Iris Murdoch, A Fairly Honourable Defeat

Tammy Grimshaw (Universidad de Jaen)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.09: English Writing and Culture: Postwar and Contemporary Britain , 1945-present.
Vol. editors: Gina Lyle (University of Glasgow), Graham MacPhee (University of Manchester), Kerry Myler (Birmingham Newman University), Jenni Ramone (The Nottingham Trent University)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1970

Places

England (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Novel

Resources

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One of Iris Murdoch’s more successful novels,

A Fairly Honourable Defeat

combines elements of realism and allegory to create a commentary on the moral shortcomings of the individual and society. The book opens as Hilda and Rupert Foster, an ostensibly happily-married couple, anticipate their forthcoming twentieth anniversary party. Murdoch sets the scene and introduces the main characters in the first chapter of this novel as Hilda and Rupert talk about Morgan Browne, Hilda’s sister, who has devised a new linguistic theory called Glossematics. Morgan has just returned to England from South Carolina, where she had a two-year extra-marital relationship with Julius King, one of the “power figures” in Murdoch’s fiction. Tallis Browne, Morgan’s estranged husband, is not aware of…

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2213 words

Citation: Grimshaw, Tammy. "A Fairly Honourable Defeat". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 05 January 2004 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=10015, accessed 27 July 2024.]

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