The Victorian Era and the French Lieutenant's Woman
The Victorian Era and The French Lieutenant 's Woman
The French Lieutenant 's Woman is a 1981 film of historical fiction, contrasting present day relationships, morality and industry with that of the Victorian era in the 1850s. It is an adaptation of a novel by John Fowles, the script was written by Harold Pinter.
The setting is in England, Lyme and London specifically, where Charles, a Darwinian scientist is courting the daughter of a wealthy businessman. The film depicts Charles as somewhat of the laughingstock with the rich citizens of Lyme who regard his profession as folly. His future father-in-law offers him a position in his shipping company which is expanding to "Liverpool and Bristol." The scenery in this portion of the film depicts frantic building going on in the background fitting with the period of the Industrial revolution.
The film within a film concept has two actors playing the characters in the film "The French Lieutenant 's Woman" but also follows the actors ' relationship with each other. This presents a contrast between the present day (1981) with the Victorian era. In her research on the Victorian era in the film, the actress Anna states that in 1857 there were over 50,000 prostitutes in London.
Sarah Woodruff, the French Lieutenant 's woman, is seen as a morally deficient woman, likened to a prostitute, and goes to work for a rich and "pious" woman. This woman, Mrs. Palfrey (I think) describes Sarah 's actions of walking in the under cliffs and staring out at sea to be "sinful." She states there is a vast difference between those people from the country and those from London and says there "are gross disorders in the streets."
This division between what is acceptable in Lyme versus London is seen when Charles is present for tea with his fiance and Mrs. Palfrey, and is scolded for his servant 's attraction to a country girl. There is an obvious division between the upper and lower class which is depicted
The French Lieutenant 's Woman is a 1981 film of historical fiction, contrasting present day relationships, morality and industry with that of the Victorian era in the 1850s. It is an adaptation of a novel by John Fowles, the script was written by Harold Pinter.
The setting is in England, Lyme and London specifically, where Charles, a Darwinian scientist is courting the daughter of a wealthy businessman. The film depicts Charles as somewhat of the laughingstock with the rich citizens of Lyme who regard his profession as folly. His future father-in-law offers him a position in his shipping company which is expanding to "Liverpool and Bristol." The scenery in this portion of the film depicts frantic building going on in the background fitting with the period of the Industrial revolution.
The film within a film concept has two actors playing the characters in the film "The French Lieutenant 's Woman" but also follows the actors ' relationship with each other. This presents a contrast between the present day (1981) with the Victorian era. In her research on the Victorian era in the film, the actress Anna states that in 1857 there were over 50,000 prostitutes in London.
Sarah Woodruff, the French Lieutenant 's woman, is seen as a morally deficient woman, likened to a prostitute, and goes to work for a rich and "pious" woman. This woman, Mrs. Palfrey (I think) describes Sarah 's actions of walking in the under cliffs and staring out at sea to be "sinful." She states there is a vast difference between those people from the country and those from London and says there "are gross disorders in the streets."
This division between what is acceptable in Lyme versus London is seen when Charles is present for tea with his fiance and Mrs. Palfrey, and is scolded for his servant 's attraction to a country girl. There is an obvious division between the upper and lower class which is depicted
Cited: Bradbury, Malcolm, ed. The Atlas of Literature. New York: Stewart, Tabori and Chang, 1998. Damrosch, David, ed. The Longman Anthology of British Literature. New York: Longman, 2000. The French Lieutenant 's Woman. Dir. Karel Reisz. Perf. Jeremy Irons and Meryl Streep. United Artists, 1981.