Edward Morgan Forster

 

 

Aneet Bhogal and Melanie Dubin

 

 

 

 A Room with a View

 A Passage to India

 

 

Table of Contents

 

      I.     Biography of Forster

 

    II.     Summary of A Passage to India

 

  III.     Summary of A Room with a View

 

 IV.     Identification of Forster’s Style Elements

 

   V.     Reader-Response Critical Read

 

 VI.     Historical Critical Read

 

VII.     Biographical Critical Read

 

VIII.     Political-Economic Analytic Essay By Melanie Dubin

 

 IX.     Feminist Analytical Essay By Aneet Bhogal

 

   X.     Multiple Choice Quiz

 

 XI.     Works Cited

 

XII.     Relevant Links

 

 

EM Forster Biography

Edward Morgan Forster was born in London on January 1^st, 1879. His father was an architect who died in the 1880’s, when he was only a young boy. This left Forster’s mother and Great Aunt Marianne Thornton to be his sole providersand caretakers. The death of his great aunt left Forster with eight thousand pounds—enough to live on and pursue is passion for writing. Forster and his mother moved to Tonbridge England where he went to school but began to deeply dislike the kind of education he was receiving.

In 1897, E.M. Forster enrolled in King’s College, Cambridge. It was at college were Forster began to make influential friends and broaden the intellectual depths of his mind, and start writing his stories and novels. After graduating from King’s College, Forster and his mother traveled to Italy and Greece. Upon their return, Forster began to write essays and short stories for the Independent Review. His first novels revolved around his particular time period—stories and ideas from the rapidly changing social conditions of the Victorian Era. Some of his novels concerning this topic include Where Angels Fear to Tread (1905), The Longest Journey (1907), A Room with a View (1908), and Howards End (1910).

 

On Forster’s visit to India in 1922, he completed his last and most widely acclaimed novel, A Passage to India. It is the story of the relationships between Indians and the British during their struggles to sort out a false claim leading to a trial. Even though A Passage to India was Forster’s last novel, he still continued to write until his death in 1970. Today, Edward Morgan Forster is best known for his novels that were made into movie adaptations.

 

 

 

A Passage to India Summary

 

            A Passage to India is about Miss Adela Quested and Mrs. Moore’s visit to India from England to see Ronny—Mrs. Moore’s son and Miss Quested’s soon to be fiancé. These two women sought the “real” India; and, therefore, became friends with Indians rather than the stereotypical English who live there. At a party, hosted for Adela and Mrs. Moore to meet people, they meet Cyril Fielding, the principal of the government college, who, unlike most of the English who live in India, has no racial prejudices. He admires their open-mindedness about Indians and invites the two ladies, Professor Godbole (a Hindu professor), and Aziz (an Indian doctor who Mrs. Moore had briefly met in a mosque) to tea. At this tea, Aziz makes plans to take the entire party to see the Marabar Caves.

 

Mr. Fielding and Professor Godbole miss the train to the caves, leaving Aziz and a guide alone with Mrs. Moore and Adela, which was not proper. While looking at the caves, Mrs. Moore gets frightened and decides to go sit down, leaving the other three alone. Adela’s comment on multiple wives accidentally angers Aziz, so he storms off into a cave, while Adela goes into a different one. Once Aziz comes out, he cannot find her, but instead finds her broken glasses. He returns to camp where Mrs. Moore was and finds Mr. Fielding waiting for him, also learning that Adela has returned to the city with a friend. However, at the end of the day, when Aziz returns to the city, he is arrested due to Adela’s claim that he raped her while in a cave.

 

Before the court case, racial tensions caused problems and riots to flare up because the Indians, and Mr. Fielding—the only white man, believed Aziz was innocent. Once Adela is questioned in front of the court, she admits Aziz never raped her—never claiming if she was really raped by someone else or if nothing ever happened. Mr. Fielding gains a new amount of respect for Adela, which angers Aziz and causes him to move to a place where he can be as far away from all Englishmen as possible. Mr. Fielding marries Mrs. Moore’s daughter and returns to India for a visit. His friendship with Aziz is rekindled, but they realize they cannot truly be friends until India is free from English control.

 

 

 

A Room with a View Summary

 

            A Room with a View is the story of Lucy Honeychurch, a young and upper-class woman, who finds her own destiny among the tangled web of societal expectations and restraints. The story begins with Lucy and her cousin Charlotte taking a vacation in Italy. When they get to the room they are staying in, they begin to complain of the lack of a beautiful view. Mr. Emerson and his son, George, overhear Lucy and Charlotte talking and generously offers to swap rooms with them. Charlotte is appalled that men of their stature would even suggest the idea, but after much convincing she agrees to make the switch.

