Authors: KAŠPÁRKOVÁ, Barbora (203 Czech Republic, guarantor, belonging to the institution).
• Edition: Prague Journal of English Studies, Prague, Charles University, 2019, 1804-8722.

Other information

• Original language: English
• Type of outcome: Article in a journal
• Field of Study: 60206 Specific literatures
• Country of publisher: Czech Republic
• Confidentiality degree: is not subject to a state or trade secret
• WWW: URL
• RIV identification code: RIV/00216224:14210/19:00110860
• Organization unit: Faculty of Arts
• Doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.2478/pjes-2019-0002
• Keywords in English: Iris Murdoch; A Severed Head; Honor Klein; Martin Lynch-Gibbon; psychoanalysis; spectre; Hamlet
• Tags: rivok
• Tags: International impact, Reviewed

Abstract

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.

Links

• MUNI/A/1396/2018, interní kód MU: Name: Researching Communication in English: Paradigms, Strategies, Developments (Acronym: RCE)

Investor: Masaryk University, Category A