7KH)UHQFK/LHXWHQDQWV:RPDQ: Some Tips for Successful Summer Reading

Dear Grade 10 Students,

This summer, one of the texts you will be reading in preparation for grade 11 English is The French /LHXWHQDQWV:RPDQ, by John Fowles. This book is an exciting, yet challenging, read.

We are asking you to read the entire novel once on your own this summer, so that you get a good

sense of the characters and plot. We will review the novel together in the fall, by considering blocks of chapters at a time.

Before you begin to read the novel, take the time now to read the following documents, included in

this package:

- Student-to-Student Advice About Reading the Book in the Summer;

- About the Author John Fowles;

- Amazon.ca Customers Review 7KH)UHQFK/LHXWHQDQWV:RPDQ

- Important Ideas in 7KH)UHQFK/LHXWHQDQWV:RPDQ

- 7KH)UHQFK/LHXWHQDQWV:RPDQ: A Summary.

As you read the novel this summer, please do the following:

- look up unfamiliar words in a dictionary and make a note of their definitions in the margins;

- write a 2-3 sentence summary of each chapter (either in the white space at the start of each

chapter or on a separate piece of paper).

We hope you enjoy reading this book and we look forward to discussing it in detail with you in class in

September. If you would prefer to listen to this novel in audio-book format, you may purchase the audio-book at audible.com.

Have a great summer!

Your Grade 11 English Teachers

The FUHQFK/LHXWHQDQWV:RPDQ: Some Student-to-Student Advice About Reading the Book in the Summer

(from the Grade 11 English Class of 2010-2011)

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About the Author John Fowles

John Fowles was born on March 31, 1926 in Leigh-on-Sea in Essex, England. As a young man, he

studied French and philosophy at Oxford, and travelled to France and Greece. Fowles became a

teacher and a writer. His books include The Collector, The Magus and 7KH)UHQFK/LHXWHQDQWVWoman. Fowles moved to the southern coast of England to the small harbor town of Lyme Regis in 1968; this town is the setting for 7KH)UHQFK/LHXWHQDQWV:RPDQ.

Further information about John Fowles is available at fowlesbooks.com.

Amazon.ca Customers Review 7KH)UHQFK/LHXWHQDQWV:RPDQ

A true masterpiece, May 14 2004 - By Matthew Krichman In the first hundred pages of this book I had already begun to realize that this was one of the best books I

have ever read. That feeling never let up; indeed, it grew even stronger as I approached the end, when I began to

feel a frantic eagerness to discover what would become of these characters that I had grown to care so much for.

Sarah Woodruff (aka the French Lieutenant's Woman) is one of my favorite characters in literature. She is

a complex, nuanced character, intriguingly covered by a delicate veil of mystery throughout the first half of the

book. Her pain, her selfless sacrifice, and her courage are deeply and powerfully drawn. She is a true example of

a woman ahead of her time, a woman who challenges the norms of her society by simply ignoring them. Her

confidence and her quiet scorn for the Puritanism of the times in which she lives raise her to a level above the so-

called moral leaders who condemn her. In a strange way, she is a true hero.

This book, written in the late 1960s but set one hundred years earlier, is a beautiful example of period

literature. Fowles, through his remarkably genuine narrative voice, recreates the world of Victorian England in such

a way that if it weren't for the occasional references to modern life you might think the book was a century older

than it is. It is filled with all the pomp and formality you would expect, but also with a wit, dry humor, and quiet

mocking of the period that lend it an added flavor.

But Fowles is not simply trying to create a period piece or social commentary. I believe that first and

foremost he was creating a love story. I would put Charles and Sarah in the same category with Romeo and Juliet

as far as love stories go. The relationship is developed slowly, so slow that it is exquisitely painful almost. And

though the time they spend together is brief, it is filled with an unmistakable air of eventual tragedy.

The only question left in my mind is whether to categorize this book as a classic of modern fiction or of 19th

century fiction. It could easily stand in either section of my bookshelf.

Fowles' most artful, enigmatic tale, Aug 18 2003 - By Peggy Vincent The French Lieutenant's Woman is a Victorian-style novel that deals with 20th Century issues. Charles

Smithson falls in love with the mysterious Sarah Woodruff, a woman who has been cast aside by the French

lieutenant of the book's title. The book shifts in time between past and present, between politics and social issues

of today and the Victorian era, as it deals with love, lust, broken promises, and redemption. Lovely, lyrical, and

there's a twist to the surprise ending.

