Reading Journal on - A Room With A View

A Room with a View has been described by some as a social commentary for myself, however I was struck by the generalised machismo injected by Forster into the elder Emerson “Women like looking at a view; men don’t” arguably an antiquated view in today’s society, but one, albeit worded differently, which seem to run through many gay writers novels. While reading the novel, it is possible, with a little knowledge of Forster to begin applying Queer theory; this is perhaps compounded, should the reader also watch the much acclaimed film of the same title, in which the homo-erotic influence within the novel is perhaps less opaque

Perhaps best stated by John Guest in his introductory description of Oscar Wilde “it is only through the pages which follow that the reader will come to a fuller understanding of such a complex character”.

This leads to a further observation of the novel, one which has been described as the “Muddle”, used by Forster to describe the state of Lucy’s mind. It is easy to see how this muddle arises in Lucy; all her previous values are thrown into disarray. It is possible to, thanks to the skill of Forster’s pen, to place the characters of the novel into three separate camps. The reader is given the staid though often elitist values of Edwardian society through the characters of the Honeychurches (including Miss Bartlett though excluding Freddy), Cecil Vyse and his mother, not forgetting the British chaplain Mr. Eager, whose rudeness to Italians is overshadowed only by his accusations of murder towards the elder Emerson, as stated earlier this bigotry while seemingly innate, is perhaps tempered by the characters of the second camp the Emerson’s, Bebe and Freddy Honeychurch. With the final camp belonging to the Miss Alan’s and Miss Lavish. In total Forster seems to have covered the whole of society [as he saw it]. Using the third person omniscient tone the muddle is explained to the reader, the reader sees not only the confusions of Lucy, but also the weaknesses and fallacies of all but two of the novels characters, Forster seems to leave the Emerson’s as an enigma to both the other characters of the novel and the reader.

We see them [Emerson’s] enjoying their own form of socializing and kindness, early in the novel, after hearing that two women guests at the pensione love cornflowers, the Emerson’s go out into a field and gather armfuls of them, and then place them around their room as a surprise. An act of spur-of-the-moment kindness is a perfect example of something that, though completely harmless and very thoughtful, someone such as Miss Bartlett [is she the portrayal of Edwardian society?] would find rather unacceptable.

Another striking feature of the novel is the symbolism, not only within the novel, but the title A Room with a View also seems to have some symbolic value since it is not only a room in a Florentine pensione with a view that Mr. Emerson and George offer Lucy; they also offer her a view of her own, a possibility to think for herself.

           The opening part of the story of A Room with a View is located in Italy. This has also a symbolic value. Italy, as a country, stands for passion and comradeship and is often represented by art primarily from the Renaissance period, (meaning "rebirth"). Forster himself had visited Italy, and Florence, with his mother during his early years, where he [Forster] would have gained a feel for not only the country, but also its people.

While the later sections of the novel are set in England which has often associated with the "medieval" or "Gothic", symbolizing both caution, and lack of spontaneity [perhaps typical of the upper classes]. It is perhaps possible to see the two countries portrayed within Forster’s characters of George Emerson and Cecil Vyse

Cecil Vyse could be argued as being a typical adaptation of the British gentry, although comic, is at the same time threatening. Forster describes him

“Appearing thus late in the story, Cecil must be at once described. He was mediaeval. Like a Gothic statue. Tall and refined, with shoulders that seemed braced square by an effort of the will,” 

Cecil, whose oiled hair, expensive suits, pince-nez glasses and pocket watch are all unmistakable testaments to this traditionalistic approach to life.

Forster then goes on to give the reader, perhaps further symbolism, with his statement [through the third person omniscient voice]

“A Gothic statue implies celibacy, just as a Greek statue implies fruition”,

If Cecil is the Gothic, then could George be Greek? We see him [George] as being comfortable with himself, his unkempt attire, often messy hair, and disregard for clothing [more obvious in the film] "conventions" Furthermore, George eagerly joins Freddy and Mr. Beebe in a bathing session, happily running around the waters edge completely naked; they are soon discovered by a fully clad group consisting of Mrs. Honeychurch, Lucy and Cecil, who, the viewer is fully aware, would never dream of doing what George Emerson so eagerly agreed to.

