FEMALE IDENTITY PRESENTED BY MEANS OF MYTHS AND TABOOS, AS SEEN BY IRIS MURDOCH IN A SEVERED HEAD

Abstract

It has been argued that Murdoch uses myths from various societies and periods of history to convey the messages that are equally easily applicable in the modern world that we live in, i.e. that love, art and literature can help us overcome all the worlds– troubles and inexplicable and complex „creatures” whom we meet on daily basis, and thus help us realize the truth about ourselves and the others. By realizing the world as it really is, having escaped the spells, nets, claws and gazes of various horrifying creatures and enchanters, our own freedom is regained and we become ready to live without fear and obsessions; free from the dark sides of our psyche and conscious of the reality of others, their needs and desires. We break myths and taboos and become centaurs capable of crawling from under the net of illusion and deceit. Among other concepts, Murdoch uses myths and taboos in A Severed Head to present the struggle of her female characters to understand and regain their own identity in the complex contemporary world, where more attention is paid to the material values than the spiritual and moral ones, deprived of love, hope and any religious beliefs. People, and especially women, hence started alienating themselves from the rest of society, and what is even worse, became estranged from their own self. In order to find a satisfactory definition of their personalities, both men and women had to reconsider their personal, social and all other preferences and hidden passions (Gindin 1962: 236) in order to regain power to influence and understand their own destiny. In that process of breaking ties with the community and natural environment, women in fact seemed to be those who were most forcefully affected by all the changes, as they became depersonalized and brought down to the level of simple objects, easily manipulated and deprived of any rights whatsoever, unable to fight financially powerful and socially recognized men. However, in order to change their own destiny, they need to undertake personal responsibility for their own actions, whereby no one can guarantee anymore that the outcome of such quest and hard work shall in fact be a happy one. Therefore, in order to present flaws of her characters, their dual behaviour and their self or society-imposed illusions and hypocrisy, as well as complex interpersonal relations, foreign myths are extensively used, as well as several contemporary taboos, such as incest, latent homosexuality, unresolved Oedipus and potentially Electra complexes as well. Medusa, Gyges and Candaules as well as one of the first mythical concepts used in this novel ─ severed heads, are thus associated with the strongest female character of this novel: Honor Klein, an accomplished anthropologist and a professor, a touchstone of common sense in this novel, who in the end turns out to be the only female character who has rediscovered her own identity and freed herself from any chains that the society might have ever imposed on her. She is the one who possesses unusual talents and qualities. She is smart, oracular, mysterious, a higher power, defiant and thus she liberates Martin from his obsessive connection to the golden pair of his sovereigns, i.e. his wife Antonia and her psychoanalyst and Martin–s friend Palmer Anderson, who were lovers and imposed themselves onto Martin as surrogates for his long-lost parents. A complex incestuous love presented through the emotional and sexual relationships of siblings is also associated with her. Being professionally involved with studying primitive tribes and their customs, Honor is consequently likened to the idols used by them, but also to the petrifying Medusa, a Samurai warrior, exotic sorcerers and enchanters, and above all, the Satan who horrifies Martin the most. Being a horrifying „severed head”, „Medusa” and Satan, she is able to inspire fear, neuroses and complexes in others, but also capable of liberating them of those once she wishes to do so and showing them the right path to take. In the end of the novel, she sets herself free from all the societyimposed obstacles and boundaries and rediscovers her own identity. As opposed to her, an unfortunate „Psycho”, i.e. Georgie Hands, although representing all the good in society, a voice of reason, a person who reaches out to everyone in need, a martyr, a consolation and a prize, never demanding, becomes emotionally tortured and deprived of love and understanding by all men she is associated with. She seems to have had the same path as Psycho, to whom she is compared, stripped of all her spirituality as she is expected to obey strictly defined and narrow-minded Martin–s expectations of her ─ to be only a submissive lover who will always give everything and obey the conservative gender roles assigned in accordance with the dominant social ideology, while not asking for anything in return for such sacrifice. That brings Georgie down to the position of an object manipulated by Martin and used for achieving his own selfish goals. It brings out to the surface a lack of selfconfidence in Georgie and, after being forced to give up on her unborn child, leads to her attempted suicide and unfortunate attempts at finding consolation, love and at least some sense of self-respect in the arms of other equally manipulative men. Although she does not manage to regain her own identity amidst such complex emotional relations and societal demands, the message conveyed is that the attempts actually do count, as the very process of achieving perfection, by searching for our own identity and fighting our own demons, obsessive desires, mythical representations and secret passions is considered to be one of the biggest achievements in the work of Iris Murdoch (Gordon 1995: 46).