To begin with this novel did not initially strike me as the tragic love story it appears to be. Rather, as I opened the first few pages of Fowles’ novel over winter break, I saw the poignant remarks the author makes about society and the changing of times as the first peel of this layered novel. To fully understand why this affected me so, you must first realize what I did over this break.
Most days began with a trip to the gym, followed by lots of TV and sitting on the couch, eventually a shower, perhaps a little shopping, and then dinner with the family. At first, it was pretty much amazing, but after about three days I was bored out of my mind. Then, feeling a little ambitious, I decided to do some reading. All semester I had been adding to a list of “must reads” but I couldn’t do at the time due to time constraints. After attacking the first few on the list, I made progress on reading for the new semester, well buying the first book at least. The feeling that took me was short lived urgency, a desire to do something out of supposed necessity. Much like the era described in the novel, “The supposed great mystery of our century is the lack of time…finding faster ways of doing things – as if the final aim of mankind was to grow closer not to a perfect humanity, but to a perfect lightning flash.” (7) I got a bit further than this point in the novel before returning to lazy reality, and The Devil Wears Prada. J
The reality of the situation is what is so apparent about out society in general. The noble thoughts of getting ahead are for formidable means, not necessarily to better ourselves, but rather to prove ourselves. Charles, has no such worries, and truly “…what would have astounded him was the changed attitude to time itself.” (7) The Victorian Era was so unlike the world we live in today, especially as competitive college students. We all strive to be that model Plan II student who has knowledge and know how that surpasses their peers, but if we do not control it we find ourselves in the rat race we described last semester.
I too, like
many young girls of our time, wonder what it would be like to have lived in
that Victorian era, filled with balls and courtiers. What we do not like to dream about is the stereotypes
and prejudices that society then forced upon women based on their station. For Sarah this was difficult, after all she
had fallen for a French man who no
one seemed to have respected. The views
that society took upon her startle me as does Fowles’ description: “It was not
a pretty face, like Ernestina’s. It was
certainly not a beautiful face, by any period’s standards or taste. But it was an unforgettable face, and a
tragic face. Its sorrow welled out of it
as purely, naturally and unstoppably as water out of a woodland spring. There was not artifice there, no hypocrisy,
no hysteria, no mask; and above all, no sight of madness.” (6) Sarah is certainly seen as “a sinner” because
after all, “The simple fact of the matter being that she had not lodged with a
female cousin at
Mrs. Poulteney is a unique character as well, and what entertained me about her initially was her need to show her kindness or rather put on a show of kindness. I do not doubt that she is a nice women, or attempts to be, but it is a bit humorous how she struggles as “…she reflected on the terrible mathematical doubt that increasingly haunted her: whether the Lord calculated charity by what one had given or by what one could have afforded to give.” (14) This era certainly stressed holiness, but what I found the most interesting was the discovery that Fowles’ was true that we lack. “They sensed that current accounts of the world were inadequate; that they had allowed their windows on reality to become smeared by convention, religion, social stagnation; they knew, in short, that they had things to discover, and that the discovery was of the utmost importance to the future of man. We think (unless we live in a research laboratory) that we have nothing to discover…so much the better for us? Perhaps. But we are not the ones who will finally judge.” (34) I’m not sure how I feel about this statement, I do find it true, but to what extent I am willing to compromise. Are we all that quick to take in what is told to us? Or do we still try to discover? In this class we do, but in life? I’m not sure, but I do plan to think about it some more…