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fascinated by Otto's daughter, his own niece, who is now a teenager and, for the first time since Edmund last saw her, sexually mature. After the service Isabel, Otto's apparently neurotic wife, attempts to involve Edmund in her small and frustrated life. He at first refuses. When Edmund later talks to his self-pitying brother, he detects evidence of a sexual tension between Otto and his apprentice David Levkin. Isabel, Otto and Flora all implore Edmund to stay and help them, each for a different reason. In each case, Edmund seems at first untempted, reluctant to get involved, and aware of his own impotence against their troubles. It is finally Flora who gives Edmund a real reason, or excuse, to stay. She confides in him that she is pregnant by another student, and has only him to rely on for assistance. One by one, each character in the house manages to enveigle Edmund in a series of confessions, exposés and almost farcical
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discoveries. Edmund, though sexually aloof and anodyne now seems, somewhat contradictorily, highly prone to getting involved and seeing himself as an integral part of everyone else's problem, if not the means to a solution. He cuts a slightly preposterous and contemptible figure, ever more so as each
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Edmund
Narraway returns to his family home, an old rectory in the north of England, for the cremation of his mother, Lydia. His brother, Otto, probably drunk, starts giggling during the service, and has to be taken outside. Edmund is disgusted rather than scandalised, yet he immediately finds himself
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Elsa Levkin – (David's sister) promiscuous, earthy, and apparently insane and delusional. Elsa appears to be an irrational being driven by sensuous appetites and curiously intense and imaginative self-delusions. Much of this is David's manipulation of others' perceptions of her. We never quite
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David Levkin – (Otto's apprentice) puckish, devious, amoral and provocateur. David, like Maggie, is the last in a line, in his case of thieving and untalented apprentices to Otto. He has first seduced Isabel and then, to torture her, done the same to her daughter Flora. He deceives for his own
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The fire and Elsa's death seem to have had a cathartic effect on everyone. Isabel finds her independence and leaves Otto. She joyfully announces that she too is pregnant by David. Flora, who ran away from home at the climax now returns to look after her rather helpless father Otto. Maggie generously
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Otto
Narraway – (Edmund's brother) self-pitying, dissolute, desolate and addictive. Otto is a sculptor and stonemason whose self-destructive tendencies have probably helped to ruin his career. He is now dependent on the income he derives from carving gravestones for the local village, though
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is that of resolution and redemption. The final chapters of the book are so heavily steeped in this theme that they have the flavour of a morality play. Good replaces evil. Solutions appear to be problems, and characters develop extra dimensions that enable them to cope, perhaps even to thrive.
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After all these 'secret' relationships have been revealed, Otto's response is to send David and Elsa Levkin packing. Elsa, in despair, reacts by setting fire to herself and the house. She dies, the house survives. At this surprising turn of events Otto and Edmund now seem reconciled, perhaps in
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Edmund
Narraway – (the narrator) abstemious, puritan, fastidious and bloodless. Edmund is an engraver who lives alone in a flat somewhere in the south of England. He has had moderate success in his career, but has not come close to rivalling his more famous and more talented father, John
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Midway through the story we have learnt that Otto is having an affair with Elsa, David's sister; Isabel and her daughter Flora have both had affairs with David, and it is he who made Flora pregnant; 'Maggie', the
Italian girl, whose actual name is Maria Magistretti and who was
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Flora
Narraway – (Otto's daughter) tempestuous, erotic, haughty and vicious. Flora has recently started attending a local technical college, studying textile design, for which she has 'a small talent'. She matures and learns to accept responsibility for both herself and
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Edmund has escaped from his family into a lonely life. Returning for his mother's funeral he finds himself involved in the same awful problems, together with some new ones. He also rediscovers the eternal family servant, the ever-changing "Italian girl".
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misery, perhaps in astonishment. Similarly, Otto and David act civilised towards each other, and Edmund and David begin to talk honestly and respectfully to each other for the first time. David departs, leaving instructions for Elsa's funeral.
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To crest this unexpected wave of redemption Edmund discovers that he has always actually been in love with Maria and she, conveniently, has always been in love with him. The book closes with them preparing to travel by car to Rome.
