Edward Morgan Forster (1 January 1879 – 7 June 1970) was an English author, best known for his novels, particularly ''
A Room with a View'' (1908), ''
Howards End
''Howards End'' is a novel by E. M. Forster, first published in 1910, about social conventions, codes of conduct and relationships in turn-of-the-century England. ''Howards End'' is considered by many to be Forster's masterpiece. The book was ...
'' (1910), and ''
A Passage to India
''A Passage to India'' is a 1924 novel by English author E. M. Forster set against the backdrop of the British Raj and the Indian independence movement in the 1920s. It was selected as one of the 100 great works of 20th century English liter ...
'' (1924). He also wrote numerous short stories, essays, speeches and broadcasts, as well a limited number of biographies and some pageant plays. He also co-authored the opera ''
Billy Budd'' (1951). Today, he is considered one of the most successful of the
Edwardian era
The Edwardian era or Edwardian period of British history spanned the reign of King Edward VII, 1901 to 1910 and is sometimes extended to the start of the First World War. The death of Queen Victoria in January 1901 marked the end of the Victor ...
English novelists.
Born into a comfortable
middle-class family, Forster was an only child. His father died before he reached the age of two, and thereafter he was raised by his mother and a variety of other female relatives. After attending
Tonbridge School
(God Giveth the Increase)
, established =
, closed =
, type = Public schoolIndependent day and boarding
, religion =
, president =
, head_label ...
he studied history and
classics at
King's College, Cambridge
King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, the college lies beside the River Cam and faces out onto King's Parade in the centre of the cit ...
, where he met fellow future writers such as
Lytton Strachey
Giles Lytton Strachey (; 1 March 1880 – 21 January 1932) was an English writer and critic. A founding member of the Bloomsbury Group and author of '' Eminent Victorians'', he established a new form of biography in which psychological insight ...
and
Leonard Woolf
Leonard Sidney Woolf (; – ) was a British political theorist, author, publisher, and civil servant. He was married to author Virginia Woolf. As a member of the Labour Party and the Fabian Society, Woolf was an avid publisher of his own wo ...
. He then travelled throughout Europe before publishing his first novel, ''
Where Angels Fear to Tread'' in 1905.
Many of his novels examine class difference and hypocrisy. He was nominated for the
Nobel Prize in Literature in 20 separate years.
Life
Early years
![Tonbridge School 2008](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f3/Tonbridge_School_2008.jpg)
Forster, born at 6 Melcombe Place,
Dorset Square, London NW1, which no longer stands, was the only child of the Anglo-Irish Alice Clara "Lily" (née Whichelo) and a Welsh architect, Edward Morgan Llewellyn Forster. He was registered as Henry Morgan Forster, but accidentally baptised Edward Morgan Forster. His father died of
tuberculosis
Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, i ...
on 30 October 1880 before Morgan's second birthday. In 1883, he and his mother moved to
Rooks Nest, near
Stevenage,
Hertfordshire until 1893. This was to serve as a model for the house Howards End in his novel of that name. It is listed
Grade I
In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
for historic interest and literary associations. Forster had fond memories of his childhood at Rooks Nest.
![Bs 03 rooks nest square](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/97/Bs_03_rooks_nest_square.jpg)
Among Forster's ancestors were members of the
Clapham Sect
The Clapham Sect, or Clapham Saints, were a group of social reformers associated with Clapham in the period from the 1780s to the 1840s. Despite the label "sect", most members remained in the established (and dominant) Church of England, which ...
, a social reform group in the
Church of England
The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...
. Forster inherited £8,000 () in
trust
Trust often refers to:
* Trust (social science), confidence in or dependence on a person or quality
It may also refer to:
Business and law
* Trust law, a body of law under which one person holds property for the benefit of another
* Trust (bus ...
from his paternal great-aunt
Marianne Thornton (daughter of the abolitionist
Henry Thornton), who died on 5 November 1887. This was enough to live on and enabled him to become a writer. He attended as a day boy
Tonbridge School
(God Giveth the Increase)
, established =
, closed =
, type = Public schoolIndependent day and boarding
, religion =
, president =
, head_label ...
in Kent, where the school theatre has been named in his honour, although he is known to have been unhappy there.
At
King's College, Cambridge
King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, the college lies beside the River Cam and faces out onto King's Parade in the centre of the cit ...
in 1897–1901, he became a member of a discussion society known as the
Apostles (formally the Cambridge ''Conversazione'' Society). They met in secret to discuss their work on philosophical and moral questions. Many of its members went on to constitute what came to be known as the
Bloomsbury Group, of which Forster was a member in the 1910s and 1920s. There is a famous recreation of Forster's Cambridge at the beginning of ''
The Longest Journey
''The Longest Journey'' ( nb, Den Lengste Reisen) is a magical realist point-and-click adventure video game developed by Norwegian studio Funcom for Microsoft Windows and released in 1999.
The game was a commercial success, with sales in ex ...