           

Since Charlotte is too weak and tired to roam the streets of Italy, Lucy goes to a museum with Miss Lavish. When they get there, Miss Lavish deserts her and Lucy is left to find her way back. On her way home, Lucy witnesses a murder—two Italian men arguing and then one stabbing the other. Lucy faints and is awaken by Mr. Emerson’s son, George. He kisses her and Lucy is surprised so she doesn’t tell anyone. From then on, Lucy tries to avoid George until one day when they are walking in the hills. Lucy falls in a bed of violets and George sees her. He kisses her again but this time Charlotte sees and she decides it is best for them to leave and go to Rome instead. The story of George and Lucy is to be kept secret by Charlotte. 

           

The story resumes with Lucy being engaged to Cecil Vyse while Mrs. Honeychurch and Lucy’s brother, Fred, are getting ready for the wedding which is to be held at Windy Corner. By coincidence, the Emersons are invited to the wedding by Cecil. As the days pass, George makes Lucy realize that she does not love Cecil. Lucy breaks off engagement with Cecil but still refuses to accept the fact that she loves George. Lucy desperately needs to escape and plans a holiday with the Miss Alans. On her way, Mr. Emerson begs her to realize her love for George. The books finishes with Lucy and George together in a room with a view.    

 

 

Style Elements

 

• Figurative Language/ Symbols: helps emphasize the hardships each character is undergoing
  • A Room With a View
    • When three men, all of different social classes, come together to swim in the pool, their clothes proclaim, “We are what matters. Without us shall no enterprise begin. To us shall all flesh turn in the end” (127). This represents their ties to society’s rules; even though they have forgotten their status at the moment, once they are dressed and have returned to society, everything will be as it was before and they will no longer socialize.
  • A Passage to India
    • When describing Aziz, the narrator comments, “He was safe really—as safe as the shore-dweller who can only understand stability and supposes that every ship must be wrecked, and he had sensations the shore-dweller cannot know” (70). This simile shows, that as an Indian, he can never be too cautious around the English.
    • Mrs. Moore asks, ‘But He comes in some other song, I hope?” but Professor Godbole only says, “Oh no, He refuses to come” (85). This reference to God shows that He no longer cares about the Indian people and never comes to answer their prayers.
• Alludes to and quotes many famous poets
  • A Room With A View
    • “Come down, O maid, from yonder mountain height," (98) A poem called “Come down, O Maid” by Alfred Lord Tennyson
    • “From far, from eve and morning/ And yon twelve-winded sky” (25) Poem XXXII from A Shropshire Lad by A. E. Housman
    • “Life like a dome of many colored glasses” (81) Which is from "Adonais" by Percy Bysshe Shelley
  • A Passage to India
    • The title was taken from Walt Whitman’s poem “Passage to India” from his book Leaves of Grass.
    • Forster references Shakespeare’s Hamlet by writing, “To be or not to be married, that was the question” (101)
• Imagery: adds emphasis to these spectacular places or moments
  • A Room With a View
    • When Lucy leaves the Italian driver and sees George, her surroundings are vividly described; “violets ran down the rivulets and streams and cataracts, irrigating the hillside with blue…” (66). This sudden imagery characterizes their extreme happiness and their love for each other, which Lucy doe not yet realize.
  • A Passage to India
    • Forster describes the creation of India and the Himalayas, showing its greatness; “The mountains rose, their debris silted up the ocean, the gods took their seats on them and contrived the river, and the India we call immemorial come into being” (135).
• Juxtaposition of characters’ attitudes and beliefs: shows society’s rules and how not everyone agrees
  • A Room With a View
    • Charlotte represents what society believes and how Lucy should act.
    • Mr. Emerson portrays everything society is against, since he is poor and does not have proper manners. This influences Lucy to want to escape society
    • Also, Italy represents society free from restrictions, while England represents the repressed hierarchy.
  • A Passage to India
    • All the Englishmen living in India demonstrate the racial prejudices against the Indians and the lack of respect they believe these second-class citizens should get.
    • Mr. Fielding represents the opposite view. He stands up for Aziz, against his entire race, showing race should not make any difference.

