E.M. Forster

E.M. Forster: novels

The main novels written by E.M. Forster include Where Angels Fear to Tread (1905), A Room with a View (1908), A Passage to India (1924), Maurice (1971), and Howard's End (1910).

E.M. Forster: Where Angels Fear to Tread

This was Forster's first novel. It was partly inspired by time spent in Italy. The novel contrasts English and Italian cultures. This is a theme that Forster would continue in A Room with a View.

The novel opens with Lilia Herriton, a widow with a young daughter named Irma. Her late husband's family consider her too wild and rebellious. They send her to Italy with her neighbour and chaperone, Caroline Abbott, in the hopes of taming her. This fails spectacularly as Lilia falls in love with and marries a much younger Italian man, Gino Carella. He is also of a lower class. This is seen as an embarrassment. Lilia then dies in childbirth, leaving Irma to be raised by her first husband's family.

This sets a series of events into motion. Irma and Caroline both want Lilia's son from her marriage to Gino to be raised in England with their family. Philip and Harriet, Lilia's first husband's siblings, travel to Italy to achieve this along with Caroline. Gino proves to be a very good father and so Philip and Caroline give up their quest. Harriet does not, kidnapping the child. The two are involved in a carriage crash that kills the child. Gino is furious and inconsolable. Philip and Caroline return to England. Philip reveals he is in love with Caroline. In a twist by Forster, Caroline reveals she has fallen in love with Gino.

Where Angels Fear to Tread compares the Italian way of life to the English one. Forster concludes that Italian culture is passionate, open, and sometimes violent. English culture in contrast is restricted, reserved, and obsessed with class boundaries. Caroline's preference for Gino over Philip shows which culture is being privileged in the novel.

E.M. Forster: A Room with a View

This is the second of Forster's Italian novels and one of his best-known works. A Room with View is a social comedy that also contrasts Italian and English culture.

This novel follows Lucy Honeychurch, a young English woman, as she travels around Italy with her chaperone and older cousin, Charlotte Bartlett. Charlotte is conservative and reserved. Lucy is inexperienced and still learning the ways of the world. The pair soon meet the Emersons, a father and his son, George, in Florence. They are of a lower class and liberal. They are very different to the reserved people Lucy is accustomed to interacting with.

Lucy and George have a number of romantic encounters. George is usually the one to initiate these as he believes in acting on your feelings. Charlotte observes one of these encounters and demands that she and Lucy leave Florence immediately. Charlotte thinks George's actions to be improper.

The two women go to Rome. Lucy meets Cecil Vyse here. He is a conservative upper-class English man that she knew back home. He is romantically interested in her. Lucy accepts Cecil as her fiance upon his third proposal.

The rest of A Room with a View is set in England in Lucy's family home. In an ironic turn of events, the Emersons come to stay in the same village. George becomes close with Lucy's brother, Freddy, and she sees him a great deal. George again attempts to act on his romantic feelings for Lucy despite Cecil's presence. Lucy becomes unnerved and unsure of her feelings. She sends George away but also breaks off her engagement with Cecil. She has realised he is unpleasant and judgemental.

Mr Emerson finally convinces Lucy that she must act on her true feelings for George. The two elope to Florence, staying in the hotel in which they first met.

Lucy's choice of romantic partners represents two different kinds of ideals and worldviews that she can potentially have. Forster sets up this contrast intentionally. Cecil represents the restrictive English way of life that is obsessed with class and social norms. George represents the passionate and liberal Italian way of life that prioritises true feelings over all else. Just as in Where Angels Fear to Tread, Lucy's choice of lover indicates which kind of lifestyle is being prioritised by Forster.

E.M. Forster: A Passage to India

This was the last full novel Forster wrote. It is often recognised as his most sophisticated work. It deals with the latter days of the British Raj in India.

The novel is set in the Indian city of Chandrapore. We see two English women, Adela Quested and Mrs Moore, arriving in India. They are there to visit Ronny Heaslop, working as a magistrate. He is Adela's fiance and Mrs Moore's son.

A common theme throughout A Passage to India is the struggle of the British and Indian characters to interact and understand each other. The dynamic of the British occupying India complicates this greatly. The British people tend to look down on the Indians whereas the Indians tend to distrust the British deeply. Mrs Moore in particular has a number of interactions with locals in Chandrapore. She develops a relationship with Aziz, a Muslim Indian and doctor. The two first meet in a mosque. Aziz becomes a key character in the text.

