GOTHIC AURA OF THE SEA IMAGE IN IRIS MURDOCH’S NOVEL “THE UNICORN”

Abstract

The study delves into the gothic features of the sea image in I. Murdoch’s novel “The Unicorn”. It examines the latest research into this literary work (by H. Bokshan, E. Kornilova, A. Matiichak, S. Farhadi Nejad, J. Jarząb and S. Pavlychko), which indicates that this image has not been a subject of thorough investigation that makes the topic of the paper relevant. The study aims at establishing the peculiarities of the sea image in the novel “The Unicorn”, identifying its relationships with the main characters and major motifs, and its correlation with mythological ideas about water as a primordial element. The article underscores that the sea image as an element of gothic landscapes accumulates ambivalent semantics pertaining to mythopoetic texts. It emphasizes that the sea image correlates with many characters of the novel, manifesting various connotations in these relationships. The study highlights that its correlation with the main character, Marian Taylor, is depicted most vividly. It is conveyed in this personage’s reflections. Such correlation with the female character seems natural since there is a gender association with water inherent in a mythological picture of the world. The paper analyzes the features of visualizing the sea image consisting in the use of a variety of colors to emphasize its controversial and dynamic nature. It characterizes the personification of this image and its correlation with the motif of death that generates the tragic modus of the literary work highlighted with a poetic intertext – Paul’s Valery poem “The Graveyard by the Sea”. The analysis allowed us to draw a conclusion that the polyvalent sea image manifests ambivalent semantics through the relationships with the female and male characters and also with the motif of death. These accents link it with mythological ideas about this primordial element whose attributes are chaos, hostility, and danger. The sea image in “The Unicorn” evolves in the traditions of a Gothic novel with immanent menacing landscapes which serve as a background of mysterious and enigmatic events.