Edward Morgan Forster OM,
CHThe Order of the Companions of Honour is an order of the Commonwealth realms. It was founded by King George V in June 1917, as a reward for outstanding achievements in the arts, literature, music, science, politics, industry, or religion....
(1 January 1879 – 7 June 1970), was an
EnglishEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
novelist,
short storyA short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format or medium tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels or books...
writer, essayist and librettist. He is known best for his ironic and well-plotted novels examining
classSocial classes are the hierarchical arrangements of people in society as economic or cultural groups. Class is an essential object of analysis for sociologists, political economists and social historians...
difference and
hypocrisyHypocrisy is the act of pretending to have beliefs, opinions, virtues, feelings, qualities, or standards that one does not actually have. Hypocrisy is thus a kind of lie. Hypocrisy may come from a desire to hide from others actual motives or feelings....
and also the attitudes towards
genderGender commonly refers to the set of characteristics that humans perceive as distinguishing between male and female entities, extending from one's biological sex to, in humans, one's social role or gender identity. As a term, "gender" has more than one valid definition...
and
homosexualityHomosexuality is the romantic or sexual attraction or behavior among members of the same sex, situationally or as an enduring disposition. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is considered to lie within the heterosexual-homosexual continuum of human sexuality, and refers to an individual’s...
in early 20th-century
BritishThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name and the state form of the United Kingdom from 1 January 1801 until 12 April 1927...
society. Forster's
humanisticHumanism is a perspective common to a wide range of ethical stances that attaches importance to human dignity, concerns, and capabilities, particularly rationality. Although the word has many senses, its meaning comes into focus when contrasted to the supernatural or to appeals to authority...
impulse toward understanding and sympathy may be aptly summed up in the
epigraphIn literature, an epigraph is a phrase, quotation, or poem that is set at the beginning of a document or component. The epigraph may serve as a preface, as a summary, as a counter-example, or to link the work to a wider literary canon, either to invite comparison or to enlist a conventional...
to his 1910 novel
Howards EndHowards End is a novel by E. M. Forster, first published in 1910, which tells a story of class struggle in turn-of-the-century England. The main theme is the difficulties, troubles and also the benefits, of relationships between members of different social classes.-Plot summary:The book is about...
: "Only connect".
Early years
Forster was born at 6 Melcombe Place, Dorset Square, London NW1, in a building which no longer exists. His father, an architect, died when Forster was only a year old. Among Forster's ancestors were members of the
Clapham SectThe Clapham Sect was an influential group of like-minded Church of England social reformers in England at the beginning of the nineteenth century The Clapham Sect was an influential group of like-minded Church of England social reformers in England at the beginning of the nineteenth century The...
. As a boy he inherited £8,000 from his paternal great-aunt Marianne Thornton, daughter of the
abolitionistAbolitionism was a movement to end the slave trade and emancipate slaves in western Europe and the Americas. The slave system aroused little protest until the 18th century, when rationalist thinkers of the Enlightenment criticized it for violating the rights of man, and Quaker and other evangelical...
Henry ThorntonHenry Thornton , economist, banker, philanthropist and parliamentarian, was the son of John Thornton of Clapham, London, who had been one of the early supporters and patrons of the emerging evangelical awakening in Britain.-Early life:At the age of five, Henry attended the school of Mr Davis at...
, which was enough to live on and enabled him to become a writer. He attended
Tonbridge SchoolTonbridge School is a British boys' independent boarding school in Tonbridge, Kent, founded in 1553 by Sir Andrew Judd...
in
KentKent , originally Cantia, is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the River Thames estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent...
as a
day boyA day school—as opposed to a boarding school—is an institution where children are given educational instruction during the day and after which children return to their homes...
. The theatre at the school is named after him.
At
King's College, CambridgeKing's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England.Founded in 1441, the college's formal name is "The King's College of Our Lady and St. Nicholas in Cambridge". It is usually referred to simply as "King's" within the university.- History :King's was founded in 1441 by...
