Maurice

Maurice (1971) is a coming-of-age novel and love story by English author E. M. Forster. Like much of Forster’s work, it straddles the realist and modernist eras; stylistically, it resembles the literature of the 19th century, but its themes—in particular, its depiction of unconscious experience—anticipate the work of writers like Virginia Woolf and D. H. Lawrence. Drafted between 1913 and 1914, it was not published until 1971—one year after Forster’s death—because of its subject matter; Maurice depicts being gay both openly and positively. All page numbers in this study guide refer to the 1993 W. W. & Norton edition of the work.

Plot Summary

Maurice Hall—a middle-class, turn-of-the-century English boy—is about to enter public school (the equivalent of private high school in the modern US). Since Maurice is fatherless, a teacher at Maurice’s childhood school gives him a birds-and-bees-style talk before he graduates. However, the explanation leaves Maurice confused and alienated.

Maurice grows up good-natured, though not especially scholarly or self-reflective. After graduating public school, he goes to Cambridge, where he meets the intellectual and upper-class Clive Durham. Maurice feels drawn to Clive for reasons he can’t articulate, and the two become close friends. When Clive, who has known that he’s gay from a young age, tells Maurice that he’s in love with him, Maurice initially responds with shocked dismissal. However, Maurice’s ensuing distress forces him to acknowledge his own sexuality, and he then tells Clive he shares his feelings. The couple spend the rest of their time at Cambridge together, after which Maurice begins working for an investment firm, and Clive qualifies as a barrister. On Clive’s wishes, the relationship—though romantic—remains celibate.

Clive falls ill shortly after his bar exam, and his demeanor towards Maurice cools. He travels to Greece hoping to rediscover his feelings, but returns convinced that he has become heterosexual, and ends his romantic relationship with Maurice.

The breakup leaves Maurice deeply depressed. Fearing he’s doomed to loneliness, he considers suicide, and then speaks to several doctors about his “condition.” These conversations go nowhere, and Maurice is considering consulting a hypnotist, when Clive—now married—invites him to his estate (Penge). Maurice goes, though he returns briefly to London for a hypnosis session, which leaves him hopeful he can be “cured.” However, when Maurice returns to Penge, he’s approached by a gamekeeper—Alec Scudder—he had noticed after first arriving, and the two men sleep together.

Maurice regrets the encounter the following day and returns to London. Here, he receives a note from Alec which he interprets as blackmail; he brings it to his second appointment with the hypnotist, who now finds himself unable to hypnotize Maurice, and who advises him to move to a country where being gay is legal. Maurice goes home to find a second letter from Alec, once again asking to see him. Maurice agrees, and the two meet at the British Museum. Their conversation convinces Maurice that Alec—though outwardly antagonistic—is in fact just frightened and confused, and the two spend another night together.

The next morning, Maurice tries to persuade Alec—who plans to emigrate to Argentina—to remain in England. Although Maurice offers to leave his own middle-class job and life for Alec, Alec declines. On the day of Alec’s departure, Maurice goes to the docks to see him off; Alec, however, fails to appear.

Maurice goes to Penge, where he finds Alec waiting; he had tried to telegram Maurice telling him he’d changed his mind. Before leaving, Maurice confronts Clive, revealing the truth about himself and Alec. Clive is appalled and hopes Maurice will rethink the relationship; he doesn’t realize, as Maurice is leaving, that he’ll never see him again.