In his The Achievement of C. S. Lewis (1980), Thomas Howard reflects that Lewis\u27s life was not... more In his The Achievement of C. S. Lewis (1980), Thomas Howard reflects that Lewis\u27s life was not terribly exciting, and adds, [i]t would be hard to make a big box-office film of it. Hard - yes. Impossible - no. Thirteen years after Howard\u27s statement and thirty years after Lewis\u27s death, Richard Attenborough brought Lewis\u27s life to the big screen. Philip Yancey notes that [s]ome evangelicals complain that the movie distorts Lewis\u27s life and waters down his Christian message. I contend that even the most fundamental evangelical should have no complaints and that the highly religious film deserves another look
Fowles's first novel, The Collector, sold extremely well. With the success of this novel behi... more Fowles's first novel, The Collector, sold extremely well. With the success of this novel behind him, John Fowles felt secure enough to publish The Aristos, his "self-made opinion on all that concerns us" (8). He admits that this book is offensive in manner because of the "dogmatic way in which [he] set out [his] views on life" (Aristos 7). Fowles defines these views as existential; he perceives the primary concern of existentialism as "preserv[ing] the freedom of the individual against all those pressures-to-conform" (7). Fowles later insisted that his purpose in The Aristos was not in any way intended to "sell" the reader on his existential philosophy, that "[i]f [he] wanted that [he] should have written in a very different form and style, and wrapped [his] pills in the usual sugar coating" (7-8). In 1969 John Fowles published another book: The French Lieutenant's Woman. This book was as successful as The Aristos was unsuccessful; Barry Olshen notes that "with the publication of The French Lieutenant?s Woman . . . Fowles's work appeared as a best seller on both sides of the Atlantic . . . his reputation was extended into the . . . atmosphere of academe" (63). Critical reaction was sweet indeed! This time Fowles did write in a different form and style: allegory. This time he made sure his pill was sugar-coated; The French Lieutenant's Woman is coated with enticing moments of piercing self-examination and moments of unpredictable passion. Fowles manages to allow the reader to experience Victorian England through the eyes of a stereotypical young lady, an educated and refined gentleman, and an ousted woman-the mysterious Sarah. The reader also experiences 1867 from the vantage point of an additional one hundred years, i.e., through the eyes of a twentieth-century and literally intrusive author highly concerned with the tension between "the then" and "the now." Fowles craftily webs a story that confuses the line between what is real and what is imagined. He communicates little-known facts about the Victorian Age; he turns prophet as he projects characters into their futures; and he leaves the reader no alternative but to move toward existentialism: the reader must exercise individual freedom and choose how to end Fowles's tale. Fowles brilliantly uses all of these avenues to communicate, once again, his views on life, his existential philosophy. A brief description of Fowles's existentialism as outlined in The Aristos is in order. In The Aristos, Fowles states, "Freedom of the will is the highest human good" (26). Indeed, all other precepts discussed in this dogmatic and difficult work are discussed relative to a liberated self. Fowles takes great pain to explain that individual freedom must be limited by the mystery of hazard (chance) and the privilege of responsibility. Fowles warns against the irresponsible use of illicit sexual experience and cautions that the contemporary affaire de corps is usually "a flight from reality; and if children are involved, a flight from responsibility" (172). Fowles's Aristos concept of free will reflects his desire for greater equality, for art that humanizes, for gods that assist in the "necessary but merciless" (56) becoming process. Fowles wholeheartedly believes that individual acceptance of his Aristos precepts will result in "humanizing the whole," i.e., creating a better world-an aristos world-for all mankind: "that is the best for this situation" (214). A careful reading of the Victorian novel, The French Lieutenant's Woman, leaves little doubt that this work again proclaims John Fowles's existential philosophy. The story-line in this most complex novel-the triangular love plot-is not complex: it is surprisingly unoriginal and easy to follow. It is the story of a man who must exercise his free will by making a choice. The novel begins in 1867. The setting is Lyme Regis "on the south coast of England" (9). Charles Smithson, a thirty-two-year-old Londoner and a baronet's nephew, and his twenty-one-year-old fiancee, Ernestina Freeman, are taking a proper Victorian stroll along the Cobb. …