Once again, reading this novel ,it becomes all to easy to apply Queer theory to the text It has been argued that the word ‘comradeship’ is a highly significant word for Forster since other writers that had influenced him used it euphemistically for homosexuality. Oscar Wilde frequently used it as a metaphor for homosexual love ,after reading the novel it is easier to agree with this argument, since it is not only physical love ,but, eternal love that Forster implies to the reader as Lucy and George stand by the Arno, it is eternal comradeship. This fact could, at the concealed level, imply that the relationship Forster glorifies is not heterosexual but homosexual. Another symbol glorifying male love by its depiction in the novel is the tower at the Piazza Signoria.

It could be argued that the tower does picture Lucy’s new found sexuality; however the way Forster puts this, clearly glorifies this phallic symbol

 “the tower of the palace ... rose out of the lower darkness like a pillar of roughened gold. It seemed no longer a tower, no longer supported by earth, but some unattainable treasure throbbing in the tranquil sky”

Not only does this portrayal imply sexuality, but the tower clearly glorifies the male organ by giving it the position of a golden treasure.

          As a result of reading this novel, attending class and working within small groups, more research was conducted and as a result of the many works available, Tarir Rahman’s book The Double-plot in E. M. Forster’s A Room with a View points out and offers an explanation to several points of symbolism that were noted not only by myself but several others.

If Forsters novel is about passion and fulfillment then it can be argued that there are four symbols of passion and self-fulfilment firstly the flowers (cornflowers in the room of the Miss Alans, along with the field in which George kisses Lucy), then the water (the river into which George throws Lucy’s picture postcards, the pond in which George, Freddy and Mr Bebe frolic), light, and spring.

Using the knowledge, gained during the reading of not only A Room with a View, but novels by Dickens, Carey, Eliot, as well as the playwright Ibsen it becomes obvious that author uses symbolism, as a means, to perhaps communicate to the reader underlying thoughts and feelings, however these can often be interpreted in many different ways, we as the reader, assume who the author is, so using my understanding of the theories from both Stanley Fish and Michel Foucault, the latter in helping me understand who the author actually is, questions on symbolism can perhaps be answered in the following way.

The water imagery is perhaps the most important of the symbols, for the reason that, as the narrative unfolds; it becomes clear to the reader what the water really implies, in the case of the throwing of Lucy’s cards, the water perhaps signifies an unstoppable, pure cleansing, Lucy’s cards were after all covered in blood however another angle could be applied on the same scene from reading the final words of chapter four “whose roar was suggesting some unexpected melody to her ears”an ending to the first scene of intimacy between Lucy and George, the “roar described could perhaps be used to describe the flush of attraction Lucy felt towards George ,O nightingale sing on for love!. It would seem the Arno is popular among gay writers, Oscar Wilde wrote a poem entitled By the Arno if this fails to convince the reader of the underlying symbolism within the novel.

Then perhaps the water in the pool of the bathing scene seemingly not only offers a desire for an instantaneous contact with nature but also an intimate physical contact with members of the same sex this bathing carries and air of innocence, and yet, perhaps we see an element of Forster’s eroticism.

Watery images are used by Forster to describe the surroundings in Italy when George and Lucy kiss for the first time the flowers run “down in rivulets and streams and cataracts, irrigating the hillside with blue, eddying round the tree stems, collecting into pools”.

Add to this aspect, the fact that water imagery also concludes the novel, as the final sentences tell the reader that George and Lucy are conscious of a love that is more mysterious than love ordinarily is and that they “heard the river, bearing down the snows of winter into the Mediterranean”.

The Mediterranean in this scene adds to the water imagery and reconnects us with homosexuality, since the love that we are in contact with here is described by Forster as mysterious, and not ordinary.

Could Forster be alluding to the same love that Lord Alfred Douglas, described in detail thirteen years earlierin his poem Two loves.

So with close reading, this novel like many other classics, says more in the spaces between the lines about the author than the actual text does, and in doing so Forster has perhaps ignored the advice of Mr Wilde who once stated “an artist should create beautiful things, but should put nothing of his own life into them

           Bibliography.

Bennet, Andrew. Readers and Reading. New York: Longman, 1995.

Collins, Concise Dictionary 21st Century Edition. London: Harper/Collins, 2004

Forster, E.M. Room with a View London: Penguin, 1990.

Wilde, Oscar. Stories, London: Collins, 1952.

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