Revolts Against Oppressions

The French Lieutenant’s Woman is the representative work of British writer JohnRobert Fowles. Since its publication in1969, it has attracted many critics to makevarious comments, especially on the theme of freedom. From the Marxist’sperspective of human liberation, The French Lieutenant’s Woman exposes theproblems in social politics, economic relations and Victorian Morality and the maincharacters’ ways of struggles against oppressions through displaying the classcontradictions between the lower class and the upper class, the female sex and themale sex. Thus, this novel reveals Fowles’s liberation thought.In The French Lieutenant’s Woman, Fowles restores Victorian reality by hisskilled imitation. He exposes the discords respectively in social politics, economicrelations and morality in the Victorian society. At first, Fowles explores classantagonism and class contradictories by displaying the discordant human relationsbetween masters and servants, the males and the females. However, there are somesocial and economic causes behind the discords. Then, by showing class oppressionsfrom the upper class to the lower class and the male sex to the female sex in socialpolitical relations, economic relations and morality, Fowles explores the root causesfrom the Victorian socioeconomic systems of hierarchy, patriarchy and the capitalistprivate ownership. Finally, Fowles presents three representatives of the oppressed inclass struggles—Sam’s revolt against hierarchy, Sarah’s revolt against hierarchy andpatriarchy and Charles’s pursuit of liberty. Through their struggles, Fowles displays arevolution against Victorian hierarchy, patriarchy, and the capitalist privateownership. In this novel, by exposing Victorian social problems, Fowles expresseshis liberation thought of advocating pursuit of liberty and revolts against oppressions.