The Victorian Era in Retrospect, April 30 2001 - By Christopher Dudley Though the story in this novel takes place in the Victorian era of England in 1869, it was written a century

later, allowing the author and the reader to view the entire time period in retrospect, and make several

observations on the age as it pertains to the story he tells. That story involves a young gentleman, Charles,

engaged to a suitable young lady, Ernestina, the daughter of a successful tradesman. Charles becomes intrigued

by the local outcast Sarah, also known (most euphemistically) as "The French Lieutenant's Woman," and they

share an attraction that defies his social station and, as a societal outcast, her lack of one.

Throughout the novel, Fowles inserts information about the era, and highlights in particular the hypocrisy of

sexual attitudes and roles. Charles and Sarah find themselves victims of these restrictions, and as such their

romance is doomed from the start. Charles convinces himself that he has a truly selfless motive in attempting to

help Sarah, whom he sees as a victim, and ends up weaving a web of deceit to himself and others as he fails to

see himself falling in love with her. As the novel progresses, one can read in the comments about Victorian

standards, commentary about our own modern age. By holding this bygone age up to our own, Fowles shows us

how far we've come, and how little we've left behind.

To enhance the immersive storytelling, the prose is written in a style reminiscent of the Victorian authors

themselves. In fact, in one section where Fowles points out such contradictions as the fact that in this age when

lust was a forbidden topic, one in every sixty houses in London was a brothel, the paragraph might easily be read

as "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..." But even in this emulation, he uses more modern literary

methods, such as giving a false ending more than a hundred pages before the real end, and inserting himself as a

character in the story. These feats are done with expertise and flair, and though they are jarring at first, it quickly

becomes apparent that even the tricks are part of the story.

Held up against the story of the upper-class Charles is the subplot of Sam, his manservant. Sam also has

his own romance with Mary, a maid in Ernestina's aunt's household. The societal standards for Charles and for

Sam are compared and contrasted throughout the book, creating an intriguing duality of storytelling, which leaves

the upper-class Victorians looking somewhat the worse for comparison.

If you don't mind a novel that's hard to put down, and very tempting to re-read as soon as you've finished, I

strongly recommend The French Lieutenant's Woman.

My every five years novel., April 19 2000 By A Customer

I first read this wonderful book in the late 60's, shortly after it published. As a high school student, I was

simply blown away by the story, the virtuosity of the endings, by its ambiguity, but most of all by the richness of its

language.

The scene when Charles and Sarah confront each other in the shed in the Undercliff has more tension and

suspense than a thousand horror movies, because it was so real.

In the intervening 30 years, I've re-read this novel every five years or so. Like other great works, each re-

UHDGLQJEULQJVVRPHWKLQJQHZEHFDXVH,FRQWLQXHWRFKDQJHLQWKLVJUHDWERRN)RZOHVDQG,FRQQHFWHG,

hope when I'm ninety, I can sit down and read it again (and find something fresh and new).

Important Ideas in 7KH)UHQFK/LHXWHQDQWV:RPDQ

TIME and PROGRESS Although the novel 7KH)UHQFK/LHXWHQDQWV:RPDQwas published in 1969, it is set in 1869 100

years earlier. Throughout the novel, the author questions the idea of progress. The story is set in the

Victorian age, named for Queen Victoria (1837-1901). This time period is often associated with industrialization, urbanization, the rise of evolutionary science (Darwinism), sexual repression and

Puritan ideals.

FREEDOM Many characters in FLW are struggling to achieve their own individual freedom. These characters reflect existentialism, a philosophical movement of the early-mid twentieth century that emphasized individual freedom and an iQGLYLGXDOVUHVSRQVLELOLW\WRFUHDWHher own authentic experience. As you

read the novel, think about who is struggling to be free? from whom or from what? why?

BREAKING AWAY FROM TRADITION Many elements of FLW seem to break away from the traditional novel: the narrator interrupts the story, the narrator talks directly to the reader about how he is telling the story, the narrator makes

reference to the 20th century in a novel that is set in the 19th century, and he offers RQHIDOVHHQGLQJ

and two options for the final ending of the story. In these ways and more, FLW is a postmodern novel. Postmodernism was the dominant cultural movement of the mid-late 20th century. This

movement resisted and questioned traditional assumptions about culture, identity, history, language

and literary forms.

(We will discuss all of these important ideas in more detail in class in the fall. - )

The French Lieutenant's Woman: A Summary

The first chapter describes Lyme Regis and its Cobb, a harbor quay on which three characters are

standing: Charles Smithson, Ernestina Freeman, and Sarah Woodruff. The describing narrator has a

distinctive voice, all-knowing yet intimate, with a wide-ranging vocabulary and evidently vast

knowledge of political and geographical history. In one sentence the narrator sounds like a Victorian,

as he remarks that the male character recently "had severely reduced his dundrearies, which the

arbiters of the best English male fashion had declared a shade vulgar--that is, risible to the foreigner--

a year or two previously." In the next sentence he sounds modern, as he describes how "the colors of

the young lady's clothes would strike us today as distinctly strident." The narrator's double vision and

double voice make him as important as the characters in this novel.