''. The Schlegel sisters of ''
Howards End
''Howards End'' is a novel by E. M. Forster, first published in 1910, about social conventions, codes of conduct and relationships in turn-of-the-century England. ''Howards End'' is considered by many to be Forster's masterpiece. The book was ...
'' are based to some degree on
Vanessa and
Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...
Stephen. Forster graduated with a
BA with
second-class honours in both classics and history.
In 1904, Forster travelled in Greece and Italy out of interest in their classical heritage. He then sought a post in Germany, to learn the language, and spent several months in the summer of 1905 in Nassenheide,
Pomerania
Pomerania ( pl, Pomorze; german: Pommern; Kashubian: ''Pòmòrskô''; sv, Pommern) is a historical region on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in Central Europe, split between Poland and Germany. The western part of Pomerania belongs to ...
, (now the Polish village of
Rzędziny) as a tutor to the children of the writer
Elizabeth von Arnim
Elizabeth von Arnim (31 August 1866 – 9 February 1941), born Mary Annette Beauchamp, was an English novelist. Born in Australia, she married a German aristocrat, and her earliest works are set in Germany. Her first marriage made her Countess v ...
. He wrote a short memoir of this experience, which was one of the happiest times in his life.
In 1906 Forster fell in love with
Syed Ross Masood, a 17-year-old Indian future Oxford student he tutored in Latin. Masood had a more romantic, poetic view of friendship, confusing Forster with avowals of love.
After leaving university, Forster travelled in Europe with his mother. They then moved to Weybridge, Surrey, where he wrote all six of his novels.
In 1914, he visited Egypt, Germany and India with the classicist
Goldsworthy Lowes Dickinson, by which time he had written all but one of his novels. As a
conscientious objector in the First World War, Forster served as a Chief Searcher (for missing servicemen) for the
British Red Cross
The British Red Cross Society is the United Kingdom body of the worldwide neutral and impartial humanitarian network the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. The society was formed in 1870, and is a registered charity with more ...
in
Alexandria
Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandri ...
, Egypt. Though conscious of his repressed desires, it was only then, while stationed in Egypt, that he "lost his R
espectability to a wounded soldier in 1917.
Forster spent a second spell in India in the early 1920s as private secretary to
Tukojirao III
Tukojirao III (1 January 1888 – 21 December 1937) was the ruling Maharaja of the Maratha princely state of Dewas from 1900 to 1937. He succeeded to the ''gadi'' of Dewas following the death of his uncle, Raja Krishnajirao II. His tutor and ...
,
Maharajah of
Dewas. ''
The Hill of Devi
''The Hill of Devi'' is an account by E. M. Forster of two visits to India in 1912–1913 and 1921, during which he worked as the private secretary to Tukojirao III, the Maharaja of the state of Dewas Senior. The book was first published in 19 ...
'' is his non-fictional account of this period. After returning to London from India, he completed the last novel of his to be published in his lifetime, ''
A Passage to India
''A Passage to India'' is a 1924 novel by English author E. M. Forster set against the backdrop of the British Raj and the Indian independence movement in the 1920s. It was selected as one of the 100 great works of 20th century English liter ...
'' (1924), for which he won the
James Tait Black Memorial Prize
The James Tait Black Memorial Prizes are literary prizes awarded for literature written in the English language. They, along with the Hawthornden Prize, are Britain's oldest literary awards. Based at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, Uni ...
for fiction. He also edited the letters of
Eliza Fay (1756–1816) from India, in an edition first published in 1925. In 2012,
Tim Leggatt, who knew Forster for his last 15 years, wrote a memoir based on unpublished correspondence with him over those years.
Career
After ''A Passage to India''
Forster was awarded a
Benson Medal in 1937. In the 1930s and 1940s Forster became a notable broadcaster on
BBC Radio
BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927). The service provides national radio stations covering ...
, and while
George Orwell was the BBC India Section talks producer from 1941 to 1943, he commissioned from Forster a weekly book review.
Forster became publicly associated with the
British Humanist Association
Humanists UK, known from 1967 until May 2017 as the British Humanist Association (BHA), is a charitable organisation which promotes secular humanism and aims to represent "people who seek to live good lives without religious or superstitious b ...
. In addition to his broadcasting, he advocated individual liberty and penal reform and opposed censorship by writing articles, sitting on committees and signing letters.
Forster was open about his homosexuality to close friends, but not to the public. He never married, but had a number of male lovers during his adult life. He developed long-term relations with Bob Buckingham (1904–1975), a married policeman. Forster included Buckingham and his wife May in his circle, which included
J. R. Ackerley, a writer and literary editor of ''
The Listener,'' the psychologist
W. J. H. Sprott, and for a time, the composer
Benjamin Britten
Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976, aged 63) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, other ...
. Other writers with whom he associated included
Christopher Isherwood, the poet
Siegfried Sassoon, and the
Belfast
Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...
