Charles is still savoring his relief at escaping from the snare of Sarah’s attractiveness as he returns to town and finds a telegram waiting for him at his hotel. His uncle at Winsyatt asks that he make an immediate visit to discuss some important matters. Charles is overjoyed for two […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapters 22-27Summary and Analysis Chapters 18-21
Charles again meets Sarah by the seashore, quite unintentionally, of course, but by now his walks to the shore are colored by his fears and also his hopes of meeting her. She gives him two fossils she has found, then tentatively turns to him for his help. She wants him […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapters 18-21Summary and Analysis Chapters 9-17
In Chapter 9, we return to Sarah and Mrs. Poulteney, and Fowles presents an account of how Sarah manages to live with the dour old woman and is even able to attain some measure of freedom. In addition, Sarah intervenes on behalf of a maid, Millie, and wins herself the […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapters 9-17Summary and Analysis Chapters 1-8
The initial chapter of the novel opens with an excerpt from Thomas Hardy’s poem “The Riddle,” which seems to describe the French Lieutenant’s Woman as she is first seen by both the reader and by other characters in the story. She appears as an anonymous figure on the seashore, tragic […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapters 1-8Character List
Sarah Woodruff She is an educated but impoverished young woman. She is called “the French Lieutenant’s Woman” or “Tragedy” or the “French lieutenant’s whore” because it is believed that she had an affair with a shipwrecked French sailor. It is also believed that she is half-mad with grief and that […]
Read more Character ListAbout The French Lieutenant’s Woman
This novel is based on the nineteenth-century romantic or gothic novel, a literary genre which can trace its origins back to the eighteenth century. Although Fowles perfectly reproduces typical characters, situations, and even dialogue, the reader should always be aware of the irony inherent in Fowles’ perception; for his perspective, […]
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