Social class
Literary scholars have noted the theme of class in the British caste system as a prominent point of interest in the novel.[1] Critic Hayden Carruth noted that Fowles is preoccupied with "reshuffling classes under British socialism", evoked in the differences in social background between the characters of the working-class Frederick, and Miranda, a member of the bourgeoisie.[2]
Some scholars have compared the power struggle between Frederick and Miranda as exemplifying the Hegelian "master–slave dialectic", and that each exerts power over the other—both physically and psychologically—despite their differences in social background.[3] Pamela Cooper writes in her book The Fictions of John Fowles: Power, Creativity, Femininity, that The Collector "dramatizes the clash between a socially entrenched, wealthy middle class and an underprivileged but upwardly mobile working or lower middle class."[4] Additionally, Cooper views the novel as a Gothic-inspired work presenting this class struggle "with an insistence on the tedium of Miranda's ordeal."[5]
Absurdism and irony
In the Journal of Modern Literature, scholar Shyamal Bagchee attests that the novel possesses an "ironic-absurdist view" and contains a significant number of events which are hinged purely on chance.[6] He compares the world of the novel to the "tragically absurd worlds" of Franz Kafka and Samuel Beckett's novels.[7] "The world of The Collector, especially towards the end, is not our world; however, it is similar to the view of the world we have in our darkest hours."[7]
Bagchee notes the novel's greatest irony being that Miranda seals her own fate by continually being herself, and that through "each successive escape attempt she alienates and embitters Clegg the more."[8] Despite this, Bagchee views The Collector as a "horrifying" and "ironic" love story:
"Once we recognize the basic ironic-absurdist thrust of the rhetoric of the book, we will see that love is an entirely appropriate theme of the story—because it is so paradoxical... Fowles takes great care to show that Clegg is like no other person we know. It takes Miranda a long time get rid of her successive stereotyped views of Clegg as a rapist, an extortionist, or a psychotic. She admits to an uneasy admiration of him, and this baffles her. Clegg defies stereotypical description."[8]
Furthermore, Bagchee notes Miranda's evolution as a character only while in captivity as another paradox in the novel: "Her growing up is finally futile; she learns the true meaning of existentialist choice when, in fact, she has very limited actual choice. And she learns to understand herself and her life when, in effect, that life has come to a standstill."[9] Cooper, who interprets the novel as a critique of "masculine sexual idealization", notes another paradox in the way the novel connects both photography and collecting as "twin obscenities in order to show the erotic worshipper, with his puritanical hatred of 'the crude animal thing' and his belief in his 'own higher aspirations', is himself prey to the desires he tries to reject."[10]
Narrative technique
Bagchee notes that the divided narrative structure of the novel—which first presents the perspective of Frederick, followed by that of Miranda (the latter divulged in epistolary form via scattered diary entries)—has the characters mirroring each other in a manner that is "richly ironic and reveals of a sombre and frightening view of life's hazards."[11] Bagchee notes that "the two narrations frequently agree not only about physical descriptions of incidents that take place, but often also in the way two very different characters react similarly to given situations or display similar attitudes."[12]
Scholar Katarina Držajić considers The Collector "one of the most prominent novels of the 20th century, [which] may be viewed from many interesting perspectives – as a psychological thriller, a Jungian study, a modern or postmodern piece of literature. John Fowles is well established as a master of language, using a variety of tools to convey different meanings and bring his characters closer to his reader."[13]