, between 1897 and 1901, he became a member of the
ApostlesThe Cambridge Apostles, also known as the Cambridge Conversazione Society, is an intellectual secret society at the University of Cambridge founded in 1820 by George Tomlinson, a Cambridge student who went on to become the first Bishop of Gibraltar....
(formally named the Cambridge Conversazione Society), a discussion society. Many of its members went on to constitute what came to be known as the
Bloomsbury GroupThe Bloomsbury Group or Bloomsbury Set was a group of writers, intellectuals and artists who held informal discussions in Bloomsbury throughout the 20th century. This English collective of friends and relatives lived, worked or studied near Bloomsbury in London during the first half of the...
, of which Forster was a peripheral member in the 1910s and 1920s. There is a famous recreation of Forster's Cambridge at the beginning of
The Longest JourneyThe Longest Journey is a bildungsroman by E. M. Forster.-Plot summary:Rickie Elliot is a student at early 20th century Cambridge, a university that seems like paradise to him, amongst bright if cynical companions, when he receives a visit from two friends, an engaged young woman, Agnes Pembroke,...
.
After leaving university he travelled on the continent with his mother. He visited
EgyptEgypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Western Asia...
, Germany and India with the classicist
Goldsworthy Lowes DickinsonGoldsworthy Lowes Dickinson , was a British historian and political activist. He led most of his life at Cambridge, where he wrote a dissertation on neoplatonism before becoming a fellow. He was closely associated with the Bloomsbury Group.A noted pacifist, Dickinson protested against Britain's...
in 1914. When the First World War broke out, he became a
conscientious objectorA conscientious objector is an individual who, on religious, moral or ethical grounds, refuses to participate as a combatant in war or, in some cases, to take any role that would support a combatant organization armed forces. In the first case, conscientious objectors may be willing to accept...
.
Forster spent a second spell in India in the early 1920s as the private secretary to the Maharajah of
DewasDewas is a town situated on the Malwa plateau in the West-central part of Indian state called Madhya Pradesh. It is a suburb & satellite town of Indore. It is the administrative center of the Dewas District, and was formerly the seat of two princely states during the British Raj...
.
The Hill of DeviThe 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 the Maharaja of the state of Dewas Senior. The book was first published in 1953.- External links :...
is his non-fictional account of this trip. After returning from India, he completed his last novel,
A Passage to IndiaA Passage to India is a novel by 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 English literature by the Modern Library and won the 1924 James Tait Black Memorial Prize for fiction...
(1924), for which he won the
James Tait Black Memorial PrizeFounded in 1919, the James Tait Black Memorial Prizes are among the oldest and most prestigious book prizes awarded for literature written in the English language and are Britain's oldest literary awards...
for fiction.
After A Passage to India
In the 1930s and 1940s Forster became a successful broadcaster on
BBC RadioBBC Radio is a service of the British Broadcasting Corporation which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a Royal Charter since 1927...
and a public figure associated with the
British Humanist AssociationThe British Humanist Association is an organisation of the United Kingdom which promotes Humanism and represents "people who seek to live good lives without religious or superstitious beliefs." The BHA is committed to secularism, human rights, democracy, egalitarianism and mutual respect...
. He was awarded a
Benson MedalThe Benson Medal is a medal awarded by the Royal Society of Literature.It was founded in 1916 by A. C. Benson who was a Fellow of the Society, to honour those who produce "meritorious works in poetry, fiction, history and belles-lettres."...
in
1937The year 1937 in literature involved some significant events and new books.- Events :*January 9 - The first issue of Look magazine goes on sale in the United States.*Thomas Quinn Curtiss meets Klaus Mann.- New books :...
.
Forster developed a friendship with Bob Buckingham, a policeman, and his wife, May, and included the couple in his circle, which also included the writer and arts editor of
The Listener, J.R. Ackerley, the psychologist W.J.H. Sprott, and, for a time, the composer
Benjamin BrittenEdward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten, OM CH was an English composer, conductor, violist and pianist.-Life:...
