On The Religious Complex In Muriel Spark’s Fiction

Muriel Spark is a prominent woman writer in Britain, playing a significant role in contemporary British literature and even the world literature. She has obtained various kinds of international awards and her works have been translated into over twenty languages. Though being a playwright, essayist, editor, poet, and novelist, she has made her chief literary achievements in her fiction, which is considerable in quantity and superb in quality. Her fiction, which is strange and weird in the content, complex and bizarre in the plot, unique and novel in the form, not only conveys in a unique way her deep concern over common people in modern times and her artistic philosophy but also embodies her religious complex, making it a beautiful landscape in British literature.Studies abroad on Muriel Spark and her works start relatively early while most readers in China are still unfamiliar with her, not to mention her works. There are little scientific studies over Spark in China and rarely do scholars research into her religious complex systematically or thoroughly. In view of this, based on Carl Jung’s complex theory, this thesis expounds the origins of Spark’s religious complex, analyses how it is embodied through characterization, motifs and morals in her fiction, especially in her three representative works Memento Mori (1959), The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1961) and The Driver’s Seat (1970), and explores the significance of the manifestation of her religious complex.This thesis consists of three parts—the introduction, the body and the conclusion, and the main contents are as follows.Part One is the introduction. It begins with the introduction of Muriel Spark and her most representative works and then goes to the present situation at home and abroad about the scientific studies on Muriel Spark’s works. After that, it continues with the introduction of Carl Jung’s complex theory, pointing out that the complex, having a deep relationship with individual experience and also resulting from the collective unconsciousness, is a variety of impulses and emotions gathering in the deep unconscious mind of human beings. Finally, according to the complex theory, it explores the realistic significance of the embodiment of her religious complex in her fiction.Part Two is the body, consisting of three chapters.The origins of Spark’s religious complex are elaborated on in Chapter One. Based on Jung’s complex theory, it analyses the religious complex in the depth of Spark’s heart and explores the underlying causes for it from the two aspects of the influence of religious archetype and the imprint of her individual experiences—her childhood family background, the impact of her Christian education and the influence of a traumatic marriage.Chapter Two mainly explores how religious complex is embodied in the characterization of Spark’s fiction from the three aspects of the identity of religious believer, religious thoughts and behavior, and religious language. Most of the characters in Spark’s fiction are religious believer, and their thoughts, behavior, and language are deeply influenced by various kinds of religions.Chapter Three expounds how religious complex is embodied in the themes of Spark’s fiction from the three aspects of supernatural power and free will, sufferings and death, sins and salvation. Supernatural power in her fiction shows that the omnipotent and omniscient God is in charge of everything in the world and free will is reflected in that most characters want to live according to the will of their own, and that though fighting against the God, they end with failure. Sufferings and death is also a common theme in Spark’s fiction. In addition, Spark’s fiction often describes various sins of the characters and how they complete the salvation of the soul.The last part is the conclusion, which makes a summary of the preceding analysis, and points out the main purpose of this thesis. According to the analysis in this thesis, it can be apparently seen that religious complex is deeply rooted in the depth of Spark’s heart and has a far-reaching influence on her fiction writing. By embodying it in her fiction, Spark has not only accomplished her spiritual self-rebirth and growth, but also revealed the spiritual and moral predicament of humans and advocated moral solicitude in modern society.