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The Green Knight

Book by Iris Murdoch · 4 quotes · Iris Murdoch, The Green Knight, Dialogue

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AllIris MurdochThe Green KnightDialogueHumorDepressionSadLoveMetaphorInactionPainSufferingUnrequited LoveDeathIrrevocableIsolatedLifeSeparationArtHeartIf Only

The Green Knight Quotes

“Here was another 'if only' — if only he had acted quickly, spontaneously, throwing 'tact' and 'good form' to the winds. Just then she had needed him, and he had failed. This bitter reflection positively, for a time, hindered his strange friendship with Louise, he avoided her almost to the point of boorishness, almost deliberately seeming to have lost his interest and his affection. The pain of his 'might have been' led him instinctively to devalue his loss, make it not a loss but something inconceivable and nil.”

FriendshipRelationshipIris MurdochUnrequited LoveInactionThe Green KnightIf Only
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“Beyond her declaration of love she could not see. But as she rehearsed the intensity of her passion she thought that he must, when the time came, respond. The desire to, at the right time, tell him became, as the years moved forward toward that time, increasingly painful, like a poisoned wound that must heal itself by breaking open. She now thought in anguish of the times, the recent times, when she could have told him, and had been afraid to, and had clumsily withdrawn, when she could have attracted him and drawn his attention to her. When she had watched over him when he was sleeping in the sedan-chair and could have wakened him with a kiss. If only she had let him know, then she could more easily have borne his not preferring her. He was ready to fall in love — and if he had known — he must have loved her — if he had known how much she loved him. The pain of this loss burnt her in every waking moment, that awful 'if only'. She had lost him, and lost him through her own fault. There were no more pleasures now in life.”

SufferingLossIris MurdochUnrequited LoveHeartbrokenUnspokenThe Green KnightMissed OpportunityIf OnlyMissed Chance
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