-based novelist
Forrest Reid. He was a close friend of the socialist poet and philosopher
Edward Carpenter
Edward Carpenter (29 August 1844 – 28 June 1929) was an English utopian socialist, poet, philosopher, anthologist, an early activist for gay rightsWarren Allen Smith: ''Who's Who in Hell, A Handbook and International Directory for Human ...
. A visit to Carpenter and his younger lover
George Merrill in 1913 inspired Forster's novel ''
Maurice Maurice may refer to:
People
* Saint Maurice (died 287), Roman legionary and Christian martyr
* Maurice (emperor) or Flavius Mauricius Tiberius Augustus (539–602), Byzantine emperor
*Maurice (bishop of London) (died 1107), Lord Chancellor and ...
'', which is partly based on them.
In 1960, Forster began a relationship with the Bulgarian émigré
Mattei Radev, a picture framer and art collector who moved in Bloomsbury group circles. He was Forster's junior by 46 years. They met at Long Crichel House, a Georgian rectory in
Long Crichel, Dorset, a country retreat shared by
Edward Sackville-West and the gallery-owner and artist
Eardley Knollys.
![Robert and May Buckingham House](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e3/Robert_and_May_Buckingham_House.jpg)
From 1925 until his mother's death at age 90 in March 1945, Forster lived with her at the house West Hackhurst in the village of
Abinger Hammer
Abinger Hammer is a village in the Vale of Holmesdale, located on the A25 in Surrey, England. The village is located within the Surrey Hills AONB, approximately midway between the market towns of Dorking and Guildford. The village is named af ...
,
Surrey, finally leaving in September 1946. His London base was 26
Brunswick Square from 1930 to 1939, after which he rented 9 Arlington Park Mansions in
Chiswick until at least 1961.
After a fall in April 1961, he spent his final years in Cambridge at King's College.
Forster was elected an honorary
fellow
A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context.
In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements.
Within the context of higher education ...
of King's College in January 1946,
[ and lived for the most part in the college, doing relatively little. In April 1947 he arrived in America for a three-month nationwide tour of public readings and sightseeing, returning to the East Coast in June.][Wendy Moffat, ''E. M. Forster: A New Life'', London: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2010.] He declined a knighthood
A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the ...
in 1949 and was made a Companion of Honour in 1953.[ At age 82, he wrote his last short story, ''Little Imber'', a science fiction tale. According to his friend Richard Marquand, Forster was critical of American foreign policy in his latter years, which was one reason he refused offers to adapt his novels for the screen, as Forster felt such productions would involve American financing.
At 85 he went on a pilgrimage to the Wiltshire countryside that had inspired his favourite novel ''The Longest Journey'', escorted by William Golding.] In 1961 he was one of the first five authors named as a Companion of Literature by the Royal Society of Literature. In 1969 he was made a member of the Order of Merit. Forster died of a stroke on 7 June 1970 at the age of 91, at the Buckinghams' home in Coventry
Coventry ( or ) is a city in the West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its city status until the Middle Ages. The city is governed b ...
, Warwickshire
Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Av ...
.[ His ashes, mingled with those of Buckingham, were later scattered in the rose garden of Coventry's crematorium, near Warwick University.
]
Work
Novels
Forster had five novels published in his lifetime. Although ''Maurice Maurice may refer to:
People
* Saint Maurice (died 287), Roman legionary and Christian martyr
* Maurice (emperor) or Flavius Mauricius Tiberius Augustus (539–602), Byzantine emperor
*Maurice (bishop of London) (died 1107), Lord Chancellor and ...
'' was published shortly after his death, it had been written nearly sixty years earlier. He never finished a seventh novel, '' Arctic Summer''.
His first novel, '' Where Angels Fear to Tread'' (1905), tells of Lilia, a young English widow who falls in love with an Italian, and of the efforts of her bourgeois relatives to get her back from Monteriano (based on San Gimignano). Philip Herriton's mission to retrieve her from Italy has features in common with that of Lambert Strether in Henry James
Henry James ( – ) was an American-British author. He is regarded as a key transitional figure between literary realism and literary modernism, and is considered by many to be among the greatest novelists in the English language. He was the ...
's '' The Ambassadors.'' Forster discussed that work ironically and somewhat disapprovingly in his book ''Aspects of the Novel'' (1927). The novel was adapted as a 1991 film directed by Charles Sturridge.
Next, Forster published ''The Longest Journey
''The Longest Journey'' ( nb, Den Lengste Reisen) is a magical realist point-and-click adventure video game developed by Norwegian studio Funcom for Microsoft Windows and released in 1999.
The game was a commercial success, with sales in ex ...
'' (1907), an inverted ''Bildungsroman
In literary criticism, a ''Bildungsroman'' (, plural ''Bildungsromane'', ) is a literary genre that focuses on the psychological and moral growth of the protagonist from childhood to adulthood (coming of age), in which character change is import ...
