Book Discussion: Chapters 1-4

[queen_ypolita]

Chapters 1-4

The first four chapters cover about four years of Maurice's life, from his last days at prep school to the end of his years at Sunnington, his public school; from the age of "fourteen and three quarters" to "nearly nineteen". Both schools are his father's old schools, and the point of Maurice following his path in life in the footsteps of his father is made several times in these four short chapters. These chapters establish Maurice as an average person who isn't particularly intelligent or perceptive, one who would go through his life doing all the conventional things and feel perfectly content about his lot if he ever thought about it. It's this ordinariness that makes him reasonably successful at Sunnington: he's tolerably well liked, becomes a prefect and member of the first fifteen and get the prize for a Greek oration that it's not particularly good but thought worth rewarding nonetheless.

But underneath all the ordinariness is something waiting to be awakened, most clearly manifest in the dream he has in Chapter 3, a dream about a friend that he'll one day have. The dream isn't clear and he doesn't quite understand it but the feeling of longing is strong enough to make the dream feel very real. The other significant dream he has is about George the garden boy who left, and whose leaving made Maurice sadder than he could understand.

But to go back to Chapter 1 for a moment, and Mr Ducie's goodbye talk. Maurice's incomprehension at nearly fifteen over Mr Ducie's talk about sex may feel a bit old-fashioned to modern readers but it seems to me it's more a question of disconnect between his own experiences and what Mr Ducie is trying to say, particularly if Maurice is a late developer which is possible in the light of a line in Chapter 3 "As soon as his body developed he became obscene" which, in its context, is clearly not happening until he's at Sunnington. In some ways, it seems he does understand what Mr Ducie is explaining, it just doesn't mean anything to him at that age. Or what do you think?

Chapter 4 offers a small clue for fixing the novel to a particular historical timeline with the mention of Hague Conference, the second international peace conference held in The Hague from mid-June until mid-October 1907.

Over to you now! Here's a couple of questions if you're stuck for ideas what to say:

• Does Maurice's ordinariness make him likeable in these early chapters, or does he come across to you, as he does to Dr Barry in Ch2, that he's asleep all his life and hence useless?


• What do you think about the dreams?


• Why had the Halls considered moving when the church was built? (Ch2)

* * *
into_the_greenwood will open the discussion for Chapters 5-8 on Sunday 31 May. For the full schedule, see this post.

Comments

[trueriver]

Unfortunately, I don't find Maurice likeable until much further on in the book. I know this is largely because of the class-bound nature of his experience, but I find it gets in the way of my being able to identify with him. His painful adolescence leading on from his arrested childhood development is acutely and convincingly described, and we see Maurice emerge as lonely with outwardly dulled perceptions. He certainly isn't "useless", but I am eager (not a strong enough word!) for him to experience the "beauty and tenderness" he longs for. Although the dreams are to "interpret him", they are, inevitably I suppose, full of the "muddle" of his feelings. The sublimation of his authentic self is painful to read, and this makes it difficult for the reader (for me anyway) to come close to who he is essentially - which is really a testament to Forster's skill as a writer. (And it does make me value fanfic LOL)

[queen_ypolita]

I don't find Maurice likeable until much further on in the book.
I tend to agree, to be honest. He's not really become his own person at this stage, although for me, his confusion and the dreams hold a promise that he might come into his own later on (but we'll have to wait until future chapters for it).

[into_the_greenwood]

Thinking of chapters one and two when Maurice is what I consider to be a boy still (as against youth or man), I certainly don't dislike him. To me, he comes across as being terribly confused and needing to hid that confusion in convention. Hence he follows his peers in such things as dropping a coat for servants to pick up and by telling the Howells that the woodstack was his mother, not theirs. Children like that really annoy me when i come across them, but at that age (which would linger on for longer back then) it is learned behaviour. I'd be concerned if he were still doing things like that at thirty because, by then, you've learned a good bit of your own rather than just what has been taught in your family. So I don't dislike him, I feel altogether rather sorry for him. He doesn't really have any kind of compass to guide himself by, and at least Mr Ducie recognises that and tries his best to do something to rectify that, but alas throws Maurice into an even more confused state, especially with his two-faced explanation of the glory of the human body...then worrying about other people seeing it.

