Comparing E. M. Forster's A Room With A View

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In E. M. Forster's “A Room with a View” (Forster) the two male leads, George Emerson and Cecil Vyse shared only a handful of similarities between them, and insignificant ones at that. The list included, and was nearly limited to: a relationship with Miss Honeychurch, a trip to Italy, occasional brooding attitude, with perhaps a few others. When the reader is first introduced to each young man, they are portrayed as distinctly different people. However, as the storyline progresses their differences become far more pronounced. In Cecil's case, his true character was revealed slowly, and then all at once, like a light being turned off, exposing the full depth of the darkness. Conversely, George discovered the nature of his genuine character over…show more content…
The foundation that Cecil’s relationship with Lucy was built upon was shaped by the values that the upper-class English society he was a part of impressed upon him. When George looked introspectively at Lucy’s relationship with Cecil, he noted that Cecil’s background fostered, “this desire to govern a woman,” and that, “it lies very deep.” He concluded that this if desire was to be put to an end, and there was to be true love, “men and women must fight it together.” (Forster 16) While George’s analysis of the way Cecil loved and the motivations for his actions in relationships could have been biased, Cecil’s mother confirmed the role that society plays in the nature of his relationship with Lucy. When she told Cecil to, “Make Lucy one of us," (Forster 11) she was not telling him to marry her and make her a part of their family, but telling him that Lucy isn’t right as she is now and must be made to be like them, made better. Before she finished her statement she looked, “round intelligently at the end of each sentence, and straining her lips apart until she spoke again.” (Forster 11) This odd action seems to be hesitation, as though she is afraid to be overheard, knowing that this judgment of Lucy’s character isn’t proper, perhaps even going out of

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