'' following the lame Rickie Elliott from Cambridge to a career as a struggling writer and then a post as a schoolmaster, married to an unappealing Agnes Pembroke. In a series of scenes on the Wiltshire hills, which introduce Rickie's wild half-brother Stephen Wonham, Forster attempts a kind of sublime related to those of Thomas Hardy and D. H. Lawrence
David Herbert Lawrence (11 September 1885 – 2 March 1930) was an English writer, novelist, poet and essayist. His works reflect on modernity, industrialization, sexuality, emotional health, vitality, spontaneity and instinct. His best-k ...
.
Forster's third novel, '' A Room with a View'' (1908), is his lightest and most optimistic. It was started in 1901, before any of his others, initially under the title ''Lucy''. It explores young Lucy Honeychurch's trip to Italy with a cousin, and the choice she must make between the free-thinking George Emerson and the repressed aesthete Cecil Vyse. George's father Mr Emerson quotes thinkers who influenced Forster, including Samuel Butler. It was adapted as a film of the same name in 1985 by the Merchant Ivory
A merchant is a person who trades in commodities produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Historically, a merchant is anyone who is involved in business or trade. Merchants have operated for as long as indust ...
team, starring Helena Bonham Carter
Helena Bonham Carter (born 26 May 1966) is an English actress. Known for her roles in blockbusters and independent films, particularly period dramas, she has received various awards and nominations, including a British Academy Film Award a ...
and Daniel Day-Lewis
Sir Daniel Michael Blake Day-Lewis (born 29 April 1957) is an English retired actor. Often described as one of the preeminent actors of his generation, he received numerous accolades throughout his career which spanned over four decades, incl ...
, and as a televised adaptation of the same name in 2007 by Andrew Davies.
''Where Angels Fear to Tread'' and ''A Room with a View'' can be seen as Forster's Italian novels. Both include references to the famous Baedeker
Verlag Karl Baedeker, founded by Karl Baedeker on July 1, 1827, is a German publisher and pioneer in the business of worldwide travel guides. The guides, often referred to simply as " Baedekers" (a term sometimes used to refer to similar works fro ...
guidebooks and concern narrow-minded middle-class English tourists abroad. The books share themes with his short stories collected in ''The Celestial Omnibus
''The Celestial Omnibus and Other Stories'' is the title of a collection of short stories by English writer E. M. Forster
Edward Morgan Forster (1 January 1879 – 7 June 1970) was an English author, best known for his novels, particularly ...
'' and ''The Eternal Moment
''The Eternal Moment and Other Stories'' is the title of a collection of short stories by E. M. Forster, first published in 1928 by Sidgwick & Jackson. It contains stories written between about 1903 and 1914. Together with the stories contained ...
''.
''Howards End
''Howards End'' is a novel by E. M. Forster, first published in 1910, about social conventions, codes of conduct and relationships in turn-of-the-century England. ''Howards End'' is considered by many to be Forster's masterpiece. The book was ...
'' (1910) is an ambitious "condition-of-England" novel about various groups among the Edwardian
The Edwardian era or Edwardian period of British history spanned the reign of King Edward VII, 1901 to 1910 and is sometimes extended to the start of the First World War. The death of Queen Victoria in January 1901 marked the end of the Victori ...
middle classes, represented by the Schlegels (bohemian intellectuals), the Wilcoxes (thoughtless plutocrats) and the Basts (struggling lower-middle-class aspirants). ''Howards End'' was adapted as a film
A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...
in 1992 by the Merchant-Ivory team, starring Vanessa Redgrave, Emma Thompson, Anthony Hopkins, and Helena Bonham-Carter. Emma Thompson won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance as Margaret Schlegel. It was also adapted as a miniseries
A miniseries or mini-series is a television series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. "Limited series" is another more recent US term which is sometimes used interchangeably. , the popularity of miniseries format h ...
in 2017. An opera libretto ''Howards End, America'' was created in 2016 by Claudia Stevens
Claudia Stevens (born 1949) is an American musician, performance artist and librettist. Initially a pianist specializing in contemporary music, she is recognized for creating and performing widely an array of interdisciplinary solo performance work ...
.
Forster's greatest success, ''A Passage to India
''A Passage to India'' is a 1924 novel by English author E. M. Forster set against the backdrop of the British Raj and the Indian independence movement in the 1920s. It was selected as one of the 100 great works of 20th century English liter ...
'' (1924), takes as its subject the relations between East and West, seen through the lens of India in the later days of the British Raj
The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent;
*
* it is also called Crown rule in India,
*
*
*
*
or Direct rule in India,
* Quote: "Mill, who was himsel ...
. Forster connects personal relations with the politics of colonialism through the story of the Englishwoman Adela Quested, the Indian Dr. Aziz, and the question of what did or did not happen between them in the Marabar Caves
The Marabar Caves are fictional caves which appear in E. M. Forster's 1924 novel '' A Passage to India'' and the film of the same name. The caves are based on the real life Barabar Caves, especially the Lomas Rishi Cave, located in the Jehanab ...
