Essay On A Room With A View

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E.M. Forster demonstrates a passionate battle between social classes and true love in his novel, A Room with a View. Lucy Honeychurch, a naïve young girl, once depended on others views and expectations to determine how she behaved, and most importantly, whom she loved. Through internal and external obstacles, Lucy realizes that one’s social class is not ultimately as important as following one’s heart. Forster allows her character to develop primarily through the various purposes of specific locations and characters. These different factors guide her to liberation and individualism, in which she uncovers a purpose in her life.
Lucy Honeychurch is introduced in the novel as a wealthy English girl. She resides in a small, primarily conventional, and wealthy town called Surrey. Her family, also very conventional, shelters her from harm within the world, which leads her to being very inexperienced and without opinion. This is displayed in her travels to Italy, when her chaperone Charlotte Bartlett (referred to as Miss. Bartlett) refuses to allow Lucy out of her sight. Lucy is the central focus in this novel, her character being saved by the particularly unsuitable Italian man, George Emerson. “…Lucy remains a romance heroine. This same pattern is obvious in the characterization of George Emerson, whose role as romantic hero…” (Thompson 33) Lucy’s role in the novel is that of a young, inexperienced girl, trying to discover her purpose in life. One of the primary factors that contributed to Lucy’s maturity in A Room with a View, was George Emerson’s character.

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George Emerson, as previously stated, acts as the romantic hero in the novel. Although he is the one technically saving Lucy, he is far less complex of a character. “...

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E. M. Forster uses many literary techniques in order to illustrate the battle between romance and society in many of his novels. Within this particular novel, readers watch Lucy Honeychurch blossom from an inexperienced, ordinary young girl to a fearless, extraordinary woman, all while falling in love with the unsuitable, affably charming George Emerson. With the assistance of many various characters, Lucy is guided through obstacles of all sorts, both literally and figuratively. All of these characters had a different role in impacting her development throughout the novel, which eventually leads her to the final stage of her development: marrying someone of an inferior class. After traveling from country to country, and meeting many diverse
Snyder 11 characters and cultures, she realizes that true love is more important than abiding by society’s expectations.

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