Time and narrative technique in John Fowles´s The French lieutenant's woman

Abstract

The thesis is about the interrelation of temporal characteristics and narrative technique in the novel The French Lieutenant s Woman, written by the British writer John Fowles in the 1960s. I divide time in the novel into four distinct levels. The first level is the time of the narrated events in 1860s. The second level is the century between the time of narration and the time of narrated events, whereas the third level combines diverse references to art and literature in the novel. The fourth level is the time of fossils and Nature.

In each chapter of the thesis I discuss one of the levels mentioned above. In addition, I examine the different personifications of the narrator and the technique he uses in order to manipulate the readers. I pay special attention to allusions in the novel, as well as to the interplay between real and imaginary .

A separate part of the thesis is devoted to the film adaptation of The French Lieutenant s Woman, where I discuss whether the creators of the film have achieved an adequate representation of the different temporal levels and the narrator s personae discernible in the novel.