Iris Murdoch, The Unicorn

Cheryl Bove (Independent Scholar - North America)
Download PDF Add to Bookshelf Report an Error

The isolated west coast of Ireland, with its ancient dolmens and megaliths, great cliffs of black sandstone, dark coastline, killing sea, dangerous bogs, caves, and underground rivers, provides the compelling setting of

The Unicorn

. Although Iris Murdoch eschews the term Gothic novel as being too narrow, five of her novels strongly emphasize Gothic motifs, and

The Unicorn

is among those that have received critical acclaim. The novel abounds in legends and in magical signs and occasions, yet it also develops topics central to Murdoch's moral philosophy. When she discussed

The Unicorn

at a conference at l'université de Caen, Murdoch noted the connection between the Cluny tapestries and the idea of purity and suffering shown by the unicorn. She also stated that the main themes of the novel…

1240 words

Citation: Bove, Cheryl. "The Unicorn". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 21 March 2003 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=8019, accessed 28 March 2024.]

8019 The Unicorn 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.

Save this article

If you need to create a new bookshelf to save this article in, please make sure that you are logged in, then go to your 'Account' here

Leave Feedback

The Literary Encyclopedia is a living community of scholars. We welcome comments which will help us improve.