John Fowles introduces the novel by giving an detailed description of the 'Cobb' in Lyme Regis. He introduces Sarah at this point, describing her as 'a living memorial to the drowned' 'a figure from myth'. In this setting, we begin to form our own opinion of her character; solitary by choice and independent yet melancholy at the same time.
We begin to associate Sarah with places of the outdoors, for instance, on 'Ware Common' which becomes a regular meeting place for Charles and herself, and of course, as I have mentioned, on the 'Cobb', on which she waits for her lover, 'The French Lieutenant' to return. We instantly associate these 'wild' places with her character, the darkness on the 'Cobb' somehow, in my opinion, reflects the darkness in her soul, and the erratic behaviour of the sea and the biting wind signifying the sharpness and dominance in her personality.
When we read about Sarah in Mrs Poulteney's house, she always seems restrained and repressed in the indoors of the house, whether it is in the sadness of reading the bible...
Sarah Xmas 06 family sketch
John Fowles
Mrs Coade's home, Belmont House, in Lyme Regis, Do...'Her's was a very beautiful voice, controlled and clear, though always shaded with sorrow
and often intense in feeling...'
(Chapter 9, Page 61)
...or in the way she seeks comfort and companionship from another, equally as lonely, maid called Millie...
'They knew it was that warm, silent, co-presence in the darkness that mattered'
(Chapter 19, Page 156)
'Ware Commons' is another place which reminds us of her longing for solitude, as she tells Mrs Poulteney...
'That is why I go there...to be alone'
(Chapter 12, Page 94)
'...I wish for solitude...'
(Chapter 12, Page 95)
So again, we are reminded that 'Ware Commons' is where Sarah seeks seclusion and we again wonder why she is such a solitary person and...