Book discussion: chapters 16-19

[queen_ypolita]

Apologies for the lack of book discussion post yesterday; it was due to unexpected lack of internet access. But here it is, at last.



Chapters 16-19

Chapters 16 to 19 see Maurice and Clive settling into their relationship. Maurice visits Clive at his home for the first time, and is initially very ill at ease and determined to impress, before finding out Clive set up his room so that it would resemble Cambridge. This could point to Clive's inability to construct a space for their relationship outside the Cambridge setting. And it is Clive, in Ch16, who sets the terms for the relationship, arguing that to make it physical would be to ruin what they had, and Maurice goes along with it.

In Ch17, Mrs Durham probes Maurice to find out if Clive has his eye on a girl. Later, Maurice finds out that having to get married and have children is what Clive sees will be ahead of him, as a matter of fact. For a moment, Maurice feels great sadness for knowing he won't have any children.



Ch18 briefly summarises two happy years: they go back to Cambridge for another year, travel in Italy and start taking their places in the world at large: Clive by working for the bar, Maurice by getting into business.

Families enter the picture once again in Ch19. Maurice's mother and sisters meet Clive's mother and sister and get along better than anyone could have expected. The chapter also touches upon Maurice's home life and routines: he falls into the role of the head of his family, occasionally challenged by Kitty; his daily routine has become established and staying with Clive in London on set days (Wednesdays and weekends) is an important part of it.



Questions:

• Do you think the terms Clive sets for the relationship are reasonable? Or believable?


• Do you believe that the two years that the narrator covers in a short chapter were as happy and easy as the briefness of the chapter suggests?


• Why are Maurice's routines explained in detail? Do the routines tell us more about him?

Photo credits:
ferns by rakkar on Flickr, used under Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial licence
women by Harris and Ewing from Library of Congress, uploaded to Flickr by bobster855, used under Creative Commons Attribution licence

Comments

[trueriver]

I still have catching up to do on the previous chapter post... However, I did jolt slightly when I read the book initially on learning that 2 years were more or less glossed over, after the previous intensity. I wanted to know more about the final year at Cambridge, but evidently we weren't to be let in on any of the events. Their relationship begins to seem rather dull. Perhaps routines are Maurice's way of coping, or his *comfort zone* which doesn't require too much thought, as we know, overthinking does get Maurice in a muddle LOL

[queen_ypolita]

did jolt slightly when I read the book initially on learning that 2 years were more or less glossed over, after the previous intensity
Exactly. We hardly get more than a day, expanding on it a little wouldn't have hurt anyone!

[trueriver]

PS the second pic makes me smile! :)

[sweet_fallacy]

+ I love how set the Durhams seem set on slighting Maurice only to end up liking him because he simply didn't care. And all the while, Clive is trying to give him cues so Maurice could fit in. While he may argue with himself that he only wishes for Maurice to be comfortable, the fact that he glares at Maurice at one misstep only says otherwise. The question is... does he wish his family would approve of Maurice or does he want Maurice to be a gentleman?

+ We have Clive writing verses and a mention of sharing one with Maurice, but he still seems to deny Maurice's feelings. After admitting that he was initially attracted to Maurice's beauty, he's not comfortable when Maurice returns the favor with a little more... zeal. He slowly pulls away and emphasizes the platonic aspect of their relationship. This may not have been reasonable of Clive, but he's protecting himself and (he believes) Maurice.

+ While I was disappointed that we were not offered more detail of those two years, it's easy to assume that they remained in a stagnant period of their relationship in which they were avoiding the issues that lie just beneath the surface.

+ Why are Maurice's routines explained in detail? Do the routines tell us more about him?
It tells us that Maurice truly wasn't happy with his lot in life even if he wasn't fully aware of it. While Wednesdays were necessary for his weekly Clive-fix, weekends had to be his alone.

[queen_ypolita]

I love how set the Durhams seem set on slighting Maurice only to end up liking him because he simply didn't care.
Yes, I like it too.

After admitting that he was initially attracted to Maurice's beauty, he's not comfortable when Maurice returns the favor with a little more... zeal
It struck me just now that Clive's admission is once again something to do with Plato (at least to some extent), but Maurice misses the reference. But that's where it starts, isn't it, being attracted to the beauty of a young man, which will lead you to higher and better things (as long as you resist taking him to your bed).