Analysis on the novel The French Lieutenant’s Woman

Zhao Yan

【Abstract】French Lieutenants Woman written by John Fowles mainly talks about the developing relationship between Sarah Woodruff and Charles Smithson.Sarah Woodruff known as “Tragedy”，or “The French Lieutenants Woman” is caught between the Victorian and modern ages.Rumors spread around that she stands by the sea to wait for the French Lieutenant who seduced her to return.And Charles is a young，lazy but intelligent English gentleman，who breaks off his engagement to a traditional young woman Tina to pursue Sarah.The novel is very special and attractive in many ways，so my purpose of the paper is to analyze how characters desire and postmodern environment wind through the story.

【Key words】desire； postmodern； Sarah Woodruff； Charles Smithson

Every literature text is in some way about desire and it is not only about how and why characters desire each other and happens to choose desires，but also produce desire and makes readers desire in reading （Bennett and Royle，2004）.In The French Lieutenants Woman，we read the desire of the main characters：Sarah and Charles.Sarah lives in the Victorian society and in that period of time，women are viewed as pure，clean and they have restrictions from sex.But Sarah refuses to follow the restrictions and allows the rumor that she has been seduced by French Lieutenant spreading around.She is lonely，looked down upon by others and no one understand her.What she does pushes her outside the respectable society.But she desires for freedom，desires to expresses her feeling freely and refuses to let others control her future.After Charles meets her and is willing to listen to her story，Sarah tries to get out of Mrs.Poulteneys governess and turn to Charles for help.She told Charles her relationship with the Lieutenant mysteriously and that strong desire for love，for freedom she reveals sparks Charles curiosity and the desire for her.Through the contact with Charles，Sarah begins to love Charles，but her desire for freedom conflict with her love for Charles.From the last ending，we can see that her desire for freedom finally conquers her love for Charles.One of the things that literature texts consistently suggest is that desire is paradoxical，mobile and mediated （Bennett and Royle，2004）.Sarah，to some extent，is the catalyst in Charless development in character.Originally，Charles expresses his love to Tina who is a traditional woman with conservative thoughts.Tina never experiences freedom and she is not strong enough to determine her own future.She is controlled by Charles actions like his proposal of marriage and later his breaking off their engagement.Charles original desire for Tina changed to Sarah.He is shocked and attracted by Sarahs deep thoughts，behavior，open expression of her sensuality，her nonconformity and most important of all，her independent spirit.During the contact with Sarah，Charles is pushed to the margins of his society and is changing in his character.From the last ending，we can read that he desires for absolute freedom from social constraints as he refuses to be possessed by Sarah.Just as the narrator notes in the final paragraph that Charles “has at last found an atom of faith in himself，a true uniqueness，on which to build” （Fowles，1970 p.199）.

As Bennett and Royle put it：if texts can be thought to desire，readers desire too：we desire solutions，we desire to get to the end of the story，and we desire insight or wisdom，pleasure or sadness （Bennett and Royle，2004）.But in this novel，we know little about all these questions.Thats due to the writing style of the postmodern novel.Postmodern appears to welcome and embrace a thinking of itself and multiplicity，and it challenges our thinking about the time，challenges us to see the present in the past，the future in the past and a present in a kind of no-time （Bennett and Royle，2004）.

First of all，the narrative of the novel is postmodern.In the traditional，Victorian novel，narrator knows everything about the characters，the background information and the ending，but in this postmodern novel，Fowles discard these traditions.The narrator is quite different who frequently breaks into the novel，giving comments.For example，when describing the Cobb as a Henry Moore or a Michelangelo in the first chapter，the narrator breaks into and gives the comments：I exaggerate？ Perhaps…… （Fowles，1970 p.2）.We can see that the narrator doubt himself and shows a kind of uncertainty，which breaks away the traditional writing style of narrators knowing everything about the novel.The combination of narration and comments form a very distinguishing feature of the postmodern novel.

And whats more，the narrator often moves back and forth in time.Sometimes we are in the present，sometimes in the past and sometimes in the future.Very obvious example is that when the narrator describes the Lyme Regis，he mentions Jane Austins use of Cobb in her novel persuasion，which was written almost fifty years before The French Lieutenants Womans setting date.And the mention of persuasion，the narrator brings us back to fifty years ago.The narrator also leads us to see the future by mentioning the twentieth-century Henry Moore sculpture.Readers are often confused about the narrative continuity and clarity through such kind of description，so postmodern is often described to be mobile and fragmented.

Thirdly，the postmodern novel is always full of mystery and undecidability，especially，the description of Sarah in this novel.From the beginning to the end，the narrator doesnt give us a clear portrait of Sarah.Sarahs true self and real status remain mysterious to all of us.The postmodern gives particular emphasis to ways in which this law may be productively questioned or suspended （Bennett and Royle，2004）.The narrator always creates uncertainty，undecidability.This shows that its impossible for people to know everyone completely，mystery always remains and the knowledge of other people depends on individual perceptions.And the undecidalitlity is highlighted by the three endings the narrator provides.The first ending obviously follows traditional Victorian ending of the novel：Charles gives up pursuing Sarah，marries conservative Tina.While the narrator refuses to end in such a conventional way，he offers the second ending that Charles finds Sarah and they reunite.Still unsatisfied，the third ending appears：it focuses on what they pursue for.In this ending，Charles and Sarah finally get separated.Both of them choose their independence，the freedom rather than marriage.The three open endings are particular and attractive.It pays more attention to the perception of readers and provides readers the chance to think，to choose whatever they want.In this way，readers can actively participate in the creation of the novels vision.For postmodern critics，undecidability radically undermines the very principle of unity：these critics celebrate multiplicity，heterogeneity，difference （Bennett and Royle，2004）.

Fourthly，the novel is paradoxical in narration.In modern novels，the paradox is always solved in the end.While in postmodern novels，the paradox is open and uncertain.In the novel The French Lieutenants Woman，Fowles combines Victorian and postmodern novel style together.In Victorian novel，the description of the character is very traditional because the narrator knows everything about the character.For example，the description of Dr.Grogan in this novel，follows traditional writing skills.The narrator gives a very detailed description of him from every different aspect.For example，he is described to be a knowledgeable person，fond of good food and wine，knows about every mysterious things.And the description of main character Charles is also in very detail.While every description about Sarah is very unclear，it shows that the narrator never knows what is Sarah thinking about.This kind of uncertain description of Sarah and the clear，all-around Charles forms a very strong contrast.And this contrast of different writing style forms paradox existing together in the novel.On the whole，Fowles combines traditional and postmodern wring style in this novel and his use of postmodern narrative skills leads reader to take an active part in the creation of the novel.

References：

[1]Bonneet，Andrew and Royle，Nechols，（2004）Introduction to Literature，Criticism and History.Great Britain：Longman.

[2]Fowles，John，（1969）The French Lieutenants Woman.eBook Scanned by Binwiped 12/02[v1.0].