JOHN FOWLES

Major Works:
• ‘The Collector’, was published in 1963 and became a huge hit with the readers as soon as
it was published. The novel was adapted for film, which released two years after the
release of the book and it was also adapted for theatre. The novel went on to become such
a huge hit, that a song called ‘The Collector’ was inspired by it. Apart from movies and
theatre, the basic plot of ‘The Collector’ has been used for television as well. The
thematic rudiments of the novel have also been used for books and comics.
• ‘A Maggot’, written in 1985, is regarded as his magnum opus. Set against the backdrop
of ancient timeframe and went on to become best-seller as soon as it was published. The
narrative style became popular with the readers and is widely regarded as one of the
greatest classics of his time. It became an instant best-seller.

The Collector Summary

The Collector tells the story of Frederick Clegg, a man in his mid-20s who grows obsessed
with Miranda Grey, a beautiful teenager whom he watches from afar. Clegg is an amateur
entomologist and is especially devoted to collecting butterflies. After he wins a lot of money in a
sports betting system known as the football pools, he takes the steps necessary to kidnap
Miranda, though at the time he tells himself that he is not necessarily preparing to abduct her. By
this time Miranda is a 20 year-old art student in London. Clegg buys a secluded house in the
country and readies a small basement room as an inescapable cell; he also buys a van with which
to follow and snatch Miranda. Eventually, after determining her habits and discovering where
she lives, he kidnaps her one night as she is walking home in London.
Part 1 of the novel is told from Clegg's perspective, first as he prepares to abduct Miranda and
then once he has her in his power. Clegg drives Miranda to his house after chloroforming her to
subdue her. He forces her into the basement. For the next month, the two engage in a battle of
wills, with Miranda frequently attempting to escape and Clegg explaining that all he wants is for
her to love him. Miranda comes from a higher social class and has had a better education than
Clegg; she frequently tries to educate him, though at other times she subjects him to her
contempt. Clegg promises to free Miranda after a month of captivity, but goes back on his
promise when Miranda tells him she does not love him. She tries to escape after Clegg extends
her term of captivity, and for the first time since Miranda's abduction Clegg must chloroform her
to keep her in his grasp.
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.
The perspective for the narration switches in Part 2, which is told from Miranda's viewpoint and
formatted as a journal she keeps during her captivity. Much of her writing mirrors the events that
occur in Part 1, but she also reminisces a good deal about her life back in London, especially her
affection for an older artist, G.P. Miranda thinks about how much G.P. has influenced her and
concludes that her time in Clegg's basement has changed her for the better.
Miranda is alternately kind to Clegg and exasperated with him, now conciliatory and now
furious. She desperately wants to be set free. While at times she feels defeated, by the end of her
narration she is full of life and ready to experience the world outside. Her section ends as she
descends further into sickness, beginning to rave and worrying that she will die.
Part 3 switches back to Clegg's narration. He reveals that he never got a doctor for Miranda and
that, after an agonizing several days of severe pneumonia, Miranda died. Clegg contemplates
killing himself, thus lending their story have a tragically beautiful ending, much like the
conclusion of Romeo and Juliet. In Part 4, however, Clegg has a change of heart. He buries
Miranda without much emotion and sets his sights on a new victim, one who will be more pliable
once captured.

