I wonder if Maurice does fall head over heels as much as we are led to believe. What if the situation was more that he finally understands himself and Clive is there in front of him as someone to love, and Maurice does feel something for his friend, but because he has no experience of any of these kinds of feelings, he thinks he's madly in love. Certainly, he feels something, but perhaps if he had known about himself earlier and had chance to meet a few boys/men over the years he would be in a better position to know what his true feelings were.
Plus, as you say about Clive, perhaps Cambridge itself brought something to Maurice's feelings and his idea of relationships. What went on there wouldn't be quite like the everyday world.
That is really interesting what you say about Clive arriving alone. This could mean him not having a fully realistic idea of what a relationship would entail. A proper one, I mean, not one where he's able to entertain ideas of platonic love because of the innocence of the other party. Possibly one of the reasons he eschews Risley and his crowd is that it was obvious they (esp Risley) would definitely want something physical out of it.
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Re: Fundamental unsuitability
Date: 2009-06-20 07:11 pm (UTC)Plus, as you say about Clive, perhaps Cambridge itself brought something to Maurice's feelings and his idea of relationships. What went on there wouldn't be quite like the everyday world.
That is really interesting what you say about Clive arriving alone. This could mean him not having a fully realistic idea of what a relationship would entail. A proper one, I mean, not one where he's able to entertain ideas of platonic love because of the innocence of the other party. Possibly one of the reasons he eschews Risley and his crowd is that it was obvious they (esp Risley) would definitely want something physical out of it.