The French Lieutenant's Woman
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The French Lieutenant's Woman is a 1969 novel by John Fowles. The book was inspired by the 1823 novel Ourika by Claire de Duras, which Fowles translated to English in 1977 (and revised in 1994). In 1981, the novel was adapted as a feature film.
Plot summary
The novel's central character is Sarah Woodruff, the Woman of the book's title, also known by the nickname Tragedy and by the unfortunate nickname "The French Lieutenant's Whore." She lives in the town of Lyme Regis as a disgraced woman, ill-used by a French sailor who returned to France and married another woman.
Sarah spends her limited time off from her domestic work on a cliff, staring at the sea. One day, she is seen there by the gentleman Charles Smithson and his fiancée, Ernestina Freeman, the shallow but wealthy daughter of a tradesman. Ernestina tells Charles something of Sarah's story, and he develops a strong curiosity about her story. They end up having several clandestine meetings where Sarah tells Charles her history and asks for his aid, mostly emotionally. Although Charles tries to remain distant, he ends up saving Sarah from commitment to an asylum and follows her to London. At the same time, Charles learns his projected inheritance from an older uncle is in jeopardy, as the uncle is now engaged to a woman young enough to bear him an heir.
From there, Fowles - who appears briefly as a character in the book - offers three different endings.
- In one, Charles marries Ernestina. Their marriage is not a happy one, and Sarah's fate is unknown.
- In another, Charles has sex with Sarah and breaks his engagement to Ernestina, which brings unpleasant consequences of its own. Sarah flees to London without telling Charles, who looks for her for several years before finding her again. He then sees that he has a child. Their future as a family is left open.
- In the third, Charles breaks his engagement again, but when he finds Sarah, their reunion is a sour one. He realizes he has been used, but sees some benefit in the journey towards self-knowledge.
External links
- [Sites about The French Lieutenant's Woman]
- [Postmodern evolutionary theory in The French Lieutenant's Woman]
- [Genetic and cultural selection in The French Lieutenant's Woman]
- [20th-Century American Bestsellers The French Lieutenant's Woman]
ISBN
- ISBN 0316291161 (paperback)
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