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John Fowles - The French Lieutenant's Woman
Fowles' perhaps most famous famous literary work is set in Lyme Regis, a coastal town in Victorian
England where Sara Woodruff, nicknamed 'Tradegy' or 'The French Lieutenants Whore', lives as a
disgraced woman. A gentleman, Charles Smithson, gets interested in her story and in helping her,
although his fiancée considers it inappropriate.
The most important feature of the novel, however, is certainly not the plot, but rather the wealth
of literary techniques and ideas explored. Indeed, the author quite often appears with a first-person
voice to comment on the differences between Victorian England and our modern society. This also
establishes the groundwork for a linguistic irony, such as when Fowles uses 'more rational, more
learned and altogether more nobly gendered pair' (p. 156) to desccribe men, or whenever he
describes Mrs. Poulteney. Further, Fowles also comments on his own relationship to the characters
and the world he has created and, at one point, his character Charles even disobeys him.
Overall, the novel is a very rich one with regards to literary comments and playfulness. On the
thematic level, however, Fowles also has a rich register. Woodruff's discussion with Charles about
how being 'The French Lieutenants Whore' makes her free - indeed, how it makes her Mrs. Woodruff at
large - portrays important aspects of personal liberty in a very strict society. Also, through
Charles, Fowles manages to lead an interesting discussion about science and the evolution of our
understanding of the world, especially the evolution of Darwin's ideas. And although he relates most
of his thematic discussions to the Victorian era, his continous comments about similarities and
differences between that time and ours relates every thematic discussion to our time. It could be
argued, therefore, that the novel is just as much about our time as past times.
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Fowles' perhaps most famous famous literary work is set in Lyme Regis, a coastal town in Victorian
England where Sara Woodruff, nicknamed 'Tradegy' or 'The French Lieutenants Whore', lives as a
disgraced woman. A gentleman, Charles Smithson, gets interested in her story and in helping her,
although his fiancée considers it inappropriate.
The most important feature of the novel, however, is certainly not the plot, but rather the wealth
of literary techniques and ideas explored. Indeed, the author quite often appears with a first-person
voice to comment on the differences between Victorian England and our modern society. This also
establishes the groundwork for a linguistic irony, such as when Fowles uses 'more rational, more
learned and altogether more nobly gendered pair' (p. 156) to desccribe men, or whenever he
describes Mrs. Poulteney. Further, Fowles also comments on his own relationship to the characters
and the world he has created and, at one point, his character Charles even disobeys him.
Overall, the novel is a very rich one with regards to literary comments and playfulness. On the
thematic level, however, Fowles also has a rich register. Woodruff's discussion with Charles about
how being 'The French Lieutenants Whore' makes her free - indeed, how it makes her Mrs. Woodruff at
large - portrays important aspects of personal liberty in a very strict society. Also, through
Charles, Fowles manages to lead an interesting discussion about science and the evolution of our
understanding of the world, especially the evolution of Darwin's ideas. And although he relates most
of his thematic discussions to the Victorian era, his continous comments about similarities and
differences between that time and ours relates every thematic discussion to our time. It could be
argued, therefore, that the novel is just as much about our time as past times.
