Sarah Woodruff and Daisy Buchanan – A Comparison
             In the two novels The French Lieutenant's Woman by Fowles, and The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the authors give life to two women; Sarah in The French Lieutenant's Woman and Daisy in The Great Gatsby. These women live very different lives, but even though the differences in this case outnumber the similarities, the two ladies still have some common characteristics. Also, more importantly, they also have some similar functions in the novels.
             One similarity between Sarah and Daisy is that they both have very complex characters. Sarah is mystery personified. In the beginning of the book the reader is told a little about Sarah and what she has experienced, and it seems within reach to be able to understand her. However, as one reads on, Sarah appears more and more complex and what seems clear in the beginning is fairly misty at the end of the book. Sarah, more than once, surprises the other characters and the reader by saying or acting in an utterly surprising and unexpected way. One example of this is when Sarah confesses to Charles that she had lied when she said that she did not mean to be seen coming out from "the Undercliff": "'I have told you a lie, I made sure Mrs Fairley saw me, I knew she would tell Mrs Poultney.' What controls Charles had felt himself gaining now slipped from his grasp again...He was evidently being asked for forgiveness; but he himself was asking for guidance, since the doctors had failed him again" (242). In this passage Charles is once again struck by surprise. What Sarah confesses is something he would never have imagined, and he is absolutely confused.
             Whereas Sarah is an enigma almost throughout the book, Daisy seems to be easier to comprehend. However, even though no single one of her characteristics is very complex in itself, the multitudes of different characteristics turn her into a very com...