Journal 7: Sarah and Charles

Based on your reading, what effect does Sarah have on Charles? You've seen how he relates to Ernestina, but what is it about Sarah that obsesses and possesses him? Are they an equal match? At this time, does Sarah's character remind you of other literary characters?

Journal 6: Ernestina Vs. Charles

What, in your opinion, is the relationship between Ernestina and Charles? What does she see in him? Likewise, what does he see in her?

Journal 5: John Fowles Website

I would like you to visit a great website dedicated to John Fowles. Be sure to read through the biography of the author and a transcript of his interview with Melvyn Bragg. Explore some of the links to find out about one of our century's great British authors. Then, in a page of bullets, jot down some of your findings.

Website: http://www.fowlesbooks.com/

Journal Entry 4: Great Lines from The French Lieutenant's Woman

What I love about this novel, and John Fowles in particular, is his amazing use of language. Like Hardy, Fowles gives us memorable sentences that sing out--both in terms of their style and their substance. Here are a few--with chapter numbers in parentheses:

1. "Her father was a very rich man; but her grandfather had been a draper, and Charles's had been a baronet." (2)

2. "Charles felt immediately as if he had trespassed; as if the Cobb belonged to that face, and not to the Ancient Borough of Lyme. It was not a pretty face, by any period's standard or taste. But it was an unforgettable face, and a tragic face." (2)

3. "But for Charles, and for almost all his contemporaries and social peers, the time signature over existence was firmly adagio." (3)

4. "There his tarnished virginity was soon blackened out of recognition; but so, as his father had hoped, was his intended marriage with the Church." (3)

5. "He had, in short, all the Byronic ennui with neither of the Byronic outlets: genius and adultery." (3)

6. "Most British families of the middle and upper classes lived above their own cesspool. . . ." (4)


As you read this delightful novel, keep on the lookout for great sentences that dazzle your intellectual senses. Mark them down or place them on a post-it note.

For this entry, have at least 10 key lines (with a parenthetical reaction to the line--in essence, what you like about the line). Be sure to cite the page number where you found the line.

Journal Topic 3: The Chapter Epigraphs

In keeping in the tradition of the Victorian Novel, John Fowles decided to start each of his chapters with an epigraph. I hope that you're reading them (before and after you read the chapter). These epigraphs add a new dimension to the novel, sometimes distancing it in older times, sometimes as a commentary on some aspect of the chapter.

In this journal topic, take what you feel is one of the more interesting "epigraphs" from one of the chapters and study it carefully in relationship to its chapter. Then, talk about what the epigraph adds to the meaning of the chapter as a whole. Does the epigraph serve as a commentary on chapter? Is its use ironic? What, in essence, is its function?
You'll know when you come across an epigraph that works for you (and that sheds light on the chapter), so keep this topic in the back of your mind as you're reading through the novel.

Journal Topic 2 -- French Lieutenant's Woman

A Portrait of Sarah: Tell us what you know about Sarah from the first 50 pages of the novel. What's she like? How does she behave? In what way does she seem mysterious? How do you visualize her? Does she remind you of other literary heroines?

Journal Topic 1 -- French Lieutenant's Woman

A Portrait of Charles -- Tell us everything you know about Charles based on your introduction to him. What's he like? What's important to him? How does he relate to others? How do you visualize him?