So, I see the first two chapters at least as showing Maurice to be on his own from an early age, and not having the self awareness to make sense of either himself or his actions. We all know why he is upset because George has gone...because George was the personification then of the unacknowledged 'friend' that he so wanted, but that Maurice is very unaware of desiring at that point.

So it's one huge muddle for him, but I don't dislike him as a boy at prep school, by any means.

[queen_ypolita]

He doesn't really have any kind of compass to guide himself by,
Actually, that's a very good point that I've not really considered before. (I've tended to see Mr Ducie's actions as meddling but there does seem to be a genuine kindness behind it--too bad it's not really worth it, because, like you say, of the hypocricy he displays.) The prep school headmaster clearly isn't capable of acting as any kind of compass and Maurice's father appears to have been a creature of convention and rather distant and dead just at a point where Maurice might have been able to start forging some kind of more grown-up relationship with him.

[trueriver]

PS I love your introduction and the beautiful pics! :)

[queen_ypolita]

Thanks, dear! The banner and icon art are by into_the_greenwood, by the way.

[trueriver]

It's beautifully done, and I look forward to being a part of this community.

[into_the_greenwood]

I love the pics in the intro post too - it's great to see illustrations of the books Maurice won :) A great post overall. :)

[queen_ypolita]

Thank you!

[sweet_fallacy]

(Hope you don't mind, but I'm recycling an old comment from the sister comm in LJ since I didn't have time to reread these chapters this weekend.)

I'm not sure we're supposed to like Maurice by this point, but perhaps feel somewhat sorry for him. Despite the fact that there's a path clearly laid out for him, Maurice instinctively knew that he was different and thus tried his darnedest to be utterly mediocre and became all the more obnoxious for it. (The more average he tried to be, the more disconnected he felt from the world. Probably because he didn't particularly like himself.) It seemed to me that the servants likened Maurice's snobbery to maturity. The way he was practically doted upon by all but Kitty, it was really just feeding into this behavior because it became expected of him. No wonder the boy sought out frankness. It's possibly due to George that he would later treat the hired help with at least a modicum of respect.

I was rather curious about the George thing. Mrs Hall says that Howell found him too old, yet Howell says that the boy wished to improve himself. Did Howell tell her that to avoid offense? Perhaps George left on Howell's urging to improve, having outgrown his position. The boy probably couldn't make a decent life for himself with the wages of a garden boy anyway. Or (if I were to really read into it) perhaps this was Howell's way of severing the boys' connection to ensure that Maurice didn't make any... unconventional attachments now that he's on his way to becoming the man of the family. Wasn't it considered improper for the classes to mingle? (Perhaps George was like Alec in that he couldn't seem to remember his place in society as well as Howell would like. Hmm...)

And Maurice being afraid of the dark... He tries so hard to live up to expectations of becoming a man in his father's stead and yet behind closed doors he's still so innocent. Just a child.

[into_the_greenwood]

I think you've got a good point there. I see a young, confused human being trying to make the best of things. And yes, if he knows he's different but really doesn't have the tools to deal with that, I can see him trying his utmost to just be as 'normal' as he possibly can. I think he muddled along, taking his cues from his peers, not thinking about anything at all, and just being in a terrible muddle about things.

I wonder about who was telling the truth with the George leaving business. I can see Maurice's mother avoiding the truth and, if Howell is correct, George left to 'better himself', it's not exactly complementary to the Halls, is it? They must be, logically, 'lesser' which wouldn't please Mrs Hall overly much.

