Book discussion: chapters 29-30

[queen_ypolita]

Chapters 29-30

In these two chapters, we find Maurice tackling with his reactions to two events: news of Clive's engagement, and the visit of Dickie Barry, now a handsome young man.



News of Clive's engagement come in a letter from Mrs Durham to Mrs Hall, and Maurice has no time to rehearse his reaction as the exciting news are eagerly discussed at breakfast by the women of the house. He is hurt that Clive didn't write to him, but proud enough not to want to admit it to his mother and sisters. In ch29, he hears from Clive himself, about a week later, and gets the chance to speak to Anne on the phone. Neither of them can think of much to say and Anne reveals Maurice is the 8th friend of Clive she's spoken to that morning. Talk about adding insult to injury. But as the conversation with Clive that follows reveals, Maurice has reached the stage where he can engage in polite chit-chat with Clive.



It might be worth asking if Maurice's reaction to the sleeping body of Dickie Barry in the morning sunlight would have been as strong as it is if it hadn't been for the news about Clive's engagement. But it's clear that for that day, he's head over the heels in lust. The moment when Dickie returns home late in the evening is not one of Maurice's best moments. It takes him a few days to admit to himself it was pure lust. There's also a French client of his who's very charming, but he takes a step back.

And it's finally the act of buying a wedding present for Clive and Anne that makes him see the contradiction between his outward appearance and behaviour conforming to social expectations and the desires bubbling underneath.

Where can he go from here?

Questions:

• What do you think of the Dickie Barry episode?


• Is it cowardly of Clive not to write to Maurice himself about the engagement?

Photo credits:
Engagement ring by ladybugbkt on Flickr, used under Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No derivate works licence
Sunkissed, Arno Arno on Flickr, used under Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No derivate works licence

Comments

[into_the_greenwood]

I wonder if that might be something Forster would change - I wonder how much Forster's own feelings towards sex at that time influenced his writing of Maurice. I seem to recall from reading a biography that he believed himself to veer a bit towards asexuality, but later after he'd done the deed himself, he felt rather differently about it.

[angie-sylvie.livejournal.com]

I really think if Maurice had slept with Dickie it would have been very harmful to him.
As it was, the Dickie episode "burst Maurice's life to pieces." I think, if they'd had sex, Maurice would immediately mistake it for a full-blown relationship - which Dickie would have been both unable and unwilling to supply.

"[Maurice's] whole life was dependent on love," said Forster. Any encounter with Dickie would have been so utterly devoid of love that it couldn't help but wound him.
Abandoned again, his self-loathing might have grown hugely, and given Maurice's predilection to threaten suicide when things go badly in love, a nasty and embarrassing scene could well have resulted.

[queen_ypolita]

I really think if Maurice had slept with Dickie it would have been very harmful to him.
Yes, I tend to agree. Of the two potential encounters in these chapters, it's not to difficult to argue that the French client might not have been too bad, but looking at Maurice's remorse and disgust at himself for even making that half-veiled pass at Dickie but not going through with it, it's clear that it would have been many times worse had he actually done something.

Thank you for joining in the discussion!

[sandpipersummer]

I agree doing anything with Dickie would have been totally wrong for Maurice on many levels. I'm not so sure about the Frenchman, who was interested in Maurice and wouldn't have been tolerating sex as Dickie had done.

However, since Maurice needed the love part of a relationship, yes it wouldn't have helped matters.