E. M. Forster's 'A Room with a View': The Attitude of English People Abroad

Seminar paper from the year 2001 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, grade: 2,0, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (Seminar für Englische Philologie: Forschungs- und Lehrbereich Anglistik), course: The British and the Continent, language: English, abstract: The novel A Room with a View by Edward Morgan Forster was published in 1908. It is considered as one of Forster's major novels, and '[i]t is probably his most well-liked novel, perhaps because (with the dubious exception ofMaurice)it is the only one to have a happy ending' (Cavaliero 93). His novelsWhere Angels Fear to TreadandA Room with a Vieware often referred to as Forster's 'Italian novels'. Immediately after his return from Italy and Greece Edward Morgan Forster took up the work with a novel that can be considered as the prototype ofA Room with a View.This work is known as the 'Lucy novel' or the 'Lucy fragments'. But he stopped working on it for some time, and a few years passed before he dealt again with it. Only '[i]nA Room with a ViewForster takes up the fragments contrasting Italy and England which are found in the early 'Lucy novels' and brings them to a successful conclusion' (Cavaliero 93). The critic on the constrictive and rigid rules of social life in English society has often been an issue discussed by Edward Morgan Forster, and it is a central issue inA Room with a View.Furthermore Forster calls attention to the behaviour of the English people abroad. He introduces very different characters in order to show different points of view and behaviours. It is interesting that most of the English tourists described inA Room with a Vieware more or less presented as unpleasant people. This is due to the fact that they do not fit into the Italian environment because of their affected behaviour. By describing the behaviour of the English tourists and residents at Florence Edward Morgan Forster reveals a lot about English mentality, and he sometimes overtly criticizes it. As Forster himself travelled Italy and Greece, it can be assumed that he made experiences and acquaintances that served as a model for some of the situations and characters described inA Room with a View.Forster clearly distanced himself from this kind of people, or more precisely, tourists. Edward Morgan Forster offers an interesting point of view to the reader, because he was English himself, but nevertheless critically observed the attitude of his fellow countrymen. Furthermore, the behaviour of the English tourists in Italy might be considered as representative for the attitude of the English people towards the Continent, and therefore the topic of this research paper fits into the context of 'The British and the Continent'.