. Forster makes special mention of the author Ahmed Ali and his '' Twilight in Delhi'' in a preface to its Everyman's Library Edition. ''A Passage to India
''A Passage to India'' is a 1924 novel by English author E. M. Forster set against the backdrop of the British Raj and the Indian independence movement in the 1920s. It was selected as one of the 100 great works of 20th century English liter ...
'' was adapted as a play
Play most commonly refers to:
* Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment
* Play (theatre), a work of drama
Play may refer also to:
Computers and technology
* Google Play, a digital content service
* Play Framework, a Java framework
* Pla ...
in 1960, directed by Frank Hauser, and as a film
A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...
in 1984, directed by David Lean.
''Maurice Maurice may refer to:
People
* Saint Maurice (died 287), Roman legionary and Christian martyr
* Maurice (emperor) or Flavius Mauricius Tiberius Augustus (539–602), Byzantine emperor
*Maurice (bishop of London) (died 1107), Lord Chancellor and ...
'' (1971), published posthumously, is a homosexual love story that also returns to matters familiar from Forster's first three novels, such as the suburbs of London in the English home counties
The home counties are the counties of England that surround London. The counties are not precisely defined but Buckinghamshire and Surrey are usually included in definitions and Berkshire, Essex, Hertfordshire and Kent are also often included ...
, the experience of attending Cambridge, and the wild landscape of Wiltshire
Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...
. The novel was controversial, given that Forster's homosexuality had not been known or widely acknowledged. Today's critics continue to argue over the extent to which Forster's sexuality and personal activities influenced his writing. ''Maurice'' was adapted as a film in 1987 by the Merchant Ivory
A merchant is a person who trades in commodities produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Historically, a merchant is anyone who is involved in business or trade. Merchants have operated for as long as indust ...
team.
Early in his career, Forster attempted a historical novel about the Byzantine scholar Gemistus Pletho
Georgios Gemistos Plethon ( el, Γεώργιος Γεμιστός Πλήθων; la, Georgius Gemistus Pletho /1360 – 1452/1454), commonly known as Gemistos Plethon, was a Greek scholar and one of the most renowned philosophers of the late By ...
and the Italian condottiero Sigismondo de Malatesta, but was dissatisfied with the result and never published it, though he kept the manuscript and later showed it to Naomi Mitchison.
Critical reception
Forster's first novel, '' Where Angels Fear to Tread'', was described by reviewers as "astonishing" and "brilliantly original". ''The Manchester Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' (forerunner of ''The Guardian'') noted "a persistent vein of cynicism which is apt to repel," though "the cynicism is not deep-seated." The novel is labelled "a sordid comedy culminating, unexpectedly and with a real dramatic force, in a grotesque tragedy." Lionel Trilling remarked on this first novel as "a whole and mature work dominated by a fresh and commanding intelligence".
Subsequent books were similarly received on publication. ''The Manchester Guardian'' commented on ''Howards End
''Howards End'' is a novel by E. M. Forster, first published in 1910, about social conventions, codes of conduct and relationships in turn-of-the-century England. ''Howards End'' is considered by many to be Forster's masterpiece. The book was ...
'', describing it as "a novel of high quality written with what appears to be a feminine brilliance of perception... witty and penetrating." An essay by David Cecil in ''Poets and Storytellers'' (1949) describes Forster as "pulsing with intelligence and sensibility", but primarily concerned with an original moral vision: "He tells a story as well as anyone who ever lived".[David Cecil (1949). ''Poets and Storytellers: A Book of Critical Essays''. Macmillan.]
US interest in Forster and appreciation for him were spurred by Lionel Trilling's ''E. M. Forster: A Study'', which called him "the only living novelist who can be read again and again and who, after each reading, gives me what few writers can give us after our first days of novel-reading, the sensation of having learned something."
Criticism of his works has included comment on unlikely pairings of characters who marry or get engaged, and the lack of realistic depiction of sexual attraction.
Key themes
Forster was President of the Cambridge Humanists from 1959 until his death and a member of the Advisory Council of the British Humanist Association from 1963 until his death. His views as a humanist
Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential and agency of human beings. It considers human beings the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry.
The meaning of the term "human ...
are at the heart of his work, which often depicts the pursuit of personal connections despite the restrictions of contemporary society. His humanist attitude is expressed in the 1938 essay '' What I Believe'' (reprinted with two other humanist essays – and an introduction and notes by Nicolas Walter
Nicolas Hardy Walter (22 November 1934 – 7 March 2000) was a British anarchist and atheist writer, speaker and activist. He was a member of the Committee of 100 and Spies for Peace, and wrote on topics of anarchism and humanism.
Background ...
– as ''What I Believe, and other essays'' by the secular humanist publishers G. W. Foote & Co. in 1999). When Forster's cousin, Philip Whichelo, donated a portrait of Forster to the Gay and Lesbian Humanist Association
LGBT Humanists UK, founded in 1979, is a special interest section of Humanists UK which campaigns for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) equality and human rights in the United Kingdom. It also organises social events for LGBT humanis ...
