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Fowles's Portrait of the Artist As Failure

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Fowles's Portrait of the Artist As Failure California State University, Northridge FOWLES'S PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST AS FAILURE A thesis submitted in partial satisfac- tion of the requirements for the de­ gree of Bachelor of Arts with Honors in English. by Gary A. Maki Received: May, 1984 TABLE OF CONTENTS I. Introduction 1 II. Failure to Survive--The Collector 5 III. Failure in Revision--The Magus 10 IV. Effects of Creative Choice--The French Lieutenant's Woman 17 v. Self-Deception--Daniel Martin 24 VI. Necessity of Failure--Mantissa 31 VII. Summary 36 VIII. End Notes 37 IX. Bibliography 40 ii. 1 I. Richard Boleslavsky, in his Acting: The First Six Les- sons, details two conditions necessary to the conception of art: "You suffered just now; you felt deeply. Those are two things without which you cannot do in any art."l Ac- cording to Boleslavsky, an artist must be sensitive--must feel and suffer before he can create meaning through his art. Artists in modern existential literature conform.to Bol- eslavsky's prerequisite suffering and feeling. However, an ,.. .. existential.artist can pearch for meaning without being a maker of art: Existentialist Herman H~sse view's the artist as ,any· sensitive person cohdemned to-suffer and_to~ndure . life in an absurd universe: . "They (arti~ts). are not heroes, . ,. artists or thinkers· ip. the. same way ·that other· men· are judges, doctors, shoemakers or schoolmasters." Existential \ artists don't make a profession out of ·their~ suffering. He . continues: ''Their life ,·consists of a perpetual .. tiCI.e, un- ., ~ happy and to.rn with pain,, terrible ~nd meaningless-, UI?-less ' . one Js · re~dy to see its meaning in just. ,those ra:r.e experi­ enc17s, acts,. thoughts and works that shine out above the' chaos of such a life. i,z· What Hesse refers to when~he speaks of-the artist, in .' . .:::~·... ' . \. existential terms' is really an artist-of-life,' as opposed 1 ' . to a l?rofessional maker of-art. Agenuine artist-maker must 2 be an artist-of-life, as Boleslavsky explains in his acting text. However, an artist-of-life does not have to paint or write a symphony to be sensitive, or to choose creatively in the process of his life. Zen writer D. T. Suzuki puts forth an even clearer in- sight into the theory of the artist-of-life in Zen Buddhism .and Psychoanalysis: We cannot all be exp.ected to be scientists, but we are so constituted by nature that we ~ can-all be artists--not, indeed, artists of: ) special kinds, suoh as painters, sculptors, musicians, poets, etc., but "artists of life". This profession, "art.ist of life", may sound new, an'd ·quite odd, but in'point of fact we are all born artists of life, and not knowing it, most of us fail to be so, and the result is that we make a me.ss of our lives, q,sking ."What is the meaning of life?" "Ar~ we not facing blank no-thingness?'-' "After living TB or even 90· years, where do we go?", "No-­ body knows," etc., etc. I am t.old that most modern men and women are· neurotic on .. thi? . 1 i account. But the Zen man can .t.ell ~them that' they all .have forgotten .that they .. ~r.e ·bbi'n ·, artists, creative artists of life, and·· that r: ·, as soon as they realize this fact 'and. truth they w:ill all be cured of .neurosis or ps·y;_ · \ chosis or whatever name they. have for their -' trouble.3 hx_-. In John Fowles's novels, ·existentialisril.is.t'J;le philoso­ f. "~ . 