. Other writers with whom Forster associated included the poet
Siegfried SassoonSiegfried Loraine Sassoon, CBE, MC was an English poet and author. He became known as a writer of satirical anti-war verse during World War I...
and the
BelfastBelfast is the capital of and the largest city in Northern Ireland, a constituent country of the United Kingdom. It is the seat of devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly. It is the largest urban area in the province of Ulster, and the second largest city on the island of...
-based novelist
Forrest ReidForrest Reid was a Northern Irish novelist, literary critic and translator. He was, along with Hugh Walpole and J.M. Barrie, a leading pre-war British novelist of boyhood...
.
From 1925 until her death in March 1945 the novelist lived with his mother Alice Clare (Lily) in West Hackhurst,
Abinger HammerAbinger Hammer is a village situated on the A25 between Dorking and Guildford in Surrey, England. It lies with the parish of Abinger which includes Abinger Common and Sutton Abinger...
, finally leaving on or around 23 September 1946. His London base was 26
Brunswick SquareBrunswick Square is a public garden in Bloomsbury, in the London Borough of Camden. It is overlooked by the School of Pharmacy and the Foundling Museum to the north and the Brunswick Centre to the west...
from 1930 to 1939, after which he rented 9 Arlington Park Mansions in
ChiswickChiswick is an area of West London, located west of Charing Cross, which covers the eastern part of the London Borough of Hounslow. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London....
until at least 1961.
Forster was elected an honorary
fellowA fellow in the broadest sense is someone who is an equal or a comrade. The term fellow is also used to describe a person, particularly by those in the upper social classes...
of
King's College, CambridgeKing's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England.Founded in 1441, the college's formal name is "The King's College of Our Lady and St. Nicholas in Cambridge". It is usually referred to simply as "King's" within the university.- History :King's was founded in 1441 by...
in January 1946, and lived for the most part in the college, doing relatively little. He declined a knighthood in 1949 and was made a
Companion of HonourThe Order of the Companions of Honour is an order of the Commonwealth realms. It was founded by King George V in June 1917, as a reward for outstanding achievements in the arts, literature, music, science, politics, industry, or religion....
in 1953. In 1969 he was made a member of the Order of Merit. Forster died in
CoventryCoventry is a city and metropolitan borough in the county of West Midlands in England. Coventry is the 9th largest city in England and the 11th largest in the United Kingdom. It is also the second largest city in the English Midlands, after Birmingham with a population of 300,848...
on 7 June 1970 at the age of 91, at the home of the Buckinghams.
Novels
Forster had five novels published in his lifetime. Although
MauriceMaurice is a novel by E. M. Forster. A tale of homosexual love in early 20th century England, it follows Maurice Hall from his schooldays, through university and beyond. It was written from 1913 onwards...
appeared shortly after his death, it had been written nearly sixty years earlier. A seventh novel,
Arctic Summer, was never finished.
His first novel,
Where Angels Fear to TreadWhere Angels Fear to Tread is a novel by E. M. Forster, originally entitled Monteriano. The title comes from a line in Alexander Pope's An Essay on Criticism: "For fools rush in where angels fear to tread"....
(1905), is the story of Lilia, a young English widow who falls in love with an
ItalianThe Italian people are an ethnic group, in the sense of sharing a common Italian culture, descent, and speaking the Italian language as a mother tongue...
man, and of the efforts of her bourgeois relatives to get her back from
MonterianoMonteriano is a fictional Tuscan hill town. It was the original title and is the principal locale of E. M. Forster's 1905 novel Where Angels Fear to Tread. The author describes the town in an incomplete faux entry to Central Italy by Baedeker as follows:—The location of Monteriano is not...
(based on
San GimignanoSan Gimignano is a small walled medieval hill town in the province of Siena, Tuscany, north-central Italy. It is mainly famous for its medieval architecture, especially its towers, which may be seen from several kilometers outside the town....
