Listening to Iris Murdoch

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xviii

   PDF

2. Chapter 1: Listening to Iris Murdoch

   • Gillian Dooley

   Pages 1-16

3. Music

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 17-17

      PDF

   2. Chapter 2: ‘The Music Is Too Painful’: Music as Character and Atmosphere

      • Gillian Dooley

      Pages 19-41

   3. Chapter 3: ‘The Point at Which Flesh and Spirit Most Joyfully Meet’: Singers and Singing

      • Gillian Dooley

      Pages 43-62

   4. Chapter 4: Musical Women and Unmusical Men

      • Gillian Dooley

      Pages 63-81

4. Silence and Sound

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 83-83

      PDF

   2. Chapter 5: ‘Different Voices, Different Discourses’: Voices and Other Human Sounds

      • Gillian Dooley

      Pages 85-106

   3. Chapter 6: ‘Like a Clarity Under a Mist’: Ambient Noise and Silence, Dreamscapes and Atmosphere

      • Gillian Dooley

      Pages 107-127

5. Settings

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 129-129

      PDF

   2. Chapter 7: ‘Just Bring Me the Composers’: Musical Settings of Iris Murdoch’s Words

      • Gillian Dooley

      Pages 131-158

   3. Coda: Sound, Music, Silence and Listening

      • Gillian Dooley

      Pages 159-162

6. The Music

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 163-163

      PDF

   2. Appendix A: Music Mentioned in Murdoch’s Fiction

      • Gillian Dooley

      Pages 165-209

   3. Appendix B: Items in Iris Murdoch’s Oxford Music Collection Held at Kingston University Library

      • Gillian Dooley

      Pages 211-221

7. Back Matter

   Pages 223-241

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When we think of Iris Murdoch’s relationship with art forms, the visual arts come most readily to mind. However, music and other sounds are equally important. Soundscapes – music and other types of sound – contribute to the richly textured atmosphere and moral tenor of Murdoch’s novels. This book will help readers to appreciate anew the sensuous nature of Iris Murdoch’s prose, and to listen for all kinds of music, sounds and silences in her novels, opening up a new sub-field in Murdoch studies in line with the emerging field of Word and Music Studies.

This study is supported by close readings of selected novels exemplifying the subtle variety of ways she deploys music, sounds and silence in her fiction. It also covers Murdoch’s knowledge of music and her allusions to music throughout her work, and includes a survey of musical settings of her words by various composers.

• Iris Murdoch
• Music in fiction
• sound effects in fiction
• poetics
• silence in literature
• aesthetics
• literary world-sounds

“This book is also a rare example of appendices being as fascinating and as impressive as the main text. … Both scholarly and entertaining, it will be accessible to a general reader, although it is most likely to be of interest to those already reasonably familiar with Murdoch’s fiction who will surely find they hear things in the novels which they have never heard before.” (Janfarie Skinner, Iris Murdoch Review, 2022)

“In a study that fills a significant gap in Murdoch scholarship, Gillian Dooley explores music and sound in Iris Murdoch's novels by means of the symphonies, songs, sounds and settings that adorn them. This book will not only enrich the meaning of the novels, but also intensify the enjoyment of reading them.  A pleasure to read.” (Anne Rowe, Visiting Professor, University of Chichester; Emeritus Research Fellow with the Iris Murdoch Archive Project, Kingston University)

“With an impressive overview, Gillian Dooley in this highly readable and deeply interesting book picks out and shows her readers how different sounds have deeper meaning in Iris Murdoch’s fiction, setting the tone for a situation, hinting to a character trait in a figure or creating a special atmosphere. We discover how music, sounds and silences are profound elements in Murdoch’s endeavour to create and embody her characters. And yet, so far little critical attention has been devoted to what her novels sound like and the importance of the auditive aspects of her central concept of a 'just and loving attention.' This book is firmly based in the author’s deep and long personal interest in and experience with music, poetry, singing—and Iris Murdoch. Dooley gives fresh and often surprising comments on fictive characters in the novels from different decades in 'Murdoch-world', noticing the pleasure of music and other sounds as well as the pain of silenced voices. Readers once alerted and attuned to the sounds implied in Murdoch’s novels, will not only come to understand more completely the complex effects of her narratives and the philosophy within them, but will find a new key to their own lifeworlds as well.” (Elin Svenneby, Former Associate Professor, University of Tromsoe, Norway)

“Listening to Iris Murdoch’s focus on the sonic, which in literary criticism is often treated like a poor relation to the visual, is most welcome. Through perceptive close readings, Gillian Dooley uses the lens of music, sound and silence to draw out gender, sexuality, Irish politics, domestic conflict and much more in Murdoch’s novels. Her critical landscape is populated with fascinating unplayed pianos, nationalistic songs and operatic cross-dressing. This detailed and well-written book also discusses musical settings of Murdoch’s words and includes a comprehensive inventory of allusions to music in her work. It will delight Murdoch fans but will also be of great interest to those who are attentive to sound studies and the relationship of music to literature.” (Hazel Smith, Author of The Contemporary Literature-Music Relationship, Emeritus Professor, Writing and Society Research Centre, Western Sydney University)

“The centrality of art in many forms to Iris Murdoch's philosophy and fiction is striking and illuminating. For Murdoch herself, songs and singing were a major source of joy in her life. In this sensitive and insightful analysis of musicand Iris Murdoch, Gillian Dooley certainly broadens the field of Murdoch scholarship but also demonstrates the rich and beautiful possibilities when one opens one's eyes, heart, mind and ears to the lyricism, musicality, and silences in Murdoch's work.” (Lucy Bolton, author of Contemporary Cinema and the Philosophy of Iris Murdoch (2019)

“This book is an important contribution to Iris Murdoch studies. Murdoch is a truly musical writer, not only in the rhythms and textures of her novels, but the way music itself sounds within her narratives. Gillian Dooley explores the fascinating relationship of sound, silence and music in Murdoch’s output as well as her collaborations and relationships with composers. This book will be treasured by admirers of Murdoch’s work and musicians alike.” (Thomas Hyde, Composer, Worcester College, Oxford)

• Flinders University, South Australia, Australia

  Gillian Dooley

Gillian Dooley is an Honorary Senior Research Fellow at Flinders University, South Australia. She has written extensively on various literary topics, often in connection with music. Her publications include From a Tiny Corner of the House of Fiction: Conversations with Iris Murdoch (2003) and other edited works on Murdoch, as well as monographs on V.S. Naipaul and J.M. Coetzee.

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