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Variations on a Theme: The Monomyth in John Fowles's The French Lieutenant's Woman

This study analyzes the development of the major characters in Fowles's novel - Charles, Sarah, and Sam - in terms of the heroic quest motif. Using the basic pattern of the heroic quest, the monomyth, that Joseph Campbell sets forth in his The Hero with a Thousand Faces, I attempt to show that Fowles's novel may best be understood as the story of three separate heroic quests whose paths cross rather than as the story of a single hero or heroine. This reading seems to account best for all elements of the novel and to explain best the final positions of the characters in question as well as providing a rich appreciation of the novel's wealth of imagery.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:unt.edu/info:ark/67531/metadc500335
Date12 1900
CreatorsMerriell, Jean M. (Jean Marie)
ContributorsMitchell, Giles R., Warde, William Booth, Jr., Hughes, Robert L.
PublisherUniversity of North Texas
Source SetsUniversity of North Texas
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeThesis or Dissertation
Format169 leaves, Text
RightsPublic, Merriell, Jean M. (Jean Marie), Copyright, Copyright is held by the author, unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved.

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