The Bell

The Bell is a novel by Irish British author Iris Murdoch, known for her complex novels about philosophical and moral issues, which utilize traditions of realism, psychology, humor, and irony to create their vivid atmospheres. The novel, first published in 1958, deals with a lay religious community adjacent to an enclosed female convent and the impact the arrival of two young people and a new bell has on the group. The Bell was a commercial and critical success upon its publication, and it remains influential today; it was adapted into a radio play in 1999 and a TV miniseries in 1982.

Iris Murdoch (1919-1999) was born in Ireland but her family moved to London a few weeks after her birth. She majored in philosophy and classics at Oxford, and obtained a master’s degree at Cambridge University. She wrote 26 novels, five books on philosophy, and a couple of collections of poetry. The Times magazine ranked Murdoch 12th on their list of the “50 greatest British writers since 1945,” and her novel The Sea, The Sea won the coveted Booker Prize.

This guide uses the Vintage Books, London, paperback edition of The Bell published in 2004.

Content warning: The text refers to an illicit relationship between a teacher and a student.

Plot Summary

Dora Greenfield, a young woman uncertain of her desires, arrives at Imber Court, a lay religious community attached to Imber Abbey, an enclosed Benedictine female order. She is returning to her husband, Paul, who is currently researching the convent’s artifacts. Also on Dora’s train is a high school student, Toby Gashe, who plans on spending some time experiencing the commune. At Imber Court, Dora and Toby meet Michael Meade (the leader of the group), James Tayper Pace (second-in-command), Mr. and Mrs. Mark Strafford, and beautiful Catherine Fawley, who is soon to enter the convent as a postulant. Additionally, Michael and James quarter Toby with Catherine’s twin brother, Nick, there to recuperate from a dissolute life in London. The community is awaiting the arrival of a new bell for the convent.

As passions run high, Michael kisses Toby and a strange connection develops between them, similar to what Michael once had with Nick when Nick was a teenager. Dora fights with her husband, and Toby develops a crush on her. Dora and Toby develop a secret plan: Toby has found the old bell submerged in the lake, and they will supplant the new bell with the old to surprise everyone at the ceremony. Michael agonizes over his hidden sexual feelings for men, which clash with his fantasy of becoming a priest, and Dora begins to understand herself and her wishes, deciding to leave her domineering husband and start an independent life.

Things culminate with the arrival of the new bell, which, due to Nick’s sabotage, ends up in the lake from which Toby and Dora have pulled the old bell. Catherine attempts to drown herself, suffering a nervous collapse and admitting she is in love with Michael. Nick forces Toby to confess his liaison with Michael to James and kills himself with his shotgun. The community is disbanded, and everybody leaves to pursue their passions. Paul follows the old bell to London to research it, Catherine and Mrs. Mark leave to allow Catherine to recuperate, Toby goes off to university, Michael abandons his desire to be a priest and becomes a teacher, and Dora finds the strength to start an independent life as an art student and part-time art teacher. Michael, who owns Imber Court, decides to leave it to the convent.