A Severed Head Summary
Iris Murdoch

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A Severed Head Summary & Study Guide

A Severed Head Summary

A Severed Head by Iris Murdoch is based in London, although the time frame is not clear. The language is somewhat timeless although the reader may imagine it as being set in the late 1960s. The voice of the story belongs to Martin Lynch-Gibbon, a 41-year-old married wine merchant.

Martin Lynch-Gibbon is one of three children, descended from an Anglo-Irish family on his father's side. Martin's mother was a Welsh painter...

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Iris Murdoch Biographies (6)

Iris Murdoch

507 words, approx. 2 pages

The works of the novelist and philosopher Jean Iris Murdoch (1919-1999) portray characters whose warped and often dreamlike perceptions of reality create suffering among those whose lives they attempt... Read more

Iris Murdoch

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One of the dominant figures of postwar British literature, Iris Murdoch continues to divide the critics; for example, one of the professors of English at Cambridge University, Frank Kermode, thinks hi... Read more

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One of the prominent writers of postwar British literature, Iris Murdoch has published twenty-six novels, five philosophical books, five plays, a book of poetry, and most recently two edited volumes o... Read more

(Jean) Iris Murdoch

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(Jean) Iris Murdoch

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Iris Murdoch's achievements in philosophy have often been overshadowed by her reputation as a novelist and dramatist. In fact, however, Murdoch's philosophical and literary work are closely interrelat... Read more

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A Severed Head SummaryIris Murdoch