Rg Reader’s Guides: Fowles’s The French Lieutenant’s Woman

Continuum’s Reader’s Guides are clear, concise accessible introductions to classic literary texts. Each book explores the themes, context, criticism and influence of key works, providing a practical introduction to close reading and guiding the reader towards a thorough understanding of the text ideal for undergraduate students, the guides provide an essential resource for anyone who needs to get to grips with a literary text. John Fowles’s 1969 novel The French Lieutenant’s Woman has become a modern classic, but it is a complex novel and can be daunting to study. This accessible guide offers detailed readings of the text as well as accounts of Fowles’s influences and the context of the novel’s composition. It also discusses Fowles’s manipulation of the story’s Victorian setting and source material, and his treatment of key themes such as gender, sexuality and social class. It addresses the reviews and critical reception of the novel, and offers study suggestions and a guide to further reading. A separate section engages with the 1981 film adaptation scripted by Harold Pinter. This introduction to the text is the ideal companion to study, offering guidance on Literary and historical • Language, style and form • Reading the text • Critical reception and publishing history • Adaptation and interpretation • Further reading About Author: William Stephenson is a senior lecturer in English at the University of Chester, UK, where he teaches modernist and postmodernist literature. He is author of John Fowles (Northcote, 2003).