The French Lieutenant S Woman Book Analysis

The french lieutenant s woman is a 1969 postmodern historical fiction novel by john fowles.

The french lieutenant s woman book analysis. It is this aura of strangeness about sarah woodruff that first attracts charles smithson s attention. Both are staying in lyme regis. With the french lieutenant s woman fowles is boldly moving in a lot of directions at once pushing down f john fowles the french lieutenant s woman the reason i am drawn to literature to art to books considered to be classics is to watch some middle aged bearded man put on a pair of excuse the flamboyant analogy skates and. The french lieutenant s woman summary.

It was his third published novel after the collector 1963 and the magus 1965. Sarah woodruff sarah the titular french lieutenant s woman is modeled after the trope of the mysteriously alluring woman who often tempts the male protagonists of victorian novels. Grogan gives this information to charles hoping he will find some similarities between the story of this woman and her french lieutenant and the situation sarah appears to find herself in. The belief that one should adhere to convention is put into question by the hypocrisy of many of the main characters.

Her motives are always murky and her actions are unexpected read full character analysis. It s 1867 and charles smithson and ernestina freeman are engaged to be married. She because of her parents strict wish that she recover from an imagined consumptive disease and he to be with her. The french lieutenant s woman uses an overtly twentieth century perspective to critique this representation of victorian england where duty and conformity take precedence over kindness and honesty.

Charles is an upper class amateur paleontologist and ernestina is the daughter of a rich draper. There is mrs poulteney. They re walking on the shore of lyme regis one day when they see a strange woman staring out at the sea. The french lieutenant s woman of the title for example is the dark mysterious woman of the typical victorian romantic novel.

Miss sarah woodruff or the french lieutenant s hoo er as some lyme regis folk described her we will come to shortly. The other minor characters need not detain us greatly. The novel explores the fraught relationship of gentleman and amateur naturalist charles smithson and sarah woodruff the former governess and independent woman with whom he falls in love. The french lieutenant s woman summary charles a 30 year old independently wealthy londoner with an amateur interest in paleontology is engaged to the stylish socialite ernestina.

The doctor quite honestly believes that sarah is emotionally unbalanced and suffers from the same melancholia that was thought to plague many young women.