(GLHA), Jim Herrick
Jim Herrick (born 1944) is a British humanist and secularist. He studied history and English literature at Trinity College, Cambridge University, and then worked as a school teacher for seven years. He has written or edited several books on hu ...
, the founder, quoted Forster's words: "The humanist has four leading characteristics – curiosity, a free mind, belief in good taste, and belief in the human race."
Forster's two best-known works, ''A Passage to India'' and ''Howards End'', explore the irreconcilability of class differences. '' A Room with a View'' also shows how questions of propriety and class can make human connection difficult. The novel is his most widely read and accessible work, remaining popular long after its original publication. His posthumous novel ''Maurice Maurice may refer to:
People
* Saint Maurice (died 287), Roman legionary and Christian martyr
* Maurice (emperor) or Flavius Mauricius Tiberius Augustus (539–602), Byzantine emperor
*Maurice (bishop of London) (died 1107), Lord Chancellor and ...
'' explores the possibility of class reconciliation as one facet of a homosexual relationship.
Sexuality is another key theme in Forster's works. Some critics have argued that a general shift from heterosexual to homosexual love can be observed through the course of his writing career. The foreword to ''Maurice'' describes his struggle with his homosexuality, while he explored similar issues in several volumes of short stories. Forster's explicitly homosexual writings, the novel ''Maurice'' and the short story collection '' The Life to Come,'' were published shortly after his death.
Forster is noted for his use of symbolism as a technique in his novels, and he has been criticised (as by his friend Roger Fry
Roger Eliot Fry (14 December 1866 – 9 September 1934) was an English painter and critic, and a member of the Bloomsbury Group. Establishing his reputation as a scholar of the Old Masters, he became an advocate of more recent developme ...
) for his attachment to mysticism
Mysticism is popularly known as becoming one with God or the Absolute, but may refer to any kind of ecstasy or altered state of consciousness which is given a religious or spiritual meaning. It may also refer to the attainment of insight in ...
. One example of his symbolism is the wych elm
''Ulmus glabra'' Hudson, the wych elm or Scots elm, has the widest range of the European elm species, from Ireland eastwards to the Urals, and from the Arctic Circle south to the mountains of the Peloponnese and Sicily, where the species reaches i ...
tree in ''Howards End.'' The characters of Mrs Wilcox in that novel and Mrs Moore in ''A Passage to India'' have a mystical link with the past, and a striking ability to connect with people from beyond their own circles. Henry James, E. M. Forster and Somerset Maugham were the earliest fiction writers to portray characters from diverse countries – France, Germany, Italy and India. Their work explores cultural conflict, but arguably the motifs of humanism and cosmopolitanism are dominant. In a way this is anticipation of the concept of human beings shedding national identities and becoming more and more liberal and tolerant.
Notable works
Novels
*'' Where Angels Fear to Tread'' (1905)
*''The Longest Journey
''The Longest Journey'' ( nb, Den Lengste Reisen) is a magical realist point-and-click adventure video game developed by Norwegian studio Funcom for Microsoft Windows and released in 1999.
The game was a commercial success, with sales in ex ...
'' (1907)
*'' A Room with a View'' (1908)
*''Howards End
''Howards End'' is a novel by E. M. Forster, first published in 1910, about social conventions, codes of conduct and relationships in turn-of-the-century England. ''Howards End'' is considered by many to be Forster's masterpiece. The book was ...
'' (1910)
*''A Passage to India
''A Passage to India'' is a 1924 novel by English author E. M. Forster set against the backdrop of the British Raj and the Indian independence movement in the 1920s. It was selected as one of the 100 great works of 20th century English liter ...
'' (1924)
*''Maurice Maurice may refer to:
People
* Saint Maurice (died 287), Roman legionary and Christian martyr
* Maurice (emperor) or Flavius Mauricius Tiberius Augustus (539–602), Byzantine emperor
*Maurice (bishop of London) (died 1107), Lord Chancellor and ...
'' (written in 1913–14, published posthumously in 1971)
Short stories
*'' The Celestial Omnibus (and other stories)'' (1911)
*''The Eternal Moment and other stories
''The Eternal Moment and Other Stories'' is the title of a collection of short stories by E. M. Forster, first published in 1928 by Sidgwick & Jackson. It contains stories written between about 1903 and 1914. Together with the stories contained ...
