+ Do you think Clive's approach of assuming that Maurice understands the implication of why he was asked to read the Symposium was sensible? If not, what do you think he could have done?
While a letter may have been preferable, somehow it's easier to use the words of others and I think Plato was a source of comfort for him. When he says, "I had no right to move out of my books and music, which was what I did when I met you," we learn that Clive very likely doesn't have a lot of experience with homosexuality. He may have felt that putting the idea across with this ideal of a Higher Love was more acceptable.
My guess is that A) Clive himself didn't make the connection until he read Symposium or something similar, or B) he realized it beforehand, but felt that he was alone in this sinful nature until he saw evidence of it elsewhere (i.e. in books and music). (I'm leaning toward B.) If either were the case, it would be safe to assume that he hoped the same revelation would fall upon Maurice. And in giving Maurice this recommended reading, he would understand what Clive was trying to say... much like how nowadays a boy/girl may make a mixed cd for their love interest instead of a letter. (Also, a letter would have been more incriminating, though I'm not sure if Clive had thought of that at the time.)
The fact that Maurice didn't make the connection leads me to believe that he's willfully blind. And an idiot. Seriously Clive, just give him a hit upside the head and have your way with him. He'll like it, I swear.
+ Do you think Clive is being hard on Maurice?
Even if he didn't love Clive in return, Maurice was an ass for being so insensitive to his friend's feelings in the first place. Clive took a great risk confessing to him and stripped of his rose-colored glasses of infatuation, Durham realized the situation he had put himself in -- "Most men would have reported me to the Dean or the Police." -- and what he stood to lose. Hurt and scared, he sought to remove himself from the situation by reverting back to the aloof nature of a scholar. Chapman had warned Maurice of how Clive could be once he grew bored of you, but this gave me reason to believe that it's a mechanism of self defense.
In fact, I strongly believe that this hurt lead to Clive's persistent distance for the rest of the book. Despite how affectionately things had started off between them, Clive pulls away when it comes to intimacy. He puts such an emphasis on platonic love that one must wonder if he truly believes this or he's hiding behind this excuse. For if Maurice could deny him once then it could certainly happen again, and what consequences would he face then? It must have been quite a wake-up call and so the seed of doubt had been planted.
In the end, I believe that while Clive clung to the ideal of a Higher Love for self validation, he could have been moved by it's more physical aspects if not for Maurice's dunderheaded move.
no subject
While a letter may have been preferable, somehow it's easier to use the words of others and I think Plato was a source of comfort for him. When he says, "I had no right to move out of my books and music, which was what I did when I met you," we learn that Clive very likely doesn't have a lot of experience with homosexuality. He may have felt that putting the idea across with this ideal of a Higher Love was more acceptable.
My guess is that A) Clive himself didn't make the connection until he read Symposium or something similar, or B) he realized it beforehand, but felt that he was alone in this sinful nature until he saw evidence of it elsewhere (i.e. in books and music). (I'm leaning toward B.) If either were the case, it would be safe to assume that he hoped the same revelation would fall upon Maurice. And in giving Maurice this recommended reading, he would understand what Clive was trying to say... much like how nowadays a boy/girl may make a mixed cd for their love interest instead of a letter. (Also, a letter would have been more incriminating, though I'm not sure if Clive had thought of that at the time.)
The fact that Maurice didn't make the connection leads me to believe that he's willfully blind. And an idiot. Seriously Clive, just give him a hit upside the head and have your way with him. He'll like it, I swear.
+ Do you think Clive is being hard on Maurice?
Even if he didn't love Clive in return, Maurice was an ass for being so insensitive to his friend's feelings in the first place. Clive took a great risk confessing to him and stripped of his rose-colored glasses of infatuation, Durham realized the situation he had put himself in -- "Most men would have reported me to the Dean or the Police." -- and what he stood to lose. Hurt and scared, he sought to remove himself from the situation by reverting back to the aloof nature of a scholar. Chapman had warned Maurice of how Clive could be once he grew bored of you, but this gave me reason to believe that it's a mechanism of self defense.
In fact, I strongly believe that this hurt lead to Clive's persistent distance for the rest of the book. Despite how affectionately things had started off between them, Clive pulls away when it comes to intimacy. He puts such an emphasis on platonic love that one must wonder if he truly believes this or he's hiding behind this excuse. For if Maurice could deny him once then it could certainly happen again, and what consequences would he face then? It must have been quite a wake-up call and so the seed of doubt had been planted.
In the end, I believe that while Clive clung to the ideal of a Higher Love for self validation, he could have been moved by it's more physical aspects if not for Maurice's dunderheaded move.