). The mission of Philip Herriton to retrieve her from Italy has features in common with that of
Lambert StretherLewis Lambert Strether is the protagonist of Henry James's 1903 novel The Ambassadors. He is a cultured man in his fifties from the fictional town of Woollett, Massachusetts, who is dispatched to Paris to find Chad, the wayward son of his fiancee Mrs Newsome...
in
Henry JamesHenry James, O.M. was an American author who expatriated to England, and who acquired British nationality near the end of his life. One of the key figures of 19th century literary realism, James was born in the United States, the son of theologian Henry James, Sr., and brother of the philosopher...
's
The AmbassadorsThe Ambassadors is a 1903 novel by Henry James, originally published as a serial in the North American Review . This dark comedy, one of the masterpieces of James' final period, follows the trip of protagonist Lewis Lambert Strether to Europe in pursuit of his widowed fiancée's supposedly wayward son...
, a work Forster discussed ironically and somewhat disapprovingly in his book
Aspects of the Novel (1927).
Where Angels Fear to Tread was adapted into a film by
Charles SturridgeCharles Sturridge is an English screenwriter, producer, stage, television and film director.-Early life:Sturridge was born in London, England to Jerome Sturridge and Alyson Bowman Vaughan. He was educated at Stonyhurst College....
in 1991.
Next, Forster published
The Longest JourneyThe Longest Journey is a bildungsroman by E. M. Forster.-Plot summary:Rickie Elliot is a student at early 20th century Cambridge, a university that seems like paradise to him, amongst bright if cynical companions, when he receives a visit from two friends, an engaged young woman, Agnes Pembroke,...
(1907), an inverted
bildungsromanA bildungsroman is a coming-of-age kind of novel. It arose during the German Enlightenment, and in it, the author presents the psychological, moral and social shaping of the personality of a usually young main character...
following the lame Rickie Elliott from Cambridge to a career as a struggling writer and then to a post as a schoolmaster, married to the unappetising Agnes Pembroke. In a series of scenes on the hills of Wiltshire which introduce Rickie's wild half-brother Stephen Wonham, Forster attempts a kind of
sublimeIn aesthetics, the sublime In aesthetics, the sublime In aesthetics, the sublime (from the Latin sublimis ([looking up from] under the lintel, high, lofty, elevated, exalted) is the quality of greatness or vast magnitude, whether physical, moral, intellectual, metaphysical, aesthetic, spiritual or...
related to those of
Thomas HardyThomas Hardy, OM was an English novelist and poet of the naturalist movement, although in several poems he displays elements of the previous romantic and enlightenment periods of literature, such as his fascination with the supernatural. He regarded himself primarily as a poet and composed novels...
and
D. H. LawrenceDavid Herbert Richards Lawrence was an English author, poet, playwright, essayist and literary critic. His collected works represent an extended reflection upon the dehumanising effects of modernity and industrialisation...
.
Forster's third novel,
A Room with a ViewA Room with a View is a 1908 novel by English writer E. M. Forster, about a young woman in the repressed culture of Edwardian England. Set in Italy and England, the story is both a romance and a critique of English society at the beginning of the 20th century...
(1908), is his lightest and most optimistic. It was started before any of his others, as early as 1901, and exists in earlier forms referred to as "Lucy". The book is the story of young Lucy Honeychurch's trip to Italy with her 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.
A Room with a ViewA Room with a View is a 1986 Merchant Ivory Productions' feature film, with a screenplay by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala. The film was directed by James Ivory and produced by Ismail Merchant....
was filmed by Merchant-Ivory in 1985.
Where Angels Fear to Tread and
A Room with a View can be seen collectively as Forster's Italian novels. Both include references to the famous
BaedekerVerlag Karl Baedeker is a Germany-based publisher and pioneer in the business of worldwide travel guides. The guides, often referred as simply "Baedekers" , contain important introductions, descriptions of buildings, of museum collections, etc., written by the best specialists, and...
guidebooks and concern narrow-minded middle-class English tourists abroad. The books share many themes with short stories collected in
The Celestial OmnibusThe Celestial Omnibus and Other Stories is the title of a collection of short stories by E. M. Forster, first published in 1911. It contains stories written over the previous ten years, and together with the collection The Eternal Moment forms part of Forster's Collected Short Stories...
and
The Eternal MomentThe Eternal Moment and Other Stories is the title of a collection of short stories by E. M. Forster, first published in 1928. It contains stories written between about 1903 and 1914. Together with the stories contained in The Celestial Omnibus , it was collected as Forster's Collected Short Stories...