 

 

Reader-Response

 

• A Passage to India
  • In the United States, the main topic we learn about, when discussing oppression, is slavery. Therefore, the treatment of Aziz in India draws a connection to the second-class citizenship of free blacks during the time of slavery.
    • By remembering the situations of slaves, emotions of pity and sorrow return; therefore, Aziz is pitied too.
  • It is easy to relate to Adela’s nervousness about her marriage to Ronny because we too are about to start a new chapter in our lives by going off to college.
• A Room with a View
  • The reader can identify with Lucy’s character because she is stuck in a world governed by societal rules and cannot do as she pleases
  • Cecil is seen as a disrespectful and un-agreeable person who looks down upon all, including Lucy, as inferior
  • Mrs. Honeychurch seems to want the best for her daughter as she agrees to the marriage between her and Cecil
  • The reader may be confused at the end of the novel when Lucy breaks off her engagement with Cecil but refuses to accept her love for George

 

 

 

Historical

 

• A Passage To India
  • When this book was written, in 1924, India was under British Imperialism. However, Indian nationalists had begun to fight against British control. For example, in the book “there had nearly been a riot” because the “procession [of Indians] left its official route, and tried to enter the civil station” showing their discontent with Aziz in jail (216).
  • Indians are treated like second-class citizens due to British rule. For example, the policeman said to Mr. Fielding concerning Aziz’s crime, “When you think of crime you think of English crime. The psychology here is different” (187).
  • At the end of the book, Aziz mocks the possibility of India ever being entirely free. At this point in history, the reality of their freedom was probably an unconceivable idea. However, only twenty years later, India is released from colonization.

 

• A Room with a View
  • Victorian Era: proper dress and language considered etiquette
  • Women seen as inferior to men, not educated
  • Lucy is an individual because she has learned to play the piano so well
  • Money is a great factor in determining status
  • Italy is known for its intellectual wealth
  • Continuing interest in Italy’s arts and museums

 

 

 

Biographical

 

• A Passage To India
  • He is homosexual
    • The statement “though people are important, the relations between them are not, and that in particular too much fuss has been made over marriage” seems to show he is against marriage (149).
  • He is against imperialism
    • The narrator says, “Not until she is a nation will her sons be treated with respect” (298). This shows Forster’s desire for India to be free.
  • He is against racism (partially due to the treatment he received after announcing he was gay)
    • His opinions are by the actions and thoughts of Mr. Fielding, especially when he stood up for Aziz against his own race.
    • Miss Quested criticizes the way Anglo-Indians (English-born people who live in India) treat their fellow Indians. Forster wrote, “it was unseemly for her to criticize her race,” but in reality, by writing this book, he was doing just that (79).
  • He was friends with many Indians in England and traveled to India multiple times
    • The friendship between Aziz and Mr. Fielding portrays the difficulty of a relationship between an Indian and an Englishman.
    • In the end of the book, he comes to the conclusion that this relationship is too hard to hold on too because the world is not ready yet, even the sky says, “No, not there” (362).

 

• A Room with a View
  • Forster drew his inspirations from his visits to Italy and Greece with his mother
  • Wrote about the social restraints of his time
  • Saw the severe oppression of women and wrote about it
  • Upper-class society

 

 

 

Political-Economic Analytical Essay

 

“There is no harm in deceiving society as long as she does not find you out,” wisely declared Aziz, the protagonist in A Passage to India—a book about the racial struggles of Indians under British imperialism. Both of E. M. Forster’s books, A Room With a View and A Passage to India, incorporate this theme of the restrictions of social classes and how not upholding social rules will cause trouble to ensue. A Room With a View, set in the Edwardian era, depicts the social standards Lucy, the protagonist, must live up to while picking a suitable husband. Both Aziz and Lucy rebel against society; Lucy dismisses her parents’ wishes by marrying a man of a lower social class, while Aziz is betrayed by his white “friends” because of their racial prejudices. Forster implies, with these character’s defiant actions, that social restrictions should not exist due to their repressive nature.

 

A Passage to India focuses on the suppression of Indians under British imperialism, which is caused by the widespread racist beliefs among the English living in India. Through the inhumanity of Aziz’s treatment, Forster indirectly criticizes British prejudices and actions, emphasizing the need for India’s freedom. For example, two ladies take Aziz’s carriage, but ignore him, therefore “appropriating his object while denying his status as a fellow human subject” (Forster 14; Armstrong para. 7). Very few Indians are given respect because most are seen as essentially bad people. The theory is: “All unfortunate natives are criminals at heart, for the simple reason that they live south of latitude 30” (Forster 184). This theory gives the English justification to assume the worst from the Indians. As in Aziz’s case, even though his reputation and the evidence provided did not seem to show he had raped Miss Quested, her being white and him being Indian, easily convinced the entire white population, except for Mr. Fielding, that he was guilty. Since Indians and English rarely associate, when a problem does occur, it leads people to assume something would always go wrong with an inter-racial friendship. Therefore, the collector represents society’s views by saying, “I have never known anything but disaster result when English people and Indians attempt to be intimate socially” (Forster 182). After Aziz’s trial, he realizes how racist the English can be, finally coming to the conclusion, which Forster embraces, that “not until [India] is a nation will her sons be treated with respect” (Forster 298). Just as India is under British control, the Indians are under the Englishmen’s control. Therefore, there is no possible way for both Indians and Englishmen to live in harmony while this hierarchy is in place.

