''The Sea, the Sea'' is a novel by

Iris Murdoch Dame Jean Iris Murdoch ( ; 15 July 1919 – 8 February 1999) was an Irish and British novelist and philosopher. Murdoch is best known for her novels about good and evil, sexual relationships, morality, and the power of the unconscious. Her ...

. Published in 1978, it was her nineteenth novel. It won the 1978

Booker Prize The Booker Prize, formerly known as the Booker Prize for Fiction (1969–2001) and the Man Booker Prize (2002–2019), is a Literary award, literary prize awarded each year for the best novel written in English and published in the United King ...

. In 2022, the novel was included on the "

Big Jubilee Read The Big Jubilee Read is a 2022 campaign to promote reading for pleasure and to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee of Elizabeth II. A list of 70 books by Commonwealth authors, 10 from each decade of Elizabeth II's reign, was selected by a panel of ...

" list of 70 books by Commonwealth authors, selected to celebrate the

Platinum Jubilee of Elizabeth II The Platinum Jubilee of Elizabeth II was the international celebration in 2022 marking the Platinum jubilee, 70th anniversary of the accession of Queen Elizabeth II on 6 February 1952, the first British monarch to ever celebrate one. In the Un ...

Plot summary

''The Sea, the Sea'' is a tale of the strange obsessions that haunt a self-satisfied

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

and

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

as he begins to write his memoirs. Murdoch's novel exposes the motivations that drive her characters – the vanity, jealousy, and lack of compassion behind the disguises they present to the world. Charles Arrowby, its central figure, decides to withdraw from the world and live in seclusion in a house by the sea. While there, he encounters his first love, Mary Hartley Fitch, whom he has not seen since his love affair with her as an adolescent. Although she is almost unrecognisable in old age, and outside his theatrical world, he becomes obsessed by her, idealising his former relationship with her and attempting to persuade her to elope with him. His inability to recognise the egotism and selfishness of his own romantic ideals is at the heart of the novel. After the farcical and abortive kidnapping of Mrs. Fitch by Arrowby, he is left to mull over her rejection in a self-obsessional and self-aggrandising manner over the space of several chapters. "How much, I see as I look back, I read into it all, reading my own dream text and not looking at the reality... Yes of course I was in love with my own youth... Who is one's first love?"

Title

Iris Murdoch's biographer

Peter J. Conradi Peter J. Conradi (born 8 May 1945) is a British author and academic, best known for his studies of writer and philosopher, Iris Murdoch, who was a close friend. He is a Professor Emeritus of English at the University of Kingston and has been vi ...

gives

Xenophon Xenophon of Athens (; grc, wikt:Ξενοφῶν, Ξενοφῶν ; – probably 355 or 354 BC) was a Greek military leader, philosopher, and historian, born in Athens. At the age of 30, Xenophon was elected commander of one of the biggest Anci ...

as the ultimate source of the title. According to Xenophon's

Anabasis Anabasis (from Greek ''ana'' = "upward", ''bainein'' = "to step or march") is an expedition from a coastline into the interior of a country. Anabase and Anabasis may also refer to: History * ''Anabasis Alexandri'' (''Anabasis of Alexander''), a ...

, "The Sea! The Sea!" (''

Thalatta! Thalatta! ''Thálatta! Thálatta!'' ( el, — "The Sea! The Sea!") was the shouting of joy when the roaming Ten Thousand Greeks saw Euxeinos Pontos (the Black Sea) from Mount Theches (Θήχης) in Trebizond, after participating in Cyrus the Younger's ...

'') was the shout of exultation given by the roaming 10,000 Greeks when, in 401 BC, they caught sight of the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Roma ...

from Mount Theches in Trebizond and realised they were saved from death. Conradi states that the direct source of the title is

Paul Valéry Ambroise Paul Toussaint Jules Valéry (; 30 October 1871 – 20 July 1945) was a French poet, essayist, and philosopher. In addition to his poetry and fiction (drama and dialogues), his interests included aphorisms on art, history, letters, mus ...

's poem ''Le Cimetiere Marin'' (''The Graveyard by the Sea''). A line in the poem's first stanza quotes the Greeks' shouts: "La mer, la mer, toujours recommencėe" (The Sea, the sea, forever restarting). Murdoch refers to the poem in several of her books, and this stanza appears in full at the end of chapter 4 in her 1963 novel '' The Unicorn''.

Adaptations

A four-part adaptation of ''The Sea, The Sea'' by Richard Crane, directed by Faynia Williams appeared as the Classic Serial on BBC Radio 3 in 1993. The actors included John Wood as Charles Arrowby,

Joyce Redman Joyce Olivia Redman (7 December 1915Jonathan Croall, "Redman, Joyce Olivia (1915–2012)", ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, Jan 201available online Retrieved 1 April 2020. – 9 May 2012) was an Anglo-Irish a ...

as Hartley Fitch, with

Siân Phillips Dame Jane Elizabeth Ailwên Phillips (born 14 May 1933), known professionally as Siân Phillips ( ), is a Welsh actress. She has performed the title roles in Ibsen's ''Hedda Gabler'' and George Bernard Shaw's '' Saint Joan''. Early life Phi ...

, Sam Crane & Peter Kelly. Episode 3 included an interview with Iris Murdoch. A two-part adaptation of ''The Sea, the Sea'' by

Robin Brooks Robin Brooks (born 1961 in Leeds) is a British radio dramatist, some-time actor and author. Selected credits Adaptations * 2000 – '' The Art of Love'', a comedy, emphasizing Ovid's role as lover, with Bill Nighy and Anne-Marie Duff * 2004 – ...

appeared on

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

in August 2015. The actors included

Jeremy Irons Jeremy John Irons (; born 19 September 1948) is an English actor and activist. After receiving classical training at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, Irons began his acting career on stage in 1969 and has appeared in many West End theatre ...

as Charles Arrowby,

Maggie Steed Maggie is a common short form of the name Magdalena, Magnolia, Margaret. Maggie may refer to: People Women * Maggie Adamson, Scottish musician * Maggie Aderin-Pocock (born 1968), British scientist * Maggie Alderson (born 1959), Aust ...

as Hartley Fitch, and Simon Williams as James Arrowby.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sea, the Sea Booker Prize-winning works 1978 British novels British philosophical novels Novels by Iris Murdoch Novels about writers Chatto & Windus books

Plot summary

Title

Adaptations

Further reading

References