Lesson 17: Part three: Elegy for Iris: Questions on Memoir and Autobiography

A questionnaire for you

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In John Bayley’s memoir, the lines between autobiography, biography and memoir are blurred. As Bayley tells his story and Iris Murdoch’s story, we do get a picture of a famous literary figure’s life and that perhaps accounts for some of its interest.

Questions to consider:

1.     What are the limits of biography?

2.     What are the obligations of biography?

3.     Do these questions matter for this memoir—in other words, are there limits for personal memoir and what should they be?

What do you think?

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