'phy best suited tQ equip man for surviva.l as a Suzuki'an.ar...: I ', I I ~'Y- . tist-of...:life. In a 1965 interyie~ with Roy Newquist, Fowles . echoed Suzuki's views .on creative selection in existential terms: I . ~ I ;.A ~ . ' 3 p ' This giving of~a solution is the wonder­ ful thing about existentialism. It allows you to face reality and act cre­ atively in terms of your. own-powers and· your own situation. 4 1 • .. - • • • :: ',.' t r . ' - , , ' Fowles~ s, nove},-s illus-trate Suzuki's and Hesse 1 :view.. of ' .. ~- . ~ . ' . s . ~ ' ' ' th~ development -of an existential -~rtis·t~of-life; In The : F ,.: ' ' - ,· ' 0 0 • 0 ' *.. ~. ' • 0 • 'T ~: ,0 ': ( ' -.-, - ,, ~ .t • ' Collector and TheMag';ls Fowles utilizes Suzuki: '.s c.oncept of - • • .' ·'' i. ,, ••• • ·. < <- - /' . a Zen man awakening· his pro'tagonist tO· the ~eairri of c~eative ... - ~ " •· . '" . ~?election in a univ~rse of hazard (chance). I · Fowles populate?_ his .• novels _with potent~a1' artists.-:-of­ * "' ~ . '· 1 1 I I life. The Collector, The Magus,-. Th~. French Lieutenant s ·...._ f. I . ' . Woman, Daniel-Martin and Mantissa all feature· a potential \. > ' ; ' ......; artist-of-life forced to s1,;1rvive a.' cn'aotic, 'meaningless ex- I ·istence to attain· the stc;~,l::Us of the elect. ( ..~ ~ (' In Fowles ian, terms,,". man- is ·divided _j_Jj:t;Q_J;t.:hio-:log:i:caL---Few "'. £' (the. elect):, the true c.;rti~ts-"of~lif~- in ~ociety; a~d the F ;~- ' l ' ·-Many (Hoi- Polloi)': :, Th~ F_~w ma~kirig up Fowles 1 ~ e'lect are 'r ' . - •• ' .• , • ' • ' -~ • . • . • , I . chosen by hazar:d (chance·) . ·Fowles believes that- i_t_ is th.e· · ' ' tespons {bi~1i ~y of the ~ew to',: b~e~ome ·'zen m.en; 'ar,id, thr~ugh ~ \... ,- ' ~ • • : ''. ' ~ s • ' ' ·, . '- ·. •~ I '· • • '' • . ' cr~ativ~. selection, to· educate. th~ Many t:o~~become>·artistE;-· • .- ~ ;.' •• .- J • • . of-life themselves.· · Fowlg_:~L'_s>novels . are fictiona_l 'models ·:- '. • . ' . ~ I .. embodying the Suzukian artist:..of.;..life philosophy. :; ::-- :: '· - .. ,. ··.- ·, ... ·. .._. : ·, - _' ' '· '·. ·Status in th.e elect. is hard won. Sens-itivity, intellect I , - , and artistic ability are n?t enough to insure. a plac.e in. the ' ., n ' 4 elect. Fowles places eacl:l,_p.f.his.. ,p,XQJ:_?-gonists adrift amid '.'-••· ,•._-, • •,\>"'"• ',o\<,,,,-•.>o••,·-· '-'·'-·'··;~ .•·-•",••~"- ,•:.~''•',"•• -,O'-'•">o•,• -,• ,; ,o'>•n"•-- •" '> -~~~............. ,.,•"" •',o·~,,, ~OV>;o>S',"-'''""''""L•. .,>-.. •,~)'o_.__,,,.~.~,•;>~o~"'!-'•'c</"<"',"> '·':--.';J a myriad of obstacles such as kidnap, tortured love affairs, .:.::..._......-~-,....~~-..._~,~·-•-'-•"'-'_,...1• "~"""-~~"'"" ,.,., .. -...._ >.•~:~.,._. '-" •.•• -;_ ~,.._.,,_,...,_, < , .•, ~· >"•"'•"·• ., '' '·'">""-·;• ., • '?"~-··~~-·~-'·•<".• ~-" '"-' -~~.-~--· ".,...,,.._' '··-'< '-'>'--1<,',-..<.·-"· ,., ·'~ c>· '-• ,,,,,.,., '•.' ~" ··-~ '"'"~-~" .,, ···'·~~~-.~; :.- "'-'·'> '"'~·•··~ -~•'·"»• ,,;,~'.• -:~ .... •-:>••»0.;. n~~~l!.~.~ ..' .... ~~-~- ... ~ ~.l.J::Jle.cept;.ion.'"in ....~ .... J;ul~.R,.!,~Q~Y.~. .,.".~·~~-g_~_tt~E.~!l t) universe, to._.§j;~.<!lD:Q.9J:... fal.l .. ----.. ... ~""'~-- ~----~.. ___......