A Severed Head (1961) was one of Murdoch’s most commercially successful novels, being made into a major motion picture starring Lee Remick in 1970. A witty yet cutting comedy of manners, the novel begins as Martin Lynch-Gibbon, one of Murdoch’s first-person male narrators, lies in post-coital bliss with his mistress Georgie Hands in her cluttered flat. It is through Martin’s conversation with Georgie in Chapter 1 that the reader is introduced to the colourful, convoluted cast of characters in this novel: Martin is married to Antonia. Antonia’s analyst is Palmer Anderson, and Palmer’s half-sister is Honor Klein, who, like Georgie, is a university professor. Martin tells us that he has no qualms with deceiving both his wife and his mistress, and he lies to them both to feed his own ego.
To Martin, Georgie puts...
2272 words
Citation: Grimshaw, Tammy. "A Severed Head". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 03 March 2007 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=6988, accessed 09 June 2026.]