'' (1928)
*''Collected Short Stories'' (1947) a combination of the above two titles, containing:
**"The Story of a Panic"
**"The Other Side of the Hedge"
**"The Celestial Omnibus"
**"Other Kingdom"
**"The Curate's Friend"
**"The Road from Colonus"
**"The Machine Stops"
**"The Point of It"
**"Mr Andrews"
**"Co-ordination"
**"The Story of the Siren"
**"The Eternal Moment"
*''The Life to Come and other stories'' (1972) (posthumous) containing the following stories written between approximately 1903 and 1960:
**"Ansell"
**"Albergo Empedocle"
**"The Purple Envelope"
**"The Helping Hand"
**"The Rock"
**" The Life to Come"
**"Dr Woolacott"
**"Arthur Snatchfold"
**"The Obelisk"
**"What Does It Matter? A Morality"
**"The Classical Annex"
**"The Torque"
**"The Other Boat"
**"Three Courses and a Dessert: Being a New and Gastronomic Version of the Old Game of Consequences", of which Forster wrote ''The Second Course'' (''The First Course'' was written by Christopher Dilke, ''The Third Course'' by A. E. Coppard and ''The Dessert'' by James Laver)
Plays and pageants
*''Abinger Pageant'' (1934)
*''England's Pleasant Land'' (1940)
Film scripts
*''A Diary for Timothy'' (1945) (directed by Humphrey Jennings, spoken by Michael Redgrave)
Libretto
*'' Billy Budd'' (1951) (with Eric Crozier; based on Herman Melville, Melville's Billy Budd, novel, for the opera by Benjamin Britten
Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976, aged 63) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, other ...
)
Collections of essays and broadcasts
*''Abinger Harvest'' (1936)
*''Two Cheers for Democracy'' (1951)
*''The Prince's Tale and Other Uncollected Writings'' (1998)
* Forster in Egypt: A Graeco-Alexandrian Encounter: E.M. Forster's First Interview, eds., Hilda D. Spear and Abdel-Moneim Aly (London, 1987)
* The Uncollected Egyptian Essays of E. M. Forster, eds.,Hilda D. Spear and Abdel-Moneim Aly (Dundee, 1988)
Literary criticism
*''Aspects of the Novel'' (1927)
*''The Feminine Note in Literature'' (posthumous) (2001)
*
The Creator as Critic and Other Writings
''
Biography
*''Goldsworthy Lowes Dickinson'' (1934)
*''Marianne Thornton, A Domestic Biography'' (1956)
Travel writing
*''Alexandria: A History and Guide'' (1922)
*''Pharos and Pharillon (A Novelist's Sketchbook of Alexandria Through the Ages)'' (1923)
*''The Hill of Devi'' (1953)
Miscellaneous writings
*''Selected Letters'' (1983–85)
*''Commonplace Book'' (facsimile ed. 1978; edited by Philip Gardner, 1985)
*''Locked Diary'' (2007) (held at King's College, Cambridge
King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, the college lies beside the River Cam and faces out onto King's Parade in the centre of the cit ...
)
*''Arctic Summer'' (novel fragment, written in 1912–13, published posthumously in 2003)
*''Rooksnest'' (1894 and 1901), a description by Forster of his childhood home, on which he based ''Howards End''.[Appendix to Penguin English Library edition of ''Howards End''. London 1983.]
Notable films and drama based upon Forster's fiction
*''The Machine Stops'' (1966), dramatised for the BBC anthology series ''Out of the Unknown''
*''A Passage to India (film), A Passage to India'' (1984), dir. David Lean
*''A Room with a View (1985 film), A Room with a View'' (1985), dir. James Ivory
*''Maurice (film), Maurice'' (1987), dir. James Ivory
*''Where Angels Fear to Tread (film), Where Angels Fear to Tread'' (1991), dir. Charles Sturridge
*''Howards End (film), Howards End'' (1992), dir. James Ivory
*''Howards End (miniseries), Howards End'' (2017), BBC One miniseries, dir. Hettie MacDonald
*''The Inheritance (play), The Inheritance'' (2018), play by Matthew Lopez (playwright), Matthew Lopez, adapted from ''Howards End
''Howards End'' is a novel by E. M. Forster, first published in 1910, about social conventions, codes of conduct and relationships in turn-of-the-century England. ''Howards End'' is considered by many to be Forster's masterpiece. The book was ...
'', and featuring Forster as a character
References
Further reading
*M. H. Abrams and Stephen Greenblatt, "E. M. Forster." ''The Norton Anthology of English Literature'', Vol. 2C, 7th Edition. New York: W. W. Norton, 2000: 2131–2140
*J. R. Ackerley, ''E. M. Forster: A Portrait'' (London: Ian McKelvie, 1970)
*Parminder Kaur Bakshi, ''Distant Desire. Homoerotic Codes and the Subversion of the English Novel in E. M. Forster's Fiction'' (New York, 1996)
*Nicola Beauman, ''Morgan'' (London, 1993)
*Lawrence Brander, ''E. M. Forster. A critical study'' (London, 1968)
*E. K. Brown, ''Rhythm in the Novel'' (University of Toronto Press, Canada, 1950)
*Glen Cavaliero, ''A Reading of E.M. Forster'' (London, 1979)
*S. M. Chanda, "A Passage to India: A Close Look" in ''A Collection of Critical Essays'', New Delhi: Atlantic Publishers
*Stuart Christie, ''Worlding Forster: The Passage from Pastoral'' (Routledge, 2005)
*John Colmer, ''E. M. Forster – The personal voice'' (London, 1975)
*Frederick Crews, ''E. M. Forster: The Perils of Humanism'' (Textbook Publishers, 2003)
*''E. M. Forster'', ed. by Norman Page, Macmillan Modern Novelists (Houndmills, 1987)
*''E. M. Forster: The critical heritage'', ed. by Philip Gardner (London, 1973)
*''Forster: A collection of Critical Essays'', ed. by Malcolm Bradbury (New Jersey, 1966)
*E. M. Forster, ''What I Believe, and other essays'', Freethinker's Classics #3, ed. by Nicolas Walter (London, G. W. Foote & Co. Ltd, 1999 and 2016)
*P. N. Furbank, Furbank, P.N., ''E.M. Forster: A Life'' (London, 1977–1978)
*Michael Haag, ''Alexandria: City of Memory'' (London and New Haven, 2004). This portrait of Alexandria during the first half of the 20th century includes a biographical account of E. M. Forster, his life in the city, his relationship with Constantine P. Cavafy, Constantine Cavafy, and his influence on Lawrence Durrell.