.
Howards EndHowards End is a novel by E. M. Forster, first published in 1910, which tells a story of class struggle in turn-of-the-century England. The main theme is the difficulties, troubles and also the benefits, of relationships between members of different social classes.-Plot summary:The book is about...
(1910) is an ambitious "condition-of-England" novel concerned with different groups within the Edwardian middle classes represented by the Schlegels (bohemian intellectuals), the Wilcoxes (thoughtless plutocrats) and the Basts (struggling lower-middle-class aspirants).
It is frequently observed that characters in Forster's novels die suddenly. This is true of
Where Angels Fear to Tread,
Howards End and, most particularly,
The Longest Journey.
Forster achieved his greatest success with
A Passage to IndiaA Passage to India is a novel by 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 English literature by the Modern Library and won the 1924 James Tait Black Memorial Prize for fiction...
(1924). The novel takes as its subject the relationship between
EastThe term Eastern world refers very broadly to the various cultures, social structures and philosophical systems of "the East", namely Asia and Eastern Europe ....
and
WestThe Western world, also known as the West and the Occident , is a term that can have multiple meanings depending on its context...
, seen through the lens of India in the later days of the
British RajThe British Raj was the British colonial rule in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947; it can also refer to the period of dominion, and even the region under the rule...
. Forster connects personal relationships with the politics of
colonialismColonialism is the building and maintaining of colonies in one territory by people from another territory. Sovereignty over the colony is claimed by the metropole...
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.
MauriceMaurice is a novel by E. M. Forster. A tale of homosexual love in early 20th century England, it follows Maurice Hall from his schooldays, through university and beyond. It was written from 1913 onwards...
(1971) was published posthumously. It is a homosexual love story which also returns to matters familiar from Forster's first three novels, such as the
suburbSuburbs are defined in various different ways around the world. They can be the residential areas of a large city, or separate residential communities within commuting distance of a city. Some suburbs have a degree of political autonomy, and most have lower population density than inner city...
s of London in the English
home countiesThe "Home counties" refers to the counties that border or surround London, England but not including the United Kingdom's capital city itself. There is no exact definition of the term and the composition of the 'home counties' is sometimes a matter of debate....
, the experience of attending
CambridgeThe University of Cambridge , located in the City of Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom, is the second oldest university in the English-speaking world and the fourth oldest in Europe...
, and the wild landscape of
WiltshireWiltshire is a ceremonial county in the south west of England. It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset, Somerset, Hampshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire. It contains the unitary authority of Swindon and covers 3,485 km²...
. The novel was controversial, given that Forster's sexuality had not been previously known or widely acknowledged. Today's critics continue to argue over the extent to which Forster's sexuality, even his personal activities, influenced his writing.
Key themes
Forster's views as a
humanistHumanism is a perspective common to a wide range of ethical stances that attaches importance to human dignity, concerns, and capabilities, particularly rationality. Although the word has many senses, its meaning comes into focus when contrasted to the supernatural or to appeals to authority...
are at the heart of his work, which often depicts the pursuit of personal connections in spite of the restrictions of contemporary society. His humanist attitude is expressed in the non-fictional essay
What I Believe"What I Believe" is the title of two essays by Bertrand Russell and E.M. Forster espousing humanism.Several other authors have also written works with the same title, alluding to either or both of these essays.- Forster's essay :E.M...
.