The theme of the difficulty of friendship in these circumstances is obvious. The local British authorities organise a party for Adela and Mrs Moore to get to know the local Indians but the event is awkward. The groups of Britains and Indians do not mix.

There is a much better example of mixing in a get-together at the house of Cyril Fielding. He is an English school principal living and working in India who has liberal views. Aziz is in attendance and, after this, there are moments of understanding between the two men throughout the novel. When Ronny arrives the atmosphere is ruined. Ronny represents the snobbery of the English in India.

English snobbery and prejudice are further emphasised when Aziz invites Adela, Mrs Moore, and Fielding on a trip to the nearby Marabar hills. Mrs Moore is unwell and Fielding is late so Adela and Aziz proceed to explore some caves alone. Adela asks Aziz if he has more than one wife. This is an embarrassing moment that shows her ignorance and prejudice. In reality, Aziz is a widower.

While in the caves, something occurs that makes Adela believe Aziz has assaulted her. Forster never tells the reader exactly what this is. Mrs Moore and Fielding are the only Britains that believe in Aziz's innocence. Adela's privilege as a white British woman in India means Aziz is immediately arrested and faces trial. Fielding is shunned by the British community for supporting Aziz. When Adela admits she was wrong and Aziz is acquitted, she too is shunned. During this time, Mrs Moore passes away on the boat back to England.

The final section of A Passage to India takes place two years later. Fielding returns to India but Aziz does not want to meet him as he believes Fielding has married Adela. This displeases Aziz after his experiences with her. He discovers that Fielding has really married Mrs Moore's daughter. Fielding and Aziz reconcile, riding off together in the jungle.

Forster explores prejudice and ignorance in A Passage to India. He shows the mistreatment of Indians by British occupiers. He also shows how much politics complicates potential friendships between similar people. This is seen in the relationship between Fielding and Aziz.

Fig. 2 - E.M. Forster began writing A Passage to India when he was traveling in India in 1912-1913, but he did not finish it until several years later when he was living in England.

E.M. Forster: themes

The main themes in E.M. Forster's works are class, gender roles, and liberalism.

E.M. Forster: class

Class is a key theme in Forster's work. He often explores class boundaries and expectations. This is sometimes done in a satirical way, like in A Room with a View. Forster makes it clear in his work that he strongly dislikes and disagrees with strict class boundaries. His novels often show class as causing great difficulty in people's lives. An effort to adhere to it separates people in his work and breeds misunderstanding.

This can be seen in all three of the novels mentioned above. Where Angels Fear to Tread shows the English obsession with class and English people's difficulty in understanding other cultures. Philip and Gino are contrasted in the novel. Philip is part of the restricted English society. His family cares deeply about respectability and class. Gino cares little for these things, often simply acting on his feelings instead of what may be expected of him.

Class issues may be most obvious in A Room with a View. A major barrier to Lucy and George's relationship is the fact that they are from two different classes. This English society does not approve of marriages between classes. This is clear in both Cecil and Charlotte's judgement of the Emersons. These prejudices are shown to be wrong by Forster in Lucy's choice of George.

E.M. Forster: liberalism

Liberalism is a central theme in much of Forster's work. It is often presented as the solution to many issues, like those of class expectations. This reflected Forster's own views. Forster includes many liberal and accepting characters in his work to promote these values. These characters include the Emersons, Cyril Fielding, and Gino Carella.

Characters such as these in Forster's work do not allow prejudices to control them. For example, in A Passage to India, Fielding is one of the only English characters that does not believe Aziz is guilty of assaulting Adela. This is mostly down to his liberal views.

The other English people in the area let their racial prejudices cloud their views. They automatically choose to believe the white woman over the Indian man. They view Indians as lesser due to racism. Fielding is much more open and much less prejudiced. He judges Aziz by his character not by his race.

E.M. Forster: facts

• Forster inherited £8000 from his great-aunt when he was still a young boy. This fortune enabled him to write without needing another form of income as an adult.
• Forster was offered a knighthood in the 1940s but declined it.
• The reason Forster chose to attend King's College, Cambridge, specifically was for the radical reputation it had. This appealed to Forster's liberalism.
• Forster spent a great deal of time in his 20s unsure what to do with his life. His wealth meant he did not have any need to pursue a particular occupation to get by.
• Despite Forster keeping his sexuality quiet, he donated a significant sum to the Homosexual Law Reform Society in the 1960s.

E.M. Forster: quotes

¹ Nicola Beauman, 'Forster, Edward Morgan (1879-1970)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, 2006.