 

 In A Room With a View, the main character, Lucy, is a wealthy upper class young woman who, like Aziz in A Passage to India, just wants is to be free from society’s class structures. She is supposed to look down upon the lower classes, like Miss Bartlett who can tell an “intruder was ill-bred, even before she glanced at him,” but instead she finds no fault in them (Forster 4). She realizes there is a “fence” dividing different social classes, but she does not understand why (Forster 96). Her innocence allows her to see life without bias; however, in the beginning of the book, she does not act on these instincts because she wants to uphold the social norms.

 

Lucy, being English, notices a difference in the values of Italians compared to her English values. Forster implies “that English values are already turned inside out through self-seeking, sanctimonious propriety” and that Italian values are actually the best (Heath para. 33). Therefore, when the Italian driver misunderstands Lucy’s request to take her to Mr. Beebe and instead takes her to George, Forster is alluding to her need to ignore social restrictions and see George regardless of class. Miss Bartlett, who represents English traditions, however, catches George kissing Lucy and reprimands her for it, claiming, “it is dreadful to be entangled with low-class people” and that they are not “real men” (Forster 69, 73). This constant war between the two different ideals leads Lucy to make the mistake of accepting Cecil’s, a dislikable man she met in Rome, marriage proposal because he is of a high social class; therefore, “show[ing] her susceptibility to the pressures of society” (Forster 87; Sparknotes para. 8). However, with her increased love for George Emerson and the influence of Mr. Emerson and Italy, she overcomes her fear of society’s criticism and finally elopes.

 

Forster successfully portrays the typical problems social hierarchies can cause, therefore, showing his disapproval of these restrictions. Through both books, he emphasizes the need for society to eliminate social boundaries. Even though only Lucy succeeds in casting off her social limitations, Forster denounces racism and British Imperialism, conveying a hope that India will soon be entirely free. The reader, of either book, is left with a sense of determination to stop these social prejudices from limiting their lives, just as Lucy and Aziz did.

 

 

Feminist Analytical Essay

 

 

 

Multiple-Choice Quiz

 

1)    The two main characters in this novel, Lucy and Aziz, have what in common?

a.     They follow society’s every expectation

b.     They both get raped

c.     They run away from home

d.     They both shatter the expectations of society

e.     They both get married

2)    Where was E. M. Forster born?

a.     New York

b.     Florence

c.     Paris

d.     London

e.     Bombay

3)    What year did Forster write A Room with a View and A Passage to India respectively?

a.     1907 and 1922

b.     1921 and 1900

c.     1908 and 1921

d.     1924 and 1910

e.     1908 and 1922

4)    In A Passage to India, why did Adela and Mrs. Moore visit India?

a.     For vacation

b.     To visit Ronny

c.     For business

d.     To see the Taj Mahal

e.     To visit their dying grandma

5)    In A Passage to India, what does Adela claim happened to her in the cave?

a.     She was robbed

b.     She was caved in

c.     She was threatened with a knife

d.     She was raped

e.     She was injured

6)    In A Passage to India, who does Mr. Fielding marry?

a.     Adela

b.     Mrs. Moore

c.     Adela’s sister

d.     Mrs. Moore’s daughter

e.     Adela’s daughter

7)    In A Room with a View, who is Lucy staying with while visiting Florence?

a.     Fred

b.     George

c.     Cecil

d.     Charlotte

e.     Mrs. Honeychurch

8)    In A Room with a View, what does Lucy witness while roaming the streets of Florence?

a.     a murder

b.     an artist painting

c.     a robbery

d.     a hawk eating a mouse

e.     a rape

9)    In A Room with a View, what is the secret that Charlotte must keep?

a.     Lucy’s adventures to Milan

b.     Lucy wants to run away

c.     George kissing Lucy

d.     Lucy injuring her leg

e.     George liking Charlotte

10)  Which poet does Forster NOT allude to in either book?

