A Close Reading Of The French Lieutenant's Woman In The Light Of Transcendentalism

John Fowles emerged like a brilliant star in the British literary circle of the 1960s. As a bold pioneer in the novel world, he published his masterpiece The French Lieutenant's Woman in 1969. The original and experimental novel poured fresh air into the literary arena and won him world literary reputation. Until now, critics have analyzed it from existentialism, feminism, postmodernism, archetype, intertextuality and so forth, which shows that the novel contains rich artistic value both in writing methods and themes. The thesis attempts to approach the novel from American Transcendentalism in an effort to broaden the horizon of reading the novel.The thesis consists of five parts. The introduction puts stress on the status and influence of both the author and the novel, presents literature reviews both in China and abroad, and explains the research purpose and research approach of the thesis.Chapter One gives a general introduction to American Transcendentalism. The emphasis is put on its historical background, origins, major ideas and significance. American Transcendentalism flourished from the 1830s to the 1850s in New England. It was the summit of American Romanticism and regarded as one of the most important literary movements in the American history. In the face of the deterioration of nature and dehumanization of man brought on by industrialization, the Transcendentalists called for people to get close to nature to get its revelation and recover their nature. They had strong religious feelings of reverence towards nature. They held the belief that man could intuitively transcend the limits of his senses and directly reach truth. They placed emphasis on spirit over matter. The Transcendentalists stressed the importance of the individual and the infinitude of the private man.Chapter Two focuses on Fowles's Transcendental tendency. Fowles embraced the intuitive philosophy. He was fascinated by nature and called himself a field naturalist, ornithologist and botanist. Fowles's instinctive love of the meaning in nature's wilderness gains strength from his considerable knowledge of modern biology. After he became a famous writer, Fowles retreated into Lyme Regis, the Dorset coastal resort, for spiritual quest—writing. Besides, he was a staunch individualist. His chief concern was to preserve the freedom of the individual against all those pressures to conform that threaten our world.Chapter Three discusses the Transcendental elements in the novel. The focus remains on the Transcendental tendency of Sarah and Charles. On their way to free themselves from Victorian conventions, Sarah and Charles undergo three stages—awakening, rebellion against tradition and custom, self-reliance. Transcendentalism is employed to expound the three stages. (1) Awakening. Both Sarah and Charles are lovers of nature. Immersed in nature they commune with it and get its revelation. The beautiful nature holds a regenerative power and can stimulate man's instinct. The flowers, birds, animals live free lives in the natural world, which makes a remarkable contrast with the stifling Victorian society. This helps them see clearly the darkness, hypocrisy and repression of their age. Nature offers them a retreat from the life of hurry and bustle and a vantage point from which to get the whole Victorian society into perspective. All of these speed up their awakening. (2) Rebellion against Tradition and Custom. After awakening, they set out for a journey to rebel against Victorian conventions. During the journey they show strong individualism. Transcendentalism was a clarion call to throw off the shackles of tradition and custom and follow the God within. Therefore the anti-traditional conducts of Sarah and Charles are easily comprehended in the context of Transcendentalism. (3) Self-Reliance. After throwing off the shackles and fetters of tradition and custom they achieve self-reliance. Both Sarah and Charles fulfill self-transformation. Sarah grows into a new woman while Charles casts off his conventional shell and becomes a new self. This illuminates"the infinitude of the private man"advocated by Emerson. The individual could transcend the various limits to reach self-perfection.Conclusion is a summary of the thesis and a statement of the significance of analyzing the novel from the perspective of Transcendentalism. Though Fowles and the Transcendentalists belong to different countries and different ages, Fowles shows Transcendental tendency and his novel, The French Lieutenant's Woman, contains Transcendental ideas; besides the reason of their common cultural and literary origins, the most fundamental reason is the fact that the whole human condition that both Fowles and the Transcendentalists are concerned about has not been essentially improved but gets graver since Transcendentalist movement. Fowles and the Transcendentalists stressed the importance of the individual and tried to solve social problems only by the individual's effort,which has its positive side; but they failed in exploring the root from social system. Therefore their prescription could not root out the disease that the mass of men suffered. From Emerson's age to Fowles's age, the industrialization has reached its mature phase over a century during which the human living condition is not improved at all. This gives us a serious warning and spurs us to think over how to deal with the relationship between development of modern civilization and improvement of the whole human condition.