Iris Murdoch, Jackson's Dilemma

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Jackson's Dilemma

is the last of Iris Murdoch's twenty-six novels published in 1995, forty years after her first,

Under the Net

(1954). It received puzzled, as well as mixed reviews. By the beginning of 1997, an article confirming that Murdoch was suffering from Alzheimer's Disease had appeared in

The Daily Telegraph

(Feb 4th 1997). John Bayley's memoirs,

Iris

(1998) and

Iris and the Friends

(1999), reveal that “the first symptoms declared themselves” as early as 1993-4, and it is clear that she was struggling to write this final novel in a state of increasing mental distress and disability. Scientists investigating the nature of Alzheimer's Disease are analysing

Jackson's Dilemma

in comparison with Murdoch's early and mature novels. The novel clearly manifests the kind of…

2238 words

Citation: White, Frances Clare Patricia. "Jackson's Dilemma". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 26 September 2006 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=4373, accessed 28 March 2024.]

4373 Jackson's Dilemma 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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