John Fowles's Philosophical Views Reflected In The French Lieutenant's Woman

John Fowles is one of the most eminent contemporary British writers. He shows great concern about the relationship between the individuals of the twentieth century and the society, self and other. His masterpiece, The French Lieutenant's Woman, has aroused great echo among the critics and readers for its excellent postmodern narrative techniques, writing style and a strong sense of existentialism since its publication in 1969. Fowles explored the living predicament of the Victorian women and their life values from multiple perspectives, with strong feminist consciousness. The critics both at home and abroad have done an intensive and deep study of The French Lieutenant's Woman from many perspectives, such as existentialism, feminism, and historicism, etc. However, most of them focus only on the characters and the novel itself, doing little research into Fowles's philosophical ideas contained in the novel.This thesis, based on the theory of existentialism and feminism, attempts to interpret Fowles's existentialist views, feminist ideas and patriarchal ideas reflected in The French Lieutenant's Woman, aiming to have an objective and better understanding of Fowles's philosophical views reflected in this novel.The thesis is made up of the introduction, the body and the conclusion. The body is made up of four chapters. The introduction section consists of three parts:Firstly, it introduces Fowles's life, his works and the general content of The French Lieutenant's Woman. Secondly, it gives a brief review of the previous inclusive study on Fowles and The French Lieutenant's Woman, highlighting the feminist and existentialist study of this novel. Finally, it discusses the feasibility of interpreting Fowles's philosophical views mirrored in The French Lieutenant's Woman by combining existentialism and feminism approaches.The First Chapter mainly introduces the formation and content of Fowles's philosophical views, especially of his existentialist, feminist outlooks, and the influence of his philosophical ideas on his novels. The Second Chapter is an analysis of Fowles's existentialist ideas, in particular, the philosophy:"the existential void", "the nemo" and "positive existentialism" in developing the theme and plot. The Third Chapter explores how Fowles's feminist views are reflected in Sarah, who is a new woman with strong feminist consciousness, in the aspect of his subversion to the traditional gender roles, sympathy and support for women's struggle for freedom and independence. His critical attitude towards women losing themselves is also reflected in Ernestina. The limitations of Fowles's thoughts will be discussed in the last chapter. His recognition and support of men's superiority and women's position as objects make him stand by men in dealing with the relationship between men and women.The conclusion gives a summary of the main ideas, and points out that Fowles pay more attention to individual freedom and independence as well as the relationship between men and women, making great effort to create a novel with strong existentialist and feminist consciousness. However, the ingrained patriarchal ideas and the instinctive discrimination against women make him pay more attention to men's problem and growth. These are the limitations of Fowles'philosophical views reflected in The French Lieutenant's Woman.