Forster's two best-known works,
A Passage to IndiaA Passage to India is a novel by 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 English literature by the Modern Library and won the 1924 James Tait Black Memorial Prize for fiction...
and
Howards EndHowards End is a novel by E. M. Forster, first published in 1910, which tells a story of class struggle in turn-of-the-century England. The main theme is the difficulties, troubles and also the benefits, of relationships between members of different social classes.-Plot summary:The book is about...
, explore the irreconcilability of class differences.
A Room with a ViewA Room with a View is a 1908 novel by English writer E. M. Forster, about a young woman in the repressed culture of Edwardian England. Set in Italy and England, the story is both a romance and a critique of English society at the beginning of the 20th century...
also shows how questions of propriety and class can make connection difficult. The novel is his most widely read and accessible work, remaining popular long after its original publication. His posthumous novel
MauriceMaurice is a novel by E. M. Forster. A tale of homosexual love in early 20th century England, it follows Maurice Hall from his schooldays, through university and beyond. It was written from 1913 onwards...
explores the possibility of class reconciliation as one facet of a homosexual relationship.
Sexuality is another key theme in Forster's works, and it has been argued that a general shift from heterosexual love to homosexual love can be detected over the course of his writing career. The foreword to
Maurice describes his struggle with his own homosexuality, while similar issues are explored in several volumes of homosexually charged short stories. Forster's explicitly homosexual writings, the novel
MauriceMaurice is a novel by E. M. Forster. A tale of homosexual love in early 20th century England, it follows Maurice Hall from his schooldays, through university and beyond. It was written from 1913 onwards...
and the short-story collection
The Life to ComeThe Life to Come is a short story by E. M. Forster, written in 1922 and published posthumously in "The Life to Come " in 1972.It was written into four chapters: Night, Evening, Day and Morning....
, were published shortly after his death.
Forster is noted for his use of
symbolA symbol is something such as an object, picture, written word, sound, or particular mark that represents something else by association, resemblance, or convention. For example, a red octagon may stand for "STOP". On maps, crossed sabres may indicate a battlefield...
ism as a technique in his novels, and he has been criticised (as by his friend
Roger FryRoger Eliot Fry was an English artist and an art critic, and a member of the Bloomsbury group. Despite establishing his reputation as a scholar of the Old Masters, as he matured as a critic he became an advocate of more recent developments in French painting, to which he gave the name...
) for his attachment to
mysticismMysticism is the pursuit of communion with, identity with, or conscious awareness of an ultimate reality, divinity, spiritual truth, or God through direct experience, intuition, instinct or insight. Mysticism usually centers on a practice or practices intended to nurture those experiences or...
. One example of his symbolism is the
wych elmThe Wych Elm Ulmus glabra
Huds., or Scots Elm, is a large deciduous tree native to Europe, Asia Minor, and the Caucasus. Essentially a montane species, the tree occurs as far north as latitude 67°N at Beiarn in Norway and has also been successfully introduced to Narsarsuaq, near the...
tree in
Howards EndHowards End is a novel by E. M. Forster, first published in 1910, which tells a story of class struggle in turn-of-the-century England. The main theme is the difficulties, troubles and also the benefits, of relationships between members of different social classes.-Plot summary:The book is about...
; the characters of Mrs Wilcox in that novel and Mrs Moore in
A Passage to IndiaA Passage to India is a novel by 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 English literature by the Modern Library and won the 1924 James Tait Black Memorial Prize for fiction...
have a mystical link with the past and a striking ability to connect with people from beyond their own circles.
Novels
- Where Angels Fear to Tread
Where Angels Fear to Tread is a novel by E. M. Forster, originally entitled Monteriano. The title comes from a line in Alexander Pope's An Essay on Criticism: "For fools rush in where angels fear to tread"....
(1905)
- The Longest Journey
The Longest Journey is a bildungsroman by E. M. Forster.-Plot summary:Rickie Elliot is a student at early 20th century Cambridge, a university that seems like paradise to him, amongst bright if cynical companions, when he receives a visit from two friends, an engaged young woman, Agnes Pembroke,...
