Self-actualization on Women’s Pilgrimage to Goodness in the Good Apprentice
XU Ming-ying PhD, FU Xiao-na PhD

Abstract
The paper reveals the difficulty in the formation of female self by portraying female characters’ personal growth through increased awareness of themselves and the relationship with others in The Good Apprentice. Murdoch illustrates that blind hatred and revenge as well as the lies all hinder women from the integration of female self and from reaching the state of Goodness. Meanwhile, Murdoch endows the female character with an unusual trait that is seldom found in her other female characters: the consideration of others’ welfare and attention to others’ life. This is just what Murdoch advances in her philosophy as the way to achieve goodness. Apart from the integration of female selfhood, Murdoch has also explores how women could achieve happiness and reach the state of goodness in her later period to a greater extent than in her early period. While Murdoch conveys her philosophical thoughts in her novels, her creation of characters and plots in turn enriches and deepens her philosophy. The paper focuses on the reconstruction of female selfhood through Murdoch’s elaboration of the multiple ways that the women use to integrate their female self by actualizing themselves on their way to Goodness in the Good Apprentice.

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