----·-···-------- More often than not, his would-be artist-of-life falls. An examination of Miranda (The Collector), Nick (The Magus), Charles (The French Lieutenant's Woman), Dan (Daniel Martin) and Miles (Mantissa) reveals Fowles's belief that most people. fail in their attempts to attain (or retain) the status of the elect (become artists-of-life). His harsh portrayals of the aforementioned would-be artists-of-life present a por- trait of the artist-as-failure in modern literature. The Collector establishes the problem: survival of the potential artist-of-life in the universe of hazard. The Magus deals with the artist-of-life's rite-of-passage to the elect. The French Lieutenant's Woman details the effects of one artist's choices on the struggle of another to survive in the wake of a changing Victorian universe. Daniel Martin parallels Fowles's personal struggle to balance a creative life as an artist-of-life with the modern problems of being a commercially successful literary artist. Finally, in Mantissa, Fowles leaves the physical world entirely, to wrestle with the internal conflicts involved in creating art from the ideal. In tra'cing the artist-of-life in his fiction, the serious reader can see a coherent state- ment of John Fowles's belief in the failure of the artist. 5 II. Fow-les-~ex:plores the relation!?lJj,p l? ..~.tween the artist-of- ..,_"""'-"""'"----, \• -'"•-...o,-....~_.,_._...,e~, ~_,,.-; ., -~··'-< •·"••"· -··'·· -.,·>O< ,,.,_• ._.,-<..,,.,---,cor-· ·~1> •- '·•"'•'<"o-\•w.~;~ '< > '>'""<•"<'••'•'-·'·~,.-,.,., '( • ''''·•">'• • • life and his :wox:ld... in .. Tbf:t.Collector. As Boleslavsky' s stu- .-,...... -..... ·.·>····--··......... ,.... ..;..;_;~-;;;;;;.-;.;.;.;c_ ____ dent learns that suffering and depth of feeling are neces- sary to the creation of art, Miranda Grey learns that suf- fering and depth of feeling are necessary to life and sur- vival in the universe of hazard. Fowles takes Miranda, a young art student, out of her safe, ordered existence into a world of isolation, fear, suffering and despair for her passage to the elect .jAbduct­ ed by the unbalanced collector Clegg, and held captive in his damp cellar, Miranda learns first-hand the irrational and indifferent nature of Fowles's universe of hazard. Miranda's choices---become matters of.. ·survival not con- ·-· ·-... ' ......... /"" . --. .... -·' venient choices of school activities or boyfriends. Her naive preconceptions of life and art are shattered by her abduction. From the isolation of Clegg's cellar11iranda reflects on her past freedom, her growing love-of art, and a deeper understanding of the lessons her artist-mentor G.P. went to great pains to teach: "Everything in my life seemed fine. There was G.P. But even that was strange. Exciting. Then this."5 Gone are the easy days of freedom taken for granted. Worse, her freedom is replaced by the attentions of the neurotic Clegg. In order to maintain her sanity Miranda spends much time v( / 6 reflecting on G.P. While in captivity G.P. 's (previously) charming seriousness takes on a new significance: "He's chipped off all (Well, some of, anyway) my silliness, my stupid, fussy; frilly ideas about life and art, and modern art."6 However, it takes the kidnapping to drive themes­ sage home with impact. In her diary Miranda makes a list of the ways G.P. has \ altered her perceptions. The last statement sums up G.P. 's) \ influence regarding the vital artist-of-life: "You use your\\ life. "7 G. P. 's statement echoes Suzuki. The true artist- of-life takes the materials available, and through creative selection builds meaning for himself.
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