The Collector

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The third part of the novel is narrated by Clegg. At first, he wants to commit suicide after he finds Miranda dead; but, after he reads in her diary that she never loved him, he decides that he is not responsible for what happened to her and is better off without her. He buries her corpse in the garden. The book ends with his thinking of kidnapping another girl. When you say you were lonely, do you find, did you think that that sort of solitude was enriching on the one hand, and on the other hand good training for the solitary life of a novelist? Yes, I think I sold it for 5,000 which was I suppose a bargain, but I never regretted getting that money. That did set me free from teaching. I went for a year and taught in a French university, which sounds rather grand, but I was a kind of glorified assistant. Which again was an interesting experience, and a lonely one, but I had a year in a French provincial town.

Eventually Miranda tries to last thing the thinks might free her: seducing Clegg. After a disastrous sexual encounter, Clegg loses all respect for her, revealing the extent of his neurotic mentality in the process. Yet he begins to force Miranda to pose for nude photographs for him; these offer the only sexual gratification he can experience. Soon, though, Miranda develops a cold which becomes a severe chest infection, probably pneumonia. Clegg refuses to get a doctor, fearing discovery, and Miranda's condition worsens. Clegg keeps repeating that what eventually happened to Miranda is not is fault. No, not at all. I’ve never needed other human beings really, I suppose, which doesn’t mean to say I don’t enjoy meeting them sometimes, but I need other people less than most. It’s much more to do with mysterious things like climate, the sort of precocity of the West of England, that’s something I’ve always loved. The fact that spring starts here a little bit earlier than it does up country, and I adore the sea. I don’t think I could live now out of sound of the sea. I’m one of those mysterious people who loves coasts, beaches, shores, and if I had to define a perfect place to live my one constituent would always be that you go to sleep with the sound of the sea somewhere. No, because as I say I feel in exile from various aspects of English society, but not from England. Yes like all successful authors, in financial terms, I’ve wondered if I can take the tax situation. But since I am a socialist, since I believe that the rich should be heavily taxed anyway, I can see it would be wrong. I also believe that novelists, of all artists, should live in the culture where their dialect, where the language is spoken. I don’t think it helps the novelist at all, except in one or two exceptional cases, to go into literal physical exile from his society. To live in an environment with another language, another culture, and all the rest of it.Caroline is Miranda's aunt, with whom Miranda lives with before her capture. Caroline was friendly with George Paston, though he disliked her, and is the reason he and Miranda became acquainted. Antoinette The most commercially successful of Fowles’ novels, The French Lieutenant’s Woman, appeared in 1969. It resembles a Victorian novel in structure and detail, while pushing the traditional boundaries of narrative in a very modern manner. Winner of several awards and made into a well-received film starring Meryl Streep in the title role, it is the book that today’s casual readers seem to most associate with Fowles. Given that that is shared, then what specifically in your case would you say about your childhood that led or would lead a future biographer to say: Oh, yes, already he was this, that or the other? Do you believe that it’s important for people to…both people and the characters in your books…to understand as much as possible? I don’t think they’re being brought under control. I don’t see how they can be, when the question is discussed nine-tenths of the time, in terms of labour and capital and all Tories and Labour party. The French have a new group. They call themselves “les Verts”. An analogy with “les Rouges”, the Reds. Now, if we had a Green Party in this country I should join that at once. That is, an ecological and a scientifically based country. I think only the scientists can really run society now and make decisions about the future.

Well, it’s a difficult word to define, but I suppose I mean something simple, like respect for other human beings. I suppose largely the liberal tradition, or, to use an 18 th century word, the enlightened tradition in European life. I’m fond of the literature of the enlightenment, the European enlightenment. You know, whatever continues from that into our own age. You have said one of the themes of Daniel Martin, which is the novel that’s just out, is Englishness. What do you mean by Englishness?Because I think if you’re fully identified with society then you probably would be in another career. You would be active in society and I don’t think you would get that essential distance, the ability to judge and to criticize society, because another important function of the novel as we all know is to correct society, to criticize it. a b Carruth, Hayden (22 September 1963). "You'll Hang on All Night When You Start 'The Collector' ". Press & Sun-Bulletin. Binghamton, New York. p.28 – via Newspapers.com. a b "Premiere Scheduled for 'The Collector' ". The Morning Call. Paterson, New Jersey. June 2, 1965. p.30 – via Newspapers.com. Freddie gradually allows Miranda small luxuries, such as leaving the cellar to obtain sunlight and take baths in the house under his supervision. When he fondles her aggressively, she tells him she will not fight him should he rape her, but that she will lose all respect for him. During one of her baths, Freddie's neighbour, Colonel Whitcombe, arrives at the farmhouse to introduce himself, resulting in Freddie gagging Miranda and tying her to pipes in the bathroom. She floods the bathroom in an attempt to get Whitcombe's attention, but Freddie diverts him, claiming his girlfriend inadvertently left the tub running. The Midas shower of gold which fell upon him did several things. It rid him of his Aunt Annie and his cousin Mabel, who had long wanted to visit the family in Australia. It bought him a van in which to search for rare fritillaries. It gave him the chance

John Robert Fowles was born in Leigh-on-Sea, a small town in Essex. He recalled the English suburban culture of the 1930s as oppressively conformist and his family life as intensely conventional. Of his childhood, Fowles said "I have tried to escape ever since." a b c Carroll, Kathleen (June 20, 1965). "Redhead, Mad for Pink, Is Going to Have a Baby". New York Daily News. New York City. p.10 – via Newspapers.com.

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In the case of art, Miranda believes that it is a crime to merely catalog and classify all the beautiful pieces of art in the world, to hide them in private collections and not let them be enjoyed by vital, living people. To her, the idea of a collection robs objects of individuality, confining them in categories. In the case of Clegg's butterflies, Miranda views collection not as an accomplishment but as a massacre, since Clegg killed all the future butterflies that could have come from his collected specimens. The differences in Miranda's and Clegg's views about collection illuminate core aspects of their characters. The Tempest