Charles is a middle-aged bachelor and amateur paleontologist; Ernestina is his fiance, who has

brought him to spend a few days with her aunt. Out of a chivalric concern for Sarah, Charles advises

her to return from the end of the Cobb to a safer position, but she merely stares at him. As he reflects

on this curious meeting, the narrator begins to comment on Charles's outlook on life and on the

attitudes that were typical of the age in 1867, with occasional comparisons with 1967.

Ernestina is revealed to be a pretty but conventional young woman. Sarah is an outcast who is

reputed to be pining for the French lieutenant who has jilted her. Charles is earnest but intelligent

enough to be aware of Ernestina's limitations. When he is looking for fossils along the wooded

Undercliff, Charles discovers Sarah sleeping, and must apologize when she awakes and sees him

observing her. As he returns to Lyme, he inquires about her at a nearby farm, whose owner tells him

that the "French Loot'n'nt's Hoer" often walks that way. Sarah's employer, having separately become

aware of that fact, forbids her to walk there any more. Sarah spends that night contemplating suicide,

and Chapter 12 ends with two questions: "Who is Sarah? Out of what shadows does she come?"

Chapter 13 begins "I do not know," and the narrator proceeds to discuss the difficulty of writing a

story when characters behave independently rather than do his bidding. Charles, he complains, did

not return to Lyme as the narrator had intended but willfully went down to the Dairy to ask about

Sarah. But, the narrator concedes, times have changed, and the traditional novel is out of fashion,

according to some. Novels may seem more real if the characters do not behave like marionettes and

narrators do not behave like God. So the narrator, in effect, promises to give his characters the free

will that people would want a deity to grant them. Likewise, the narrator will candidly admit to the

artifice of the narration and will thereby treat his readers as intelligent, independent beings who

deserve more than the manipulative illusions of reality provided in a traditional novel. 1

Subsequent chapters contain representations of domestic life--a quiet evening with Charles and

Ernestina, a morning with Charles and his valet, a concert at the Assembly Rooms. During this last,

Charles reflects on where his life seems to be leading and on the fact that, as he puts it, he has

EHFRPHDOLWWOHREVHVVHGZLWK6DUDKRUDWDQ\UDWHZLWKWKHHQLJPDVKHSUHVHQWHG+HUHWXUQVWR

the Undercliff, again finds Sarah there, and is shocked to be told by her that she is not pining for her

French lieutenant, that he is married. The next time Charles encounters her in the Undercliff she

offers Charles some fossils she has found and tells him that she thinks she may be going mad; she

asks him to meet her there once more, when she has more time, so that she can tell him the truth

about her situation and obtain his advice.

Charles decides to seek advice himself and visits Dr. Grogan, an elderly bachelor and an admirer of

Darwin, whose theories they discuss. When the conversation turns to Sarah, Grogan expresses the

belief that she wants to be a victim. Sarah seems to bear out his view when she explains to Charles

that she indeed became infatuated with the French lieutenant when he was recovering from an injury

in the house, where Sarah was governess, and that she followed him when he left to return to France.

She tells Charles that she quickly realized that he had regarded her only as an amusement, but that

she "gave" herself to him nonetheless, doubly dishonoring herself by choice as well as by

circumstances. She seems to be proud of her status as outcast, for it differentiates her from a society

she considers unjust. Charles accepts her story--even finds it fascinating.

When Charles returns to his room at the inn, he finds a telegram from his bachelor uncle Robert,

summoning him home to the family estate he is in line to inherit. To Charles's surprise, Robert has

decided to marry Bella Tomkins, a young widow, whose sons--if she has any--would displace Charles

as heir. On Charles's return to Lyme Regis, Ernestina mentions that Sarah was seen returning from

their last meeting in the Undercliff, where she had been forbidden to walk, and has been dismissed by

Mrs. Poulteney. At his hotel, Charles finds a message from Sarah, urging him to meet her one more

time. Charles has Dr. Grogan call off the search for Sarah, who, it was thought, might have killed

herself Grogan again warns Charles against Sarah, this time by offering him a document to read

about a case of bizarre behavior by a young woman in France who manages to get one of her father's

officers unjustly convicted of attempting to rape her. Charles decides to meet Sarah again, despite

the possibility that she may be deranged and trying to destroy him.

