Open Access“At my age, you live in your mind”: Reviewing the Past in Bruno´s Dream by Iris Murdoch
Author(s) -
Mariángel Soláns García
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
es review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2531-1654
pISSN - 2531-1646
DOI - 10.24197/ersjes.40.2019.33-55
Subject(s) - regret , dream , psychoanalysis , meaning (existential) , character (mathematics) , reminiscence , forgiveness , psychology , sociology , epistemology , philosophy , aesthetics , social psychology , psychotherapist , cognitive psychology , geometry , mathematics , machine learning , computer science
This paper analyses the way in which the ageing Bruno, the central character of Iris Murdoch´s Bruno´s Dream (1969), approaches his death and confronts the meaning of finitude. His last stage of life is understood as a time of reminiscence that brings up past conflicts. This study offers an opportunity to explore the moral and psychological aspects of guilt, regret and forgiveness, which trigger the process that Robert N. Butler called “life review.” It also aims to examine Murdoch’s philosophical concepts about love and her idea of unself.