ENGLISH ARTICLES

A Room with a View

There were a number of aspects of Forster’s life that specifically influenced A Room with a View and had an effect on Forster’s other writings. His experience at Tonbridge School as a teenager was very difficult for him because of the cruelty he suffered from classmates. This experience left him with deep sympathy for the individual against society, and this can be seen in Forster’s portrayal of the Emersons. Forster’s homosexuality directly influenced the writing of his last novel Maurice (1971), but also influenced his perception of social convention, which comes under fire in A Room with a View. Finally, his trip to Italy with his mother in 1901–02 directly influenced his Italian novels, including A Room with a View.

The novel is divided into two distinct sections. The first takes place in Florence, where young Lucy Honeychurch and her older cousin Charlotte Bartlett (acting as her chaperone) are starting their visit to Italy. They meet a host of interesting characters at the Pension Bertolini where they are staying. These characters include the bohemian novelist Eleanor Lavish, the spinsters Miss Teresa and Miss Catherine Alan, the clergyman Mr. Beebe who has been transferred to Lucy’s home parish, and Mr. Emerson and his son George. Florence provides two especially exciting adventures for Lucy. First, she witnesses a murder and faints into the arms of the young Emerson. The experience of the murder has a profound effect upon the both of them, though Lucy is terribly embarrassed by her fainting spell. The second adventure occurs during a picnic in the country, during which George takes the liberty of embracing and kissing Lucy.

The second half of the novel takes place at Windy Corner, Lucy’s home on Summer Street (where she lives with her mother and Freddie, her brother). It begins with Lucy’s acceptance of a marriage proposal from Cecil Vyse, a seemingly snobbish bore whom Lucy met in Rome. When a nearby house is available for lease, Lucy and Mr. Beebe attempt to attract the Miss Alans, but Cecil, as a joke, recommends the villa to the Emersons. The Emersons become friends of the Honeychurches after George, Freddie, and Mr. Beebe are discovered bathing nude in the woods by Mrs. Honeychurch, Lucy, and Mr. Vyse. George seizes an opportunity to secretly kiss Lucy again. This prompts Lucy to rebuke George, who replies with a passionate speech about why Lucy should not marry Cecil. Though denying the impetus for it, Lucy breaks off her engagement with Cecil and plans a trip to Greece so that George will not believe her broken engagement is due to him. A meeting with Mr. Emerson, aided by Charlotte, convinces Lucy of her love for George, and the novel ends with the two of them honeymooning in Florence.