When he finds her, she confesses that she deliberately allowed herself to be seen and, hence,

dismissed. Charles is unable to resist kissing her but is bewildered. His feelings turn to dismay when

they are stumbled on by Sam and Mary, his valet and Ernestina's aunt's servant, who have come to

the Undercliff for their own privacy. Embarrassed, he swears them to secrecy. 2

Now even more of two minds about his marriage, Charles decides to go to London to discuss his

altered financial prospects with Ernestina's father, a prosperous merchant there. Mr. Freeman is more

concerned for the happiness of his daughter, who evidently loves Charles dearly, so the engagement

stands; but Charles is increasingly uncomfortable with, even trapped by, his situation. He goes to his

club and drinks too much. He visits a brothel with two of his friends, but finds the entertainment

repellant, and leaves. He picks up a Cockney streetwalker and returns to her flat with her; when she

tells him her name is, coincidentally, Sarah, Charles becomes ill and, subsequently, returns to his

room. The next morning Charles receives a letter from Grogan, and a note from Sarah with the name

of a hotel in Exeter.

Because the train station nearest to Lyme Regis is in Exeter, Charles must pass through that town on

his way back from London. Having steamed open the note from Sarah, Sam is confident that they will

spend the night in Exeter, so that Charles can visit Sarah, but they proceed to Lyme, where Charles

and Ernestina are reunited. The narrator recounts that they go on to marry, have seven children, and

live well into the twentieth century. In the next chapter, the narrator explains that this traditional

ending is just one possibility, a hypothetical future for his characters. Charles recognized his freedom

of choice and "actually" did decide to put up at Exeter for the night, precisely as Sam had expected.

As the story resumes and continues to unfold, Charles visits Sarah at her hotel. He must see her in

her room because she has supposedly injured her ankle, though she has purchased the bandage

before the "accident" occurred. Charles is overcome by passion and takes her to bed, only to

discover that she is a virgin, despite what she had told him about the French lieutenant. She

confesses that she has deceived him, says that she cannot explain why and, furthermore, cannot

marry him. Stunned by the whole experience, Charles visits a nearby church and meditates on the

human condition. He decides that Sarah has been trying to "unblind" him with her stratagems, so that

he would recognize that he is free to choose. He writes a letter to Sarah, telling her how much she

means to him, and then returns to Lyme to call off his engagement.

Sam does not deliver the letter. Ernestina is distraught when Charles tells her that he is unworthy to

be her husband, more so when she realizes that the true reason is another woman. Sam correctly

surmises that his master's star will wane as the marriage is called off, so determined to protect his

prospect of marriage to Mary, he leaves his position as Charles's valet in hope that Ernestina's aunt

and her father will help him.

When Charles returns to Exeter, he finds Sarah gone to London, having left no forwarding address.

As he follows her, by train, a bearded figure sits opposite Charles and watches him as he dozes. 3

The character is the narrator himself, who professes not to know where Sarah is or what she wants;

indeed, he is wondering what exactly to do with Charles. He compares writing a novel to fixing a fight

in favor of one boxer or another; to seem less dishonest, he decides to show the "fight" as if "fixed"

both ways, with different "victors," or endings. Because the last ending will seem privileged by its final

position, he flips a coin to determine which ending to give first.

The narrative resumes the description of Charles's search for Sarah. He checks agencies for

governesses, patrols areas frequented by prostitutes, and advertises--all without success. He visits

the United States and advertises there. Two years after she disappeared, Charles gets a cable from

his solicitor saying that Sarah has been found. Charles hopes that Sarah has decided to answer the

ad, but the narrator explains that Mary has seen Sarah enter a house in Chelsea, and that it is Sam

who responded to the ad, now that he is a thriving employee of Mr. Freeman as well as a happy

father and husband, but still slightly guilt-ridden over his having intercepted the letter at Lyme.

When Charles arrives at Sarah's house, he finds her surprised to see him and not apologetic about

having left him in ignorance of her whereabouts. She gradually is revealed to be living in the house of

Dante Gabriel Rossetti and several other artists and models of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood.

Charles is shocked, partly by the rather notoriously unconventional company she is keeping and

partly by her lack of repentance for having deceived him and left him in uncertainty. He accuses her

of implanting a dagger in his breast and then twisting it. She decides not to let Charles leave without

revealing that she has had a child by him, named Lalage. Chapter 60 ends with the three of them

evidently on the threshold of some kind of future together.

Chapter 61 begins with the bearded narrator in front of Sarah's house with a watch, which he sets

back fifteen minutes and drives off. The narrative resumes with the same piece of dialogue from

Chapter 60, about twisting the knife. In this version of the conversation, Charles sees that she cannot

marry without betraying herself, and that he cannot accept her on more independent terms. He leaves

without realizing that the child he notices on the way out is his. The narrator ends the novel by noting

that Charles has at least begun to have some faith in himself, despite his not feeling that he

understands Sarah, and that the reader should not imagine that the last ending is any less plausible

than the one before it.

Source: http://www.fowlesbooks.com/novelsof.htm

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