The Black Prince

Key Facts

full title ·  The Black Prince

author ·  Iris Murdoch

type of work ·  Novel

genre ·  Modernist Novel

language ·  English

time and place written ·  England, 1972

date of first publication ·  1973

publisher ·  Viking Press

narrator ·  Bradley Pearson

point of view ·  First Person

tone ·  Ironic

tense ·  Past tense

setting (time) ·  Early 1970s

setting (place) ·  London, England

protagonist ·  Bradley Pearson

major conflict ·  Bradley's need to break out of his writing block

rising action ·  Arnold Baffin's fight with his wife; Tutorials of Julian; Date at the opera with Julian Rachel's attempted seduction

climax ·  Arnold Baffin's murder

falling action ·  Bradley's trial and conviction; Bradley's writing of his novel; Bradley's death

themes ·  Art and Truth; Eros; Randomness of Life

motifs ·  Marriage; Hamlet; Boots and Feet

symbols ·  Kites; Priscilla's jewels; Der Rosenkavalier

foreshadowing ·  Arnold's initial call to Bradley; Rachel's prediction of her fire; Bradley's threatening note to Arnold; Der Rosenkavalier; Bradley's destruction of Arnold's books