In his The Achievement of C. S. Lewis (1980), Thomas Howard reflects that Lewis\u27s life was not... more In his The Achievement of C. S. Lewis (1980), Thomas Howard reflects that Lewis\u27s life was not terribly exciting, and adds, [i]t would be hard to make a big box-office film of it. Hard - yes. Impossible - no. Thirteen years after Howard\u27s statement and thirty years after Lewis\u27s death, Richard Attenborough brought Lewis\u27s life to the big screen. Philip Yancey notes that [s]ome evangelicals complain that the movie distorts Lewis\u27s life and waters down his Christian message. I contend that even the most fundamental evangelical should have no complaints and that the highly religious film deserves another look
Fowles's first novel, The Collector, sold extremely well. With the success of this novel behi... more Fowles's first novel, The Collector, sold extremely well. With the success of this novel behind him, John Fowles felt secure enough to publish The Aristos, his "self-made opinion on all that concerns us" (8). He admits that this book is offensive in manner because of the "dogmatic way in which [he] set out [his] views on life" (Aristos 7). Fowles defines these views as existential; he perceives the primary concern of existentialism as "preserv[ing] the freedom of the individual against all those pressures-to-conform" (7). Fowles later insisted that his purpose in The Aristos was not in any way intended to "sell" the reader on his existential philosophy, that "[i]f [he] wanted that [he] should have written in a very different form and style, and wrapped [his] pills in the usual sugar coating" (7-8). In 1969 John Fowles published another book: The French Lieutenant's Woman. This book was as successful as The Aristos was unsuccessful; Barry Olshen notes that "with the publication of The French Lieutenant?s Woman . . . Fowles's work appeared as a best seller on both sides of the Atlantic . . . his reputation was extended into the . . . atmosphere of academe" (63). Critical reaction was sweet indeed! This time Fowles did write in a different form and style: allegory. This time he made sure his pill was sugar-coated; The French Lieutenant's Woman is coated with enticing moments of piercing self-examination and moments of unpredictable passion. Fowles manages to allow the reader to experience Victorian England through the eyes of a stereotypical young lady, an educated and refined gentleman, and an ousted woman-the mysterious Sarah. The reader also experiences 1867 from the vantage point of an additional one hundred years, i.e., through the eyes of a twentieth-century and literally intrusive author highly concerned with the tension between "the then" and "the now." Fowles craftily webs a story that confuses the line between what is real and what is imagined. He communicates little-known facts about the Victorian Age; he turns prophet as he projects characters into their futures; and he leaves the reader no alternative but to move toward existentialism: the reader must exercise individual freedom and choose how to end Fowles's tale. Fowles brilliantly uses all of these avenues to communicate, once again, his views on life, his existential philosophy. A brief description of Fowles's existentialism as outlined in The Aristos is in order. In The Aristos, Fowles states, "Freedom of the will is the highest human good" (26). Indeed, all other precepts discussed in this dogmatic and difficult work are discussed relative to a liberated self. Fowles takes great pain to explain that individual freedom must be limited by the mystery of hazard (chance) and the privilege of responsibility. Fowles warns against the irresponsible use of illicit sexual experience and cautions that the contemporary affaire de corps is usually "a flight from reality; and if children are involved, a flight from responsibility" (172). Fowles's Aristos concept of free will reflects his desire for greater equality, for art that humanizes, for gods that assist in the "necessary but merciless" (56) becoming process. Fowles wholeheartedly believes that individual acceptance of his Aristos precepts will result in "humanizing the whole," i.e., creating a better world-an aristos world-for all mankind: "that is the best for this situation" (214). A careful reading of the Victorian novel, The French Lieutenant's Woman, leaves little doubt that this work again proclaims John Fowles's existential philosophy. The story-line in this most complex novel-the triangular love plot-is not complex: it is surprisingly unoriginal and easy to follow. It is the story of a man who must exercise his free will by making a choice. The novel begins in 1867. The setting is Lyme Regis "on the south coast of England" (9). Charles Smithson, a thirty-two-year-old Londoner and a baronet's nephew, and his twenty-one-year-old fiancee, Ernestina Freeman, are taking a proper Victorian stroll along the Cobb. …
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