Editing A Severed Head (section)

==Themes==

In ''A Severed Head'', Murdoch succeeds in presenting a middle-aged [[bourgeoisie|bourgeois]] who initially thinks of himself as a survivor but realises that he is in fact a victim. Throughout the novel, all the main characters insist that they have long overcome conventional morality, that they are [[free agent]]s in the truest sense of the word, but in spite of his [[hedonism]] Lynch-Gibbon's residual moral posture just will not go away. Murdoch is particularly good at conveying the atmosphere of benevolence and the apparent lack of hard feelings among the individuals that have wronged and been wronged. ("It is not at all our idea that you should leave us. In a strange and rather wonderful way we can't do without you. We shall hold on to you, we shall look after you," Anderson says to Lynch-Gibbon, who sees himself as a [[cuckold]] rather than anything else.) At times funny, sad at others, ''A Severed Head'' also deals with more serious issues such as abortion (Georgie terminates her pregnancy at an early stage of her relationship with Lynch-Gibbon) and attempted suicide (again it is Georgie who tries to take her own life after being rejected by both Lynch-Gibbon and his brother).

Despite these serious overtones, ''A Severed Head'' is regarded by many readers as the most entertaining of Murdoch's novels. As British novelist [[William Sutcliffe]] put it, "Of all the lots-of-people-screwing-lots-of-other-people novels this is probably the best, and certainly the weirdest. With less philosophising and more shagging than Murdoch's other books, it is a joy to see this wonderful writer let her hair (and her knickers) down."<ref>{{cite news|last1=Sutcliffe|first1=William|title=William Sutcliffe's top 10 relationship novels|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2000/nov/09/familyandrelationships.bestbooks1|access-date=27 August 2015|work=The Guardian|date=9 November 2000}}</ref>