Fowles playfully uses the techniques of the Victorian novelist in his so-called Victorian novel to advance the action and comment from a "god-like" authorial perspective. At the same time, he breaks the mold of the Victorian form by giving not one absolute (and predictable) ending, but three. In the first ending, which comes improbably in the middle of the book, Charles makes the right, if not altogether happy, choice of turning his back on Sarah and marrying Ernestina. In the typical Victorian novelist's world view, Charles and Ernestina's life is played out along with the lives of Dr. Grogan, the servants Sam and Mary, Mrs. Poulteney, and others. Having given the Victorian ending, Fowles then steps in to inform the reader that it was a myth.
So saying, he returns Charles to the pivotal moment.....
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