Possession, Self-possession and Multiple Selves in the Writings of John Fowles

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Published: Dec 11, 2018
Keywords:
John Fowles possession the self multiple selves

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Thomas Patrick Hoy
Department of English, Faculty of Liberal Arts, Thammasat University

Abstract

In his work, John Fowles (1926-2005) ponders questions of existential freedom. For him, the biggest obstacle to this freedom is the Cartesian paradigm of self-possession with its analytical and classifying obsessions. Fowles does not see freedom as emanating from an understanding of the self as a unity but rather as emanating from embracing the multiplicity of possible selves that each person has. In this paper, I trace these ideas through John Fowles's work, in particular The French Lieutenant’s Woman, The Collector and The Aristos. I also outline some of the intellectual influences such as Heraclitus, Sartre, Descartes and Linnaeus who he variously sympathizes with and reacts against in his writing.

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How to Cite
Hoy, T. P. (2018). Possession, Self-possession and Multiple Selves in the Writings of John Fowles. Journal of Studies in the English Language, 13(1), 1–23. Retrieved from https://so04.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/jsel/article/view/33760
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Vol. 13 No. 1 (2018)
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Articles
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Author Biography

Thomas Patrick Hoy, Department of English, Faculty of Liberal Arts, Thammasat University

Thomas Hoy is a lecturer in the Faculty of Liberal Arts at Thammasat University. He holds a doctorate from La Trobe University in Australia and has varied research interests in the fields of literature, sociolinguistics and politics.

References

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