This section of the novel certainly caused a variety of emotions to arise from within me. Initially I began Chapter 15 with the urge to sink into the sympathetic imagination and become one in the book. I soon found, however, that I was clearly not capable of such a feat. The Victorian era defined roles of women and men in such a “backward” way that with the turn of every page I wanted to yelp out in anger. For instance, in Chapter 18, “A woman did not contradict a man’s opinion when he was being serious unless it were in carefully measured terms.” This perspective brought up feelings I did not know I even possessed. Yes, I am certainly a feminist, but not in an overbearing sense, and I did not imagine myself to feel as passionately about the subjects that this book brought up. The reference in Chapter 16 to the great Madame Bovary, a book I sincerely loved even though it angered me, helped remind myself that literature can affect you in negative ways but still have an immense impact on strengthening your views.

As Brian and I discussed at our “tea party,” the Victorian era was – weird. The roles that men and women played in society were the central topic of our late night discussion. From our conversation I deduced the following question – was this era, and perspective, filled with necessary evils? Were these roles set for a reason? Or did we make them play such a function in society?

As I read further into this selection, I realized that Sarah was much more content than initially meets the eye. Although the doctor felt, “It was as if the woman had become addicted to melancholia as one becomes addicted to opium,” she saw herself with “a freedom they cannot understand.” (Chapter 19, 20) Charles, almost surprisingly, is the one to question just about every aspect of his and her life. She added uncertainty, and ambiguity to his static world -- “His future had always seemed to him of vast potential; and now suddenly it was a fixed voyage to a known place.” (Chapter 17) He appears to not understand this, but almost embrace it. Charles mixed feelings and abundance of apathy lead him to attempt to use his own sympathetic imagination to see her perspective. She shuts him out however, when stating, “you are not a woman,” and therefore he cannot understand. Sarah contains a mysterious bit of self confidence, and when presented with a situation Charles does not understand she simply responds, “Where are your pretensions now, those eyes and gently curving lips seemed to say; where is your birth, your science, your etiquette, your social order?” (ch21)

The Doctor plays a role on the opposite end of the spectrum, signifying both science and reasoning. The pure nature of the discussion he and Charles have in chapter 27 is given away with the description Fowles gives us at the beginning, “He sat before him across the fire; then with a small smile and a look at Charles over his glasses, he laid his hand, as if swearing on a Bible, on The Origin of Species.” (ch 27) The Darwin issue I believe underlines the more prevalent issue of people and their roles. Darwin, in that and this time period, questioned all around him and caused people to question themselves. Charles is doing this but the doctor on the other hand is accepting all. The role that science plays to both of them is highly different but still just as controversial,

“Man, man, are we not both believers in science? Do we not both hold that truth is the one great principle?...Know thyself, Smithson, know thyself!” (ch27) Charles is still questioning which is what keeps me reading this book. Where is he going? What will he decide? Does he know anything? Or nothing? My sympathetic imagination may not be working, but my imagination certainly is.