Character List
Frederick Clegg is a city clerk and amateur entomologist who loves to collect butterflies. He is
an antisocial and awkward young man in his mid-20s. Because Clegg lost his parents at an early
age (his father died in a drunk driving accident when he was two and his mother abandoned him)
he was raised by his Aunt Annie and grew up alongside Annie's daughter, his disabled cousin
Mabel. Yet he eventually wins a prize of over 70,000 pounds in a football (soccer) pool, and uses
this money to buy a country house two hours away from London, where he sets up the basement
to be used as a cell for a captive. Clegg then travels in London, stalks a beautiful art student
named Miranda Grey, captures her, and takes her back to his house. He tries, and fails, to make
her fall in love with him. Yet he succeeds in lying about his name to Miranda; she thinks he is
called Ferdinand.
Miranda Grey is a 20 year-old art student at the Slade School of Fine Art in London. She grew
up in a privileged middle-class household. Her father, a doctor, was much older than her mother
and their marriage was generally dysfunctional. Miranda is very close to her sister Carmen,
whom she calls Minny. She also fell in love with George Paston (or, as she calls him, G.P.) a
middle-aged artist who influenced her while she was an art student. At the beginning of the
novel, Miranda is kidnapped by Frederick Clegg and is held captive in the basement of his
country home.
G.P. (George Paston) is a middle-aged artist whom Miranda falls in love with. He is frequently
pretentious and is convinced of the superiority of his opinions concerning art, passion, and life in
general.
Caroline Vanbrugh-Jones 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 is a Swedish art student and one of Miranda's friends; she also becomes one of G.P.'s
lovers.
Aunt Annie is Clegg's aunt, who raised him after his father died and his mother left. At the start
of the novel, she leaves England and relocates to Australia with her daughter Mabel.
Uncle Dick was Clegg's uncle and Aunt Annie's husband. He was kind to the young Clegg and
inspired his love of butterflies, but had a stroke and died when Clegg was fifteen.
Piers Broughton-An art student and a rich, spoiled young man, Piers is one of Miranda's off-
and-on suitors.
Minny is Miranda's sister, who bonded with Miranda due to their parents' dysfunctional
marriage.
Mabel is Clegg's cousin, who is in a wheelchair. She is somewhat older than he is, around 30
years-old to his 25.

THEMES:
Class plays a major role in The Collector. The main character, Frederick Clegg, grows up in a
lower-class household and only gains access to a great deal of money when he wins the football
(soccer) pools. With his prize of more than 70,000 pounds, he is able to turn his wildest dreams
about the beautiful upper-middle-class Miranda into realities. Money enables him to pursue and
capture Miranda, but Clegg is also uncomfortable with his wealth because he feels that he does
not have the class rank to match his improved financial circumstances. Once captured, Miranda
constantly corrects Clegg's grammar and tries to educate him about art and the humanities, and
by doing so illustrates the sharp intellectual divide between them - the result of their class
differences.
Power and control are central aspects of Fowles's novel. From the beginning, Clegg uses
chloroform to subdue Miranda; the pad of chloroform will reappear later in the novel during one
of Miranda's escape attempts. Clegg also gags Miranda and binds her hands whenever he takes
her upstairs. The basement where she lives is impenetrable and soundproof, and even if it were
not, nobody lives nearby enough to hear her scream. Miranda may be better-educated than
Clegg, but Clegg's uncanny ability to exercise control and predict how she might try to escape
means that he is well-prepared for any rebellion.
Prison-Miranda's imprisonment in Clegg's basement is experienced differently by the two main
characters. As the captor and jailer, Clegg can play into his instincts as a collector. He does not
want to kill Miranda, but subconsciously wants to kill any part of her that could resist him. Clegg
hopes that his prison will accomplish just this, that Miranda will succumb to his power, fall in
love with him, and let him dictate the terms of the rest of her life.
Collecting- Clegg is a collector of butterflies, an amateur entomologist, and his desire to collect
and preserve both butterflies and Miranda is a central theme of the novel. He likes to observe
objects from afar, dead and sanitized and without any complicating emotions. Several times
Miranda remarks that her presence is becoming unwieldy because she keeps expressing her
emotions and trying to escape. Miranda also hates the idea of collecting, whether the collection
contains great artworks or simply Clegg's butterflies.
ART-Miranda is a lover of art. As an art student, she aspires to be a great painter, and is heavily
influenced by her mentor G.P. In her art, Miranda strives above all for authenticity. One of the
things that most aggravates her about Clegg is his lack of appreciation for art. When Miranda
and Clegg listen to music together or look at pictures, Clegg is completely blind to the levels of
meaning that Miranda discerns. Art for her is truth, and she cannot fully grasp that Clegg is part
of the nameless mass of people who lack any real appreciation of art.