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who were tasked with bringing up Otto and Edmund. She has stayed on, apparently sacrificing herself to the family. She harbours a secret yearning, sublimated for years, but which is finally satisfied.
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Secrets are revealed, honesty pervades. A claustrophobic convergence is replaced by divergence and optimism. Characters even set off to romantic or familiar destinations.
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to Otto and Edmund, had been having a lesbian affair with Lydia, their recently deceased mother and, it transpires, she is the sole beneficiary of Lydia's will.
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agrees to split the inheritance equally with Edmund and Otto, and allows Otto to keep the house. The fire damage, incidentally, is all covered by insurance.
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Maria
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Narraway, who has been dead for several years when the story begins. At the end of the book he awakens to long-concealed emotions.
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even this is not enough to sustain him. He lives in tense counterpoise with his mother, wife and daughter in the family home.
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character, led by David Levkin and Flora, respectively devilish and vituperative, make evident their disgust for him.
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In March 2019, the London-based production company Rebel
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know what drives Elsa, other than a profound despair at the loss of Otto.
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Isabel
Narraway – (Otto's wife) desperate, neurotic, depressed and
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411:"The Italian Girl - a play by James Saunders and Iris Murdoch (1967)"
355:, in collaboration with Iris Murdoch. It was first performed at the
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perverse sense of pleasure, but finally is shocked into maturity.
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437:"Playbill's vaults: Today in theatre history February 1"
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Rose, W. K. (1 June 1968). "Iris
Murdoch, informally".
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378:and was developing a screenplay based on the book.
363:. The same production opened on 1 February 1968 at
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788:The Three Arrows & the Servants and the Snow
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399:. Vol. 8, no. 3. pp. 59–73.
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109:Learn how and when to remove this message
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371:, where it ran for 315 performances.
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47:adding citations to reliable sources
655:The Sacred and Profane Love Machine
415:James Saunders - English playwright
435:Viagas, Robert (1 February 2014).
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462:"We have optioned Iris Murdoch's
359:on 29 November 1967, directed by
882:Metaphysics as a Guide to Morals
290:Characters in "The Italian Girl"
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918:Irish novels adapted into plays
804:Acastos: Two Platonic Dialogues
34:needs additional citations for
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543:The Flight from the Enchanter
351:was adapted for the stage by
858:Sartre: Romantic Rationalist
775:(with J. B. Priestley, 1964)
711:The Book and the Brotherhood
890:Existentialists and Mystics
783:(with James Saunders, 1969)
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631:A Fairly Honourable Defeat
135:Cover of the first edition
928:Chatto & Windus books
719:The Message to the Planet
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866:The Sovereignty of Good
695:The Philosopher's Pupil
923:Novels by Iris Murdoch
607:The Time of the Angels
839:Poems by Iris Murdoch
615:The Nice and the Good
599:The Red and the Green
874:The Fire and the Sun
470:Rebel Republic Films
263:in flagrante delicto
43:improve this article
16:Book by Iris Murdoch
913:1964 British novels
703:The Good Apprentice
335:The major theme of
239:is a 1964 novel by
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575:An Unofficial Rose
58:"The Italian Girl"
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834:(1978, rev. 1984)
754:Something Special
735:Jackson's Dilemma
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639:An Accidental Man
365:Wyndham's Theatre
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187:Publication place
171:Chatto and Windus
149:Cover artist
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99:November 2014
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32:This article
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520:Iris Murdoch
474:. Retrieved
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418:. Retrieved
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367:in London's
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331:Major themes
305:manipulative
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256:Plot summary
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241:Iris Murdoch
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41:Please help
36:verification
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583:The Unicorn
344:Adaptations
907:Categories
850:Philosophy
446:29 October
420:29 October
382:References
316:nursemaids
69:newspapers
518:Works by
272:nursemaid
204:Paperback
200:Hardcover
167:Publisher
756:" (1957)
559:The Bell
441:Playbill
369:West End
159:Language
476:14 June
361:Val May
311:others.
227:2206219
198:Print (
162:English
83:scholar
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221:OCLC
202:and
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