ABSTRACT
This chapter examines Iris Murdoch's engagement with emigre writers in London after the war, a subject to which this study has contributed. It examines about first major obstacle concerned fitting the relationship into a pre-existing theoretical framework of literary influence or intertextuality. The second major finding is that Murdoch's power figures do not simply reflect Elias Canetti's alleged demonic personality, but are part of her critique of post-Enlightenment depictions of the human being which help to emphasize its power and isolation. The chapter describes the study that concentrates on a textual comparison of these authors' depictions of the exercise of power in The Sea, the Sea and Masse und Macht. It traces a common nexus between political, animal, and interpersonal power in both of these works. The chapter concludes by re-affirming that, for all their assumed differences, these authors were closely allied in terms of their shared intellectual interests and their narrative strategies.
