Abstract
This article explores the unique features of existentialism in Iris Murdoch’s first novel, Under the Net (1954). While Murdoch was influenced by existentialist philosophers such as Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir, her fiction reveals both absorption of and resistance to their ideas. Using close textual analysis under an existentialist philosophical framework, the study identifies how Murdoch treats themes of freedom, alienation, authenticity, and moral responsibility. Findings suggest that Murdoch redefines existentialism by shifting emphasis from radical autonomy to moral attention and the pursuit of the Good, thereby distinguishing her work from the more nihilistic perspectives of Sartre and Camus.
References
• Beauvoir, S. de. (2010). The Second Sex (C. Borde & S. Malovany-Chevallier, Trans.). Vintage International. (Original work published 1949)
• Camus, A. (1991). The Myth of Sisyphus (J. O’Brien, Trans.). Vintage International. (Original work published 1942)
• Conradi, P. (2001). Iris Murdoch: A Life. W.W. Norton & Company.
• Flynn, T. R. (2006). Existentialism: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press.
• Murdoch, I. (1954). Under the Net. Chatto & Windus.
• Murdoch, I. (1970). The Sovereignty of Good. Routledge.
• Sartre, J.-P. (1992). Being and Nothingness (H. E. Barnes, Trans.). Washington Square Press. (Original work published 1943)