The Chrench Lieutenant's Woman Analysis

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The reason why Sarah Woodruff is my second choice is mainly due to John Fowles and his postmodernist vision of Victorian society. Fowles is a profound writer who succeeds in portraying through the love story between Charles and Sarah the image of the Victorian society with its pluses and minuses. At first sight, ‘The French Lieutenant’s Woman’ is a love story, focusing on the relationship between Charles and Sarah. The action of the novel begins with Charles - a scientist - who visits her fiancée in Lyme. The thread of the narrative is interrupted by the appearance of a mysterious woman, named Sarah Woodruff, who manages to attract Charles's attention. Initially, Charles's interest in Sarah is similar to his interest in any irrational issue. …show more content…
People's prejudice turn Sarah into an outcast character, is marginalized, has no friends, finds no decent work, and lives in loneliness, trying to cope with the little money saved. In the eyes of society, Sarah has lost any privileges he would have had due to his education. She is a fallen woman, ignored by society, maligned by the whole community. This is the stain he carries with serenity and acceptance. Her bad reputation it does not influence Charles's judgment, which sees pain and suffering in her eyes and seems to understand her. Sarah's modernism comes from the desire for freedom and independence that characterizes her, differentiating it from Ernestina. She has the ability to see through people, which removes her from the world and makes her way of life difficult. Fowles spends a lot of time in Sarah's mind, but he does not fully understand it. She is a complex character, built with ambiguous thoughts and a complex mind. It is not influenced by the stereotypical and traditional roles of the ideal woman. In search of freedom, she does not hesitate to use her image as a fallen woman. All she wants is to be alienated from the patriarchal ideology of time, according to which the woman must fulfill two roles: that of wife and mother. From a fallen woman she turns into a new, modern woman, helped by her association with …show more content…
We can see it through the eyes of Charles, Ernestine, Mrs. Poultney and the other characters she comes into contact with. For Ernestina, Sarah is a disturbing presence, especially because of the alleged sexual conduct and her unusual behavior. The fact that Sarah is able to defy the entire community and live outside their rules makes her look odd and incomprehensible, both by Ernestina and by those with whom Sarah comes in contact. Both Mrs. Poultney and Ms. Fairley define Sarah as “a public scandal” and a “wicked Jezebel” (244, 245) both traditional labels for those who challenge the values of Victorian society and moral conduct. Dr. Grogan looks at Sarah from a scientific point of view, and he believes that her reckless behavior is caused by illness, melancholy and hysteria, all because of her suffering. Charles is the only one who sees something else in

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