The Sea, the Sea

The Sea, the Sea

infobox Book |
name = The Sea, the Sea
title_orig =
translator =


image_caption = First edition cover
author = Iris Murdoch
illustrator =
cover_artist =
country = United Kingdom
language = English
series =
genre =
publisher = Chatto & Windus
release_date = 1978
english_release_date =
media_type = Print (Hardcover)
pages = 502 pp
isbn = ISBN 0670626511
preceded_by =
followed_by =

"The Sea, the Sea" is the 19th novel by Iris Murdoch. It won the Booker Prize in 1978.

Plot summary

"The Sea, the Sea" is a tale of the strange obsessions that haunt a self-satisfied playwright and director as he begins to write his memoirs. Played out against a vividly rendered landscape and filled with allusions to myth and magic, Murdoch's novel exposes the jumble of motivations that drive her characters - the human vanity, jealousy, and lack of compassion behind the disguises they present to the world. Charles Arrowby, its central figure, decides to withdraw from the world and dwell in seclusion in a house by the sea. Whilst there, by an extraordinary coincidence he encounters his first love, Mary Hartley Fitch, whom he has not seen since his love affair with her as an adolescent. Although she is almost unrecognisable in old age, and totally outside his theatrical world, he becomes obsessed by her, idealizing his former relationship with her and attempting to persuade her to elope with him. His inability to recognise the egotism and selfishness of his own romantic ideals is at the heart of the novel. After the farcical and abortive kidnapping of Mrs. Fitch by Arrowby, he is left to mull over her rejection in an enjoyably self-obsessional and self-aggrandising manner over the space of several chapters. "How much, I see as I look back, I read into it all, reading my own dream text and not looking at the reality... Yes of course I was in love with my own youth... Who is one's first love?"


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Sea of Azov — at Novaya Yalta, Donetsk Oblast …   Wikipedia

  • Sea turtle — Sea turtles An olive ridley sea turtle Scientific classification Kingdom …   Wikipedia

  • Sea level rise — is an increase in sea level. Multiple complex factors may influence this change. Sea level has risen about 130 meters (400 ft) since the peak of the last ice age about 18,000 years ago. Most of the rise occurred before 6,000 years ago. From 3,000 …   Wikipedia

  • Sea Peoples — The Sea Peoples is the term used for a confederacy of seafaring raiders of the second millennium BC who sailed into the eastern shores of the Mediterranean, caused political unrest, and attempted to enter or control Egyptian territory during the… …   Wikipedia

  • Sea ice — is largely formed from seawater that freezes. Because the oceans consist of saltwater, this occurs below the freezing point of pure water, at about 1.8 °C (28.8 °F). Sea ice may be contrasted with icebergs, which are chunks of ice shelves or… …   Wikipedia

  • Sea Cadet Corps (United Kingdom) — Sea Cadet Corps Active 1854 Present Role Volunteer Youth Organisation Headquarters …   Wikipedia

  • Sea Launch — is a spacecraft launch service that uses a mobile sea platform for equatorial launches of commercial payloads on specialized Zenit 3SL rockets. As of July 2008 it had assembled and launched 28 rockets with two failures and one partial failure.The …   Wikipedia

  • Sea — (s[=e]), n. [OE. see, AS. s[=ae]; akin to D. zee, OS. & OHG. s[=e]o, G. see, OFries. se, Dan. s[ o], Sw. sj[ o], Icel. s[ae]r, Goth. saiws, and perhaps to L. saevus fierce, savage. [root]151a.] 1. One of the larger bodies of salt water, less than …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Sea-buckthorn — Common Sea buckthorn shrub in The Netherlands Scientific classification Kingdom …   Wikipedia

  • Sea monster — Sea monsters are sea dwelling, mythical or legendary creatures, often believed to be of immense size. Marine monsters can take many forms, including sea dragons, sea serpents, or multi armed beasts; they can be slimy or scaly, often spouting jets …   Wikipedia

  • The Sea-Wolf — is a novel written in 1904 by American author Jack London. An immediate bestseller, the first printing of forty thousand copies was sold out before publication. Of it, Ambrose Bierce wrote The great thing mdash;and it is among the greatest of… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”