A Room with a View by E.D. Forster

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A Room with a View by E.D. Forster explores the struggle between the expectations of a conventional lady of the British upper class and pursuing the heart. Miss Lucy Honeychurch must choose between class concerns and personal desires.

Honeychurch is a respectable young lady from a well-known family. She travels with Miss Charlotte Bartlett to Italy at the turn of the century. In Italy they meet Mr. Emerson and George Emerson. George is young man who falls in love with Lucy. Mr. Emerson is an idealist and a dreamer.

Only a couple of days after they get to Italy George kisses Lucy while standing in the middle of a waving field of grass. George does this with out her permission or discussion. Even though this surprises Lucy and backs away she still participates in the kiss that tells the readers that there is something in her heart that drives her toward George. George’s function in A Room with a View is clear: he is a source of passion in a society that is tightly sealed with convention, timidity, and dryness. When Lucy comes home to Britain she is proposed to by Cecil. She accepts the offer because she knows that it is the proper thing to do. Cecil is an intelligent, well-respected man but lacks the passion that George penetrates. When Cecil attempts to kiss Lucy it is very different than George. He first of all asks permission, then Cecil timidly moves in to kiss her, and lastly his glasses fall off. This example shows the difference between Cecil and Ge...