The Collector
From the patriarchal laments of a bygone epoch in the tales of King Arthur to the powerful protest songs of the 1960s and 1970s songwriters, the concerns of each culture echoes in the art it produces. Differences between the dominant themes of writings from different cultures exist because each society has its own pressing issues and principal ideas. Just as there are substantial differences in the plights of desperately poor and ridiculously rich, there will be differences in the ideas encompassed in the literature they produce. As The Collector was written in the rapidly changing world of the sixties, its themes of gender, class and other issues change as the novel progresses. Miranda's altering psyche is of particular interest, as her development causes a shifting bias on ideas about gender, class and existential thought. This is juxtaposed with the stagnation of the character of Clegg, who represents many of the dominant ideologies of the pre-1960's era. It is through the association of characters with various ideas, their progress and conflicts that serve to develop the various themes and issues raised in John Fowles' stirring first novel, The Collector.Clegg's almost absolute isolation from society opens the discussion
In many ways Miranda embodies the transition into the new-age ideals of gender, essentially a world devoid of gender barriers. As we progress through her narrative, the character of Miranda changes from a predominantly patriarchal understanding of a female into a more modern understanding of women. She initially is clearly desperate to rely on GP for many aspects of her life. This is in tandem with the patriarchal depiction of women, who are expected to rely heavily on men. She is physically weaker than Clegg and has no means to overpower him. She cannot even bring herself to kill Clegg when the opportunity arises. This helps to construct a character who is hesitant and indecisive, but who is also humane and genuinely caring. These are desirable qualities for both sexes to posses in modern society. Her undying determination not to submit to Clegg throughout the text is an indication of the strength of her character. This is in parallel with the struggle the women's movement put up to resist the ideas of patriarchy, which was ingrained into much of the society in which Fowles wrote The Collector. Due to our rejection of the character of Clegg, we are positioned to sympathise with Miranda, and, by association the plight of the women's rights lobbyists. Miranda attempts to use her sexuality to free herself from Clegg's clutches, reflecting the sexual liberation of women in the 1960's but no avail. Her failure to manipulate Clegg in this manner Notions of class, usually linked to money, have always divided our society. However, despite his acquisition of wealth, Clegg remains trapped in the lower middle class in which he grew up. This gives us a sense of Clegg's feeling of victimisation ('everything in the room seemed to look down at us because we weren't brought up in their way.') and is one of the few times that evokes pity for Clegg during the text. He has many of the lower-middle class prejudices that were prevalent then, such as the assumption that women were inferior to men. Clegg is also bitter in his description of successful and wealthy people ('a loud public-school type who had a sports car.'), something that is often attributed to those who are in a position of limited power and with a degree of poverty, as he once was. This unchanging attitude is associated with the static mentality of patriarchal men who were experiencing pressures to change from society in the 1960's. Our rejection of Clegg encourages us not to sympathise with the unchanging, conservative mind-set of the patriarchal man. The concept of existentialism and the issues associated with gender equality and the class issues were prominent in the society at the time in which John Fowles wrote The Collector. The traditional values of the wartime generation were being challenged and the author succeeds in b
Some common words found in the essay are:
Ultimately Miranda's, Collector Due, Paul Sartre, King Arthur, Miranda Clegg, Additionally Clegg, John Fowles, Collector Clegg's, , women's movement, John Fowles', gender equality, fowles wrote, hated vulgar women', fowles wrote collector, gender class, class issues, friends london, 'some friends, 'i hated vulgar, brought way', london arewhat people, wrote collector, arewhat people call, london arewhat,
Approximate Word count = 1887
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)
|