But poor bloody Maurice - the only person he actually liked has gone. Just like that, with no way of finding him again. In a situation like that, I imagine Maurice would tamp down his emotions even further, and be determined not to think or feel too much from then on.

food for thought

[sweet_fallacy]

Huh, I had never thought to consider that it could have been Mrs Hall lying about George's dismissal. I guess I had always felt that she wouldn't want to deprive her son of anything, but if she thought it was best for Maurice... well, that would be another matter.

Maurice would tamp down his emotions even further
Precisely.

[queen_ypolita]

(The more average he tried to be, the more disconnected he felt from the world. Probably because he didn't particularly like himself.)
This is a very good point and does explain a lot.

[into_the_greenwood]

The church - I think they considered moving possibly because of the disturbance...hitherto a quiet, sleepy backwater, from then on there would be services on Sundays, people, increased 'traffic' etc. But of course being the Halls it turns out to be useful as it is nearby and they don't have to go to the trouble of walking or being driven further afield.

The dreams - This is Maurice's subconscious trying to come to the surface. He's in complete denial and non-comprehension about who he is and what he is, but the subconscious won't allow him to sleep, much as he wants to. I think it's a terrible shame for him that there was a scandal just before he arrived at Sunnington which meant that there was no way of experimentation. There was that one other boy, but because 'that kind of thing' had been eradicated to all intents and purposes there was nothing that Maurice could find out and have the realisation of what his preferences were. No one spoke of 'the unspeakable' which mayn't have been the case before the scandal, and neither he or the other boy who were mutually attracted were able to fathom things out. Poor Maurice! I still feel so sorry for him. Yes, he's asleep, he's going through the motions, but under the surface there is his real persona struggling away and coming out in strange dreams.

If there's anyone I'm going to dislike in the first four chapters, it's dr Barry who comes across as being unnecessarily crude (comments about the housemaster's wife) and generally unhelpful - he is rude to Maurice about his prospects, his following in the footsteps of his father, but offers absolutely no help or advice. I think this is terribly unfair of him and quite nasty, said purely to make Dr Barry feel more superior and for Maurice to feel even more inferior.

[queen_ypolita]

The church - I think they considered moving possibly because of the disturbance...hitherto a quiet, sleepy backwater, from then on there would be services on Sundays, people, increased 'traffic' etc.
That was about the only possible explanation I could think of--because on the face of it, surely if you're conventionally Christian and expect to go to church every Sunday, it's more convenient having one nearby.

[into_the_greenwood]

And more about Dr Barry - he COULD have been the father figure Maurice desperately needed, seeing as how he was a respected family acquaintance - but he fails Maurice rather miserably on that score. Perhaps partly to do with Maurice not seeking out (presumably) Dickie at school, but if it wasn't done it wasn't done and not really Maurice's fault as someone desperate to not be seen.

[queen_ypolita]

it's dr Barry who comes across as being unnecessarily crude (comments about the housemaster's wife) and generally unhelpful
I've always wanted to give Dr Barry a good slap. I suppose it comes down him not really caring a fig what the Halls think of him, and taking as little interest in them as possible within the terms of their long acquiantance.

[into_the_greenwood]

Momentarily skipping ahead to the bit in the book when Maurice gets sent down - I think Dr B has a bloody cheek remonstrating with him after offering nothing in the way of guidance in the past.

[trueriver]

I've always wanted to give Dr Barry a good slap.

LOL I agree with both of you - Dr Barry is most unpleasant. There really is so little understanding going on in Maurice's early life. At least he had some boyish rough and tumble with George! Odd that we don't hear anything about his relationship with his father, who only died a year before the story commences.

[into_the_greenwood]

That surprised me on this particular reread, for some reason I've always thought of Maurice's father as being long dead, and Mr Ducie's little talk being as a result of that, rather than it being a talk to a boy whose father has only just gone. I suppose this reinforces Mr Hall's mediocrity - we don't even notice properly that he was around fairly recently!

[sweet_fallacy]

I assumed that his father was the hands-off type, burying himself in business and such. And I totally agree on the desire to give Dr. Barry a good slap in the face.