Quest For Life Meaning: Reading The Sea,The Sea From The Perspective Of Existentialism

Iris Murdoch is an influential philosopher and novelist in twentieth century.Under the influence of existentialism,Murdoch is famous for philosophical cogitation on the question of life meaning in her literature works.By analyzing The Sea,The Sea,the masterpiece of Murdoch,this paper illustrates how Murdoch expresses her philosophical ideas in fiction.In The Sea,The Sea,Murdoch depicts a protagonist named Charles Arrowby who corresponds to Nietzsche’s Ubermensch and tells a story about the life journey of this celebrated director who leaves London for the seaside and then comes back with attempts at different types of life.Murdoch implicitly shows her disagreement with Ubermensch philosophy of Nietzsche,the pioneer of existentialism.The author does not believe that Ubermensch will lead to a meaningful life.The fact that finally Arrowby gives up Ubermensch and chooses a common life can be seen as epiphany of Sartrean “freedom of choice”.This thesis divides the life of Charles into three stages: the establishment of ubermensch image,exercise of the will to power and a new common life.In the first stage,Charles shows features of Nietzsche’s ubermensch.He shows his abnegation of Christian beliefs and keeps pursuing a higher position in career and life to surpass both himself and others.Then the second stage is a period when Charles manages to exercise his will to power to gain mastery over all those who are around him.That is exactly what a meaningful life recommended by Nietzsche looks like.At last,some of the subdued get rid of Charles,the image of ubermensch broken.Consequently,the ubermensch life loses its meaning and Charles himself finally chooses a common life devoid of surpassing and mastery in order to pursue the meaning of life anew.This thesis argues that,in essence,Charles’ life journey is a process of looking for the meaning of life,shifting from a ubermensch life,which is full of power and mastery,to a common life.Furthermore,such a journey uncovers Murdoch’s thoughts about the limitations of Nietzsche’s ubermensch philosophy and its infeasibility in modern society.That is also the modification of Ubermensch philosophy that Sartrean existentialism makes.