(1907)
- A Room with a View
A Room with a View is a 1908 novel by English writer E. M. Forster, about a young woman in the repressed culture of Edwardian England. Set in Italy and England, the story is both a romance and a critique of English society at the beginning of the 20th century...
(1908)
- Howards End
Howards End is a novel by E. M. Forster, first published in 1910, which tells a story of class struggle in turn-of-the-century England. The main theme is the difficulties, troubles and also the benefits, of relationships between members of different social classes.-Plot summary:The book is about...
(1910)
- A Passage to India
A Passage to India is a novel by 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 English literature by the Modern Library and won the 1924 James Tait Black Memorial Prize for fiction...
(1924)
- Maurice
Maurice is a novel by E. M. Forster. A tale of homosexual love in early 20th century England, it follows Maurice Hall from his schooldays, through university and beyond. It was written from 1913 onwards...
(written in 1913–14, published posthumously in 1971)
- Arctic Summer (an incomplete fragment, written in 1912–13, published posthumously in 2003)
Short stories
- The Celestial Omnibus (and other stories)
The Celestial Omnibus and Other Stories is the title of a collection of short stories by E. M. Forster, first published in 1911. It contains stories written over the previous ten years, and together with the collection The Eternal Moment forms part of Forster's Collected Short 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. It contains stories written between about 1903 and 1914. Together with the stories contained in The Celestial Omnibus , it was collected as Forster's Collected Short Stories...
(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 Other Side of the Hedge is a 1911 narrative short story by E. M. Forster. Written in the first-person, The Other Side of the Hedge concerns the efforts of a "modern day" person who is concerned and/or consumed with achieving the goals he has set out for himself while traveling along a road to...
"
- "The Celestial Omnibus"
- "Other Kingdom"
- "The Curate's Friend"
- "The Road from Colonus"
- "The Machine Stops
"The Machine Stops" is a science fiction short story by E. M. Forster. After initial publication in The Oxford and Cambridge Review , the story was republished in Forster's The Eternal Moment and Other Stories in 1928...
"
- "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
The Life to Come is a short story by E. M. Forster, written in 1922 and published posthumously in "The Life to Come " in 1972.It was written into four chapters: Night, Evening, Day and Morning....
"
- "Dr Woolacott"
- "Arthur Snatchfold"
- "The Obelisk"
- "What Does It Matter? A Morality"
- "The Classical Annex
The Classical Annex is a short story by E. M. Forster, written in 1930-1931 and published posthumously in "The Life to Come " in 1972.- External links :*...
"
- "The Torque"
- "The Other Boat
The Other Boat is a short story by E. M. Forster, written in 1957-1958 and published posthumously in "The Life to Come " in 1972.- Summary :...
"
- "Three Courses and a Dessert: Being a New and Gastronomic Version of the Old Game of Consequences"
Film scripts
- A Diary for Timothy (1945) (directed by Humphrey Jennings
Frank Humphrey Sinkler Jennings was an English documentary filmmaker and one of the founders of the Mass Observation organization...
, spoken by Michael RedgraveSir Michael Scudamore Redgrave CBE was an English stage and film actor, director, manager and author.He twice won Best Actor trophies in the Evening Standard Awards and twice received the Variety Club of Great Britain 'Actor of the Year' Award...
)
Libretto
- Billy Budd (1951) (based on Melville's
Herman Melville was an American novelist, short story writer, essayist and poet who is often classified as part of dark romanticism...
novelBilly Budd is a short novel by Herman Melville.Billy Budd can also refer to:*Billy Budd , a 1951 opera by Benjamin Britten based on Melville's novel...
, for the opera by BrittenEdward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten, OM CH was an English composer, conductor, violist and pianist.-Life:...
)
Collections of essays and broadcasts
- Abinger Harvest (1936)
- Two Cheers for Democracy (1951)
Literary criticism
- Aspects of the Novel (1927)
- The Feminine Note in Literature (posthumous) (2001)
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 (1985)
- Locked Diary (2007) (held at King's College, Cambridge
King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England.Founded in 1441, the college's formal name is "The King's College of Our Lady and St. Nicholas in Cambridge". It is usually referred to simply as "King's" within the university.- History :King's was founded in 1441 by...
