The French Lieutenant's Woman by John Fowles

Initially telling himself he is only curious, Charles is increasingly attracted to this strange, passionate woman, and finds himself at odds with the propriety that Victorian England so prizes.Īdapted as a 1981 film directed by Karel Reisz, scripted by Harold Pinter and starring Meryl Streep and Jeremy Irons. However, a lingering dissatisfaction with the predictability and restraint of the society around him gnaws at Charles, and this becomes increasingly hard to ignore after he meets Sarah Woodruff, a single governess variously nicknamed 'Tragedy' and ' the French lieutenant's woman'. Although he has no great achievements to which to aspire, he has an agile mind and a passion for natural sciences. Within a few years he can look forward to inheriting his family's estate from his uncle. He is engaged to Ernestina Freeman, an industrialist's daughter who is kind, loving and rich. The year is 1867, and gentleman Charles Henry Smithson is fairly content with life. Writing itself is one of the major subjects of the book, and the seemingly omniscient narrator/author's struggle to accurately convey his story are as much a concern of the book as the tribulations of the characters. Though occasionally jarring, the intercutting between the parallel stories, aided immeasurably by Streep's disparate characterizations, succeeds in conveying the complexity of Fowles' novel.A 1969 Postmodern novel by English author John Fowles.Ī pastiche of Victorian novels, The French Lieutenant's Woman sets up the familiar archetypes and dilemmas found in such books and set about quietly subverting them with a cavalcade of Lampshade Hangings, Shout Outs and fourth-wall breakings. Sarah and Charles in a film adaptation of The French Lieutenant's Woman who casually embark on their own affair-with decidedly different results. Pinter's screenplay shrewdly incorporates both the novel's 19th-century point of view and, underscoring the oppressive constraints of Victorian society, a contemporary tale featuring Streep and Irons as Anna and Mike, the sophisticated actors playing Who finds her and falls hopelessly in love.

In his first starring role, Jeremy Irons portrays Charles Smithson, the wealthy young man of principle In a technically flawless performance, Meryl Streep plays Sarah Woodruff, a mysterious pariah in mourning who has been dishonored after a affair with a French army officer in Victorian England. Undaunted, director Karel Reisz joined forces with esteemed playwright Harold Pinter to convey the essence of

Translating John Fowles' complex novel to the screen was a formidable task, previously attempted-then abandoned-by the likes of Fred Zinnemann, Richard Lester and Mike Nichols.

The French Lieutenant's Woman by John Fowles