The Collector by John Fowles examines a battle for power and control between the introverted character of Clegg and the bold, articulate Miranda. Power is defined as the possession of control, authority, or influence over others (Merriam-Webster Dictionary) which Clegg was robbed of throughout his life. Clegg grew up with little education and little money, lacking any kind of loving relationships. Clegg, perhaps for these reasons, has an evident lack of sanity which causes a platonic dependence on the beautiful art student Miranda. Ultimately alluding to Miranda's kidnapping once she has won a large sum of money, allowing Clegg to keep her prisoner in his basement cellar. Clegg's madness is the reason he keeps Miranda as a beauty commodity, just like one of the butterflies in his collection, gaining complete physical power over her. The depiction of the relationship between Miranda and Clegg provokes the theme of power in multiple physical, economic, beauty and verbal aspects. Undeniably manifesting the question of who has more power, Miranda or Clegg? Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The most important and obvious aspect of power throughout the novel is physical power, which Clegg exclusively possesses. Before Clegg kidnapped Miranda, he had never held power over anyone, especially the people he cared about, as his mother abandoned him and both his father and his dear uncle died. Clegg's previous helplessness appears to have caused him to desire a higher level of power which he achieves by capturing Miranda. He is able to kidnap Miranda and possess her physical power due to her winning an immense sum of money, allowing him to purchase a house and thus the ability to maintain it. Clegg thus controls every physical aspect of Miranda's life; when he can shower, eat, go out, how he lives his life and even how he dies. This overt aspect of control that Clegg exerts gives him the right to feel connected to Miranda, as well as possess her. Along with his physical power, he also gains economic power over her. He believes he has a chance to win her love by buying her anything she wants, from expensive food treats to artwork and supplies. He employs his economic power over Miranda as a tool to make her magically fall in love with him, only further demonstrating his lack of sanity. Clegg thrives on the economic and physical power he holds over Miranda, feeling himself entitled to a position of power that has been absent his entire life. Furthermore, he begins to feel heroic for being able to satisfy Miranda with everything she desires. Miranda begins to seem subordinate, helpless towards Clegg, as she constantly has to ask him when she can bathe, when she can go out, and overall becomes dependent on him. The fact that Miranda has to turn to Clegg for all of life's vital needs ensures that Clegg has complete control over her. Perhaps, satisfying a lifelong sense of thirst for having unlimited control of his environment and the life it entails. Especially being able to capture and control beauty as he does with his study of lepidoptera, seeing Miranda as a beautiful goddess in the form that all of society desires to possess. Although Clegg possesses unquestionable economic and physical power over Miranda, he possesses a powerful beauty. both verbally and physically, this takes an undue toll on Clegg. Miranda's beauty can be interpreted by the viewer as a sense of power she has over Clegg as it lingers on her mentality as acontrolling fog. Meaning that even when Miranda addresses Clegg in a disgusting manner or behaves exactly as he despises, he subconsciously excuses her putrid actions as he literally sees her as an enchanting personification of perfection. For example, “even when he did things that were considered bad, like yawning or stretching, he made it look cute. The truth was, he couldn't do bad things. She was too beautiful." (The Collector, page 48.) This quote may be more enlightening to the reader than what first comes to mind as it applies to the overall relationship between Clegg and Miranda. The syntax of this salient quote describes " the truth" as her inability to do bad things, which gives the reader insight into Clegg's perception of Miranda. Perhaps interpreted as Clegg feeling eternally inferior to her when he acknowledges her immaculate beauty, but controversially states that he "...doesn't have what girls are looking for" (The Collector, page 11). Yet, his all-consuming infatuation with Miranda continues to thrive. Furthermore, Miranda is easily able to express his emotions and thoughts through a fiery language, especially his views on Clegg's "killing of the good life". Miranda despises the lack of inner depth of Clegg's life. Because Miranda has a high level of education and observes Clegg very carefully, he uses the his verbal force articulated to deprecate Clegg, diminishing his sense of esteem and therefore inner confidence and power. His character is very weak, meaning he easily conforms to Miranda's beliefs and manipulations. Clegg lacks the ability to verbally express his emotions or thoughts, especially without offending his beloved Miranda. Instead, he seems to tend to remain silent, making Miranda's words and beliefs his own, even when she belittles him. Therefore, Clegg's lack of confidence or verbal power in expressing himself is in antithetical conflict with Miranda's character who has an eloquent and polite way of speaking that allows her to assume jurisdiction in any of their interactions. Despite the fact that Miranda has manipulative verbal power over Clegg, she struggles immensely towards the end of the book to maintain this power, which she relied on as a latent escape technique. Clegg's lack of reality and sanity is continually portrayed throughout the novel, becoming a plausible resource for Miranda's ideas of escape. The reader understands that Clegg has no grip on reality as he relies on euphemisms, claiming that Miranda is "his guest" rather than realistically his prisoner. In this way he reduces the severity of the situation he has placed Miranda in. Clegg's oblivious perspective on the truth of his and Miranda's relationship is a weakness on his part that entitles Miranda to a certain power. She is able to seduce him into believing that he has a chance of winning her love, due to her illogical perspective. Hopefully, this seduction will perhaps lead to some good moral action on the part of her portion of the “many,” as John Fowles would say, setting her free. When Miranda fails to free herself by exploiting Clegg's irrationality to become his ideal "butterfly", she approaches a very different method of manipulation. She mistakenly tries to sexually seduce Clegg right before he becomes dangerously ill. This act on Miranda's part caused a sea change in the power struggle within the novel. Clegg now sees her as "no better than an ordinary woman in the street" when he realizes that she is just like any other silly, ordinary woman. Which fits perfectly into its narrow category of desperate women who use their body like a whore to get what.