a.     Shakespeare

b.     Shelley

c.     Tennyson

d.     Dickinson

e.     Whitman

11)  What style element is NOT a main component of his books?

a.     Juxtaposition

b.     Apostrophe

c.     Allusion

d.     Figurative language

e.     Imagery

12)  What does Charlotte represent in A Room with a View?

a.     The man

b.     Society’s expectations

c.     Rebelling against society

d.     The all-knowing spider from Charlotte’s Web

e.     God

13)  What caused the strife between the British and the Indians in A Passage to India?

a.     War

b.     Imperialism

c.     Famine

d.     both a and c

e.     none of the above

14)  What is the most important factor in determining social status in A Room with a View?

a.     Gender

b.     Wealth

c.     Ancestry

d.     Race

e.     Religion

15)  What personal factors did NOT affect his writings?

a.     a near death experience

b.     his sexual prefence

c.     his impressions of Italy and India

d.     his opinions against imperialism

e.     none of the above

16)  In a Room with a View, how do the Italians differ from the English?

a.     They both represent strict social restraints

b.     The English represent freedom and the Italians represent strict social restraints

c.     They both represent freedom

d.     The English represent strict social restraints and the Italians represent freedom

e.     None of the above

17) What is the Englishman’s theory concerning Indians in A Passage to India?

a.     “All unfortunate natives are criminals at heart”

b.     “All unfortunate natives should die”

c.     “All unfortunate natives are not capable of living among higher society”

d.     “All unfortunate natives should play the piano”

e.     “All unfortunate natives should convert to Catholicism”

18)  In A Room with a View, how is Cecil perceived to the audience?

a.     Elegant

b.     Friendly

c.     Disrespectful

d.     Aggressive

e.     Vengeful

19)  What must Lucy decide between in A Room with a View?

a.     Living in Rome or London

b.     Marrying for wealth or love

c.     Having a baby or not

d.     Facing her mother or running away

e.     Killing her brother or sending him to jail

20) In A Room with a View, when Lucy is walking among the hills, what kind of flower bed does she fall into?

a.     Daisies

b.     Tulips

c.     Roses

d.     Petunias

e.     Violets

21) In A Passage to India, what does Adela decide to do at the end of the trial?

a.     She says Aziz is guilty

b.     She says Aziz is innocent

c.     She pleads the 5^th

d.     She pleads she is mental

e.     She flees back to England

22) What college did Forster attend?

a.     Oxford

b.     Tonbridge university

c.     King’s college

d.     Jumbaliy University

e.     He didn’t go to college

23) What is Forster best known for?

a.     His songs

b.     His essays and short stories

c.     His novels that were turned into movie adaptations

d.     His relationships with the Indians

e.     None of the above

24) What caves did Aziz take the group to in A Passage to India?

a.     Marabar

b.     Kings

c.     Fortinar

d.     Vemtrans

e.     Woods

25) Who made this website?

a.     Bob and Joe

b.     The enforcers

c.     The man

d.     Aneet and Melanie 

e.     Ghostbusters

 

Works Cited

 

Armstrong, Paul B. "Reading India: E. M. Forster and the politics of interpretation." Twentieth Century Literature 38.n4 (Winter 1992): 365(21). Student Resource Center - Gold. Gale. Saugus High School. 1 Apr. 2008 
<http://find.galegroup.com/ips/start.do?prodId=IPS>.

Bnet. 2008. CNET Networks. April 2, 2008 <http://findarticles.com/p/articles/>      

Books and Writers. 2000. April 6, 2008< http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/forster.htm>

Forster, Edward Morgan. A Passage to India. United States of America: Columbia Pictures, 1984

Forster, Edward Morgan. A Room with a View. United States of America: Penguin Books, 2000.

Grade Saver. 1999. April 6, 2008 < http://www.gradesaver.com/classicnotes/authors/about_e_forster.html>

Heath, Jeffrey. "Kissing and telling: turning round in 'A Room with a View.'." Twentieth Century Literature 40.n4 (Winter 1994): 393(31). Student Resource Center - Gold. Gale. Saugus High School. 1 Apr. 2008 
<http://find.galegroup.com/ips/start.do?prodId=IPS>.

The Imperial Archive. 2007. April 2, 2008 <http://www.qub.ac.uk/schools/SchoolofEnglish/imperial/india/Racialism-Forster.html>

The Literature Network. 2000. April 6, 2008 <http://www.online-literature.com/forster/>

 

Links

 

 

AP Projects

Articles on Forster

Biography on Forster

Biography of Forster

Racism in Forster’s books