IRELAND IN A. MERDOK’S NOVEL “RED AND GREEN”
Iris Murdoch is a famous British writer of the second half of the 20<sup>th</sup> century. There is no consensus as to her ethnic identity, for the writer comes from an Anglo-Irish family. Her novel “Red and Green” depicts one of the most significant events in the history of Ireland - the Easter Uprising, which took place in April 1916. The title itself presents the confrontation of the two conflicting sides: the British (red) and the Irish (green). The plot of the novel is built around the history of several Irish families, connected with each other, whose members are somehow involved in this historical event. The article analyzes the system of images in the novel “Red and Green”. Each character becomes the embodiment of a certain hypostasis of Ireland. This allows Iris Murdoch to demonstrate the ambiguity and diversity of the country. In particular, we analyze both female (Kathleen, Millicent, Francis) and male characters (Barnabas, Pat, Christopher, Andrew). On the one hand, these images represent fairly common stereotypes attributed to Ireland and its people (militancy, religiosity, drunkenness, etc.). On the other hand, the author destroys them.