*Judith Herz and Robert K. Martin, ''E. M. Forster: Centenary Revaluations'' (Macmillan Press, 1982)
*Frank Kermode, ''Concerning E. M. Forster'' (London, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2010)
*Francis King, ''E. M. Forster and his World'' (London, 1978).
*Mary Lago, ''Calendar of the Letters of E. M. Forster'' (London: Mansell, 1985)
*Mary Lago, ''Selected Letters of E. M. Forster'' (Cambridge, Mass.: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1983–1985)
*Mary Lago, ''E. M. Forster: A Literary Life'' (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1995)
* Tim Leggatt, ''Connecting with E. M. Forster: a memoir'' (Hesperus Press, 2012)
*Robin Jared Lewis, ''E. M. Forster's Passages to India'' (New York: Columbia University Press, 1979
*John Sayre Martin, ''E. M. Forster. The endless journey'' (London, 1976)
*Robert K. Martin and George Piggford, eds, ''Queer Forster'' (Chicago, 1997)
*Pankaj Mishra, ed. "E. M. Forster", ''India in Mind: An Anthology''. New York: Vintage Books, 2005: pp. 61–70
*Wendy Moffat, ''E. M. Forster: A New Life'' (Bloomsbury, 2010)
*Peter Rose, "The Peculiar Charms of E. M. Forster", ''Australian Book Review'' (December 2010/January 2011). Forster in his social contex
Retrieved 28 November 2013
*Nicolas Royle, ''E. M. Forster (Writers & Their Work'' (London: Northcote House Publishers, 1999)
*P. J. M. Scott, ''E. M. Forster: Our Permanent Contemporary,'' Critical Studies Series (London, 1984)
*Sofia Sogos, "Nature and Mystery in Edward Morgan Forster's Tales", ed. Giorgia Sogos (Bonn: Free Pen Verlag, 2018)
*Oliver Stallybrass, "Editor's Introduction", ''Howards End'' (Harmondsworth, UK: Penguin English Library, 1983)
*Wilfred H. Stone, ''The Cave and the Mountain: a study of E. M. Forster'' (1964)
*Claude J. Summers, ''E. M. Forster'' (New York, 1983)
*
*K. Natwar Singh, ed., ''E. M. Forster: A Tribute, With Selections from his Writings on India'', Contributors: Ahmed Ali (writer), Ahmed Ali, Mulk Raj Anand, V. K. Narayana Menon, Narayana Menon, Raja Rao and Santha Rama Rau, (On Forster's Eighty Fifth Birthday), New York: Harcourt, Brace & World Inc., 1 January 1964
*Kathleen Verduin, "Medievalism, Classicism, and the Fiction of E.M. Forster," ''Medievalism in the Modern World. Essays in Honour of Leslie J. Workman'', ed. Richard Utz and Tom Shippey (Turnhout: Brepols, 1998), pp. 263–286
*Alan Wilde, ''Art and Order. A Study of E.M. Forster'' (New York, 1967)
External links
;Digital collections
*
*
*
*
*
;Physical collections
Mary Lago Collection
at the University of Missouri Libraries. Research papers of a Forster scholar.
E M Forster
at the British Library
Finding aid to E.M. Forster papers at Columbia University. Rare Book & Manuscript Library.
E.M. Forster Collection
at the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin
Additional E.M. Forster manuscript items
are housed at various archival repositories.
;General portals
Aspects of E. M. Forster
"Only Connect": The unofficial Forster site
International E.M. Forster Society
E. M. Forster
at the The Encyclopedia of Fantasy, Encyclopedia of Fantasy
E. M. Forster
at the The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, Encyclopedia of Science Fiction
*
;LGBT
''With Downcast Gays''
Andrew Hodges and David Hutter, The Gay Liberation pamphlet (1974)
on glbtq.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Forster, Edward Morgan
E. M. Forster,
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1970 deaths
20th-century English novelists
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