)
Notable films based upon novels by Forster
- A Passage to India
A Passage to India is a 1984 British/American drama film written and directed by David Lean. The screenplay is based on the 1924 novel of the same title by E.M. Forster and the 1960 play by Santha Rama Rau that was inspired by the novel.-Plot:...
(1984), dir. David Lean
- A Room with a View
A Room with a View is a 1986 Merchant Ivory Productions' feature film, with a screenplay by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala. The film was directed by James Ivory and produced by Ismail Merchant....
(1985), dir. James Ivory
- Maurice
Maurice is a 1987 film based on the novel of the same title by E. M. Forster. A tale of homosexual love in early 20th century England, it follows Maurice Hall from his school days, through university, and beyond....
(1987), dir. James Ivory
- Where Angels Fear to Tread (1991), dir. Charles Sturridge
- Howards End
Howards End is a 1992 film adaptation of E. M. Forster's 1910 novel Howards End, a story of class relations in turn-of-the-20th-century England. The film was produced by Merchant Ivory Productions, their third adaptation of a Forster novel...
(1992), dir. James Ivory
- The Machine Stops (short film, 2009), dir. Freise Brothers
Secondary works on Forster
- Abrams, M.H. and Stephen Greenblatt, "E.M. Forster." The Norton Anthology of English Literature, Vol. 2C, 7th Edition. New York: W.W. Norton, 2000: 2131-2140.
- Ackerley, J. R., E. M. Forster: A Portrait (Ian McKelvie, London, 1970)
- Bakshi, Parminder Kaur, Distant Desire. Homoerotic Codes and the Subversion of the English Novel in E. M. Forster's Fiction (New York, 1996).
- Beauman, Nicola, Morgan (London, 1993).
- Brander, Lauwrence, E.M. Forster. A critical study (London, 1968).
- Cavaliero, Glen, A Reading of E.M. Forster (London, 1979).
- Colmer, John, E.M. Forster - The personal voice (London, 1975).
- Crews, Frederick, 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).
- Furbank, P.N., E.M. Forster: A Life (London, 1977-78).
- Haag, Michael, Alexandria: City of Memory (London and New Haven, 2004). This portrait of Alexandria during the first half of the twentieth century includes a biographical account of E.M. Forster, his life in the city, his relationship with Constantine Cavafy
Constantine P. Cavafy, also known as Konstantin or Konstantinos Petrou Kavafis, or Kavaphes was a renowned modern Greek poet who lived in Alexandria and worked as a journalist and civil servant...
, and his influence on Lawrence DurrellLawrence George Durrell was an expatriate British novelist, poet, dramatist, and travel writer, though he resisted affiliation with Britain and preferred to be considered cosmopolitan...
.
- King, Francis, E.M. Forster and his World, (London, 1978).
- Martin, John Sayre, E.M. Forster. The endless journey (London, 1976).
- Martin, Robert K. and Piggford, George (eds.) Queer Forster (Chicago, 1997)
- Mishra, Pankaj (ed.) "E.M. Forster." India in Mind: An Anthology. New York: Vintage Books, 2005: 61-70.
- Scott, P.J.M., E.M. Forster: Our Permanent Contemporary, Critical Studies Series (London, 1984).
- Summers, Claude J., E.M. Forster (New York, 1983).
- Trilling, Lionel, E. M. Forster: A Study (Norfolk: New Directions, 1943).
- Wilde, Alan, Art and Order. A Study of E.M. Forster (New York, 1967).
External links
General portals
Sources (plain text and HTML)
LGBT
- With Downcast Gays, Andrew Hodges and David Hutter, The Gay Liberation pamphlet (1974)
- E.M. Forster on glbtq.com
glbtq.com is an online encyclopedia that presents detailed biographies of notable gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and queer people. It is the most popular LGBT-inclusive information site on Alexa...