FOWLES'S THE FRENCH LIEUTENANT'S WOMAN: BEYOND THE (IM)POSSIBILITY OF KNOWING THE PAST
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.35120/kij5505879nKeywords:
history, fiction, new-historical (neo-Victorian), pastAbstract
This paper will explore the importance of history and its relationship with fiction in the new-historical
genre, with special reference to John Fowles’s The French Lieutenant’s Woman (1969). Although Fowles himself
does not want to depict this novel as historical, the interpretation of the novel from the perspective of newhistoricism
demonstrates that history and the possibility of knowing the past are very important concerns for Fowles.
The French Lieutenant’s Woman is generally viewed by critics as an exemplary historiographic metafiction. Still,
we offer evidence that this novel represents a neo-Victorian (a subgenre of new-historical) novel which both follows
the conventions of a classical historical novel and violates these conventions. Despite the fact that the novel suggests
that the notion of history as a discipline based on facts becomes problematic, it at the same time implies that
historical knowledge may be attained. As it follows from the novel, history should not be seen as linear,
uninterrupted and certain, but as heterogeneous and unstable. The contemporary concept of history encompasses a
number of versions and dimensions of the past, which is the very condition of historical knowledge. As a typical
new-historical novel, The French Lieutenant’s Woman emphasizes the link between history and fiction. The novel
implies that they are based upon similar principles. According to Fowles, history has many various uses. This means
that the author’s intent is not only to illuminate similarities, differences or superiority of past and present, but to
highlight certain concerns which permeate all historical and literary epochs, such as freedom, duty, sexuality, a
misunderstanding between the sexes. In other words, this novel suggests that history for Fowles is horizontal rather
than vertical. Moreover, Sarah and Charles may be interpreted as characters who attempt to transcend history. Their
love story, choices and dilemmas are perceived as timeless, eternal, and their evolution consists of rejecting imposed
roles, labels and molds in favor of reaching the state of existential awareness. In doing so, they become free from the
constraints of history, not willing to shape their lives upon the principles of narrative, which determine both history
and fiction. Reading The French Lieutenant’s Woman proves to be a learning experience. Fowles’s intention is to
inspire the reader to abandon conventional reading and take part in the creation of the novel. This novel is an
exemplary participatory fiction since the three possible endings invite the reader to assign his own meaning to the
story and fill in the gaps that Fowles deliberately leaves.
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