One of the trivia items for this movie states:
"King's College, in England, permitted the production to film there after much consideration. This was not over the film's subject matter, but due to the fact that many scholars consider it an inferior work."
Now... inferior to what, I wonder. To Forster's other novels? To other gay themed books? To other stories placed inside Cambridge? I can't understand. I thought it a marvelous book.
Me too. I think Maurice was initially criticised for having what most critics thought was an overly romantic and 'unrealistic' ending, but it's still my favourite Forster book (and Merchant Ivory film), by far.
shareHowards End is considered one of the most perfectly-conceived of world masterpieces. Everything he wrote is inferior to that, and from an academic standpoint, most things are. That includes this beautiful story, and a million other beautiful stories. That's all that was meant. For the record, from someone who has studied Modern British lit. almost exhaustively, scholars do consider Maurice a neglected classic, an underdog. The rainbow shines after all.
shareI must agree with grounddnlouky2. I have read most of Forster's published work, and nothing holds a candle to Howard's End, which is simply exquisite. This takes nothing away from Maurice, which is an absorbing work and one I have read several times over. But Howard's End is truly a masterpiece. By the way, I wonder has anyone read the unpublished epilogue to Maurice, which Forster describes as a scene in which Kitty encounters two woodcutters. I've never seen it anywhere, but I have always wondered if the woodcutters were Maurice and Alec, happy in 'the greenwood' at last.
shareThe two woodcutters are Maurice and Alec, I can post the epilogue here for you if you'd like.
shareYes, please, writerdudette.
Post it here.
Je est un autre -- Arthur Rimbaud
I can definitely see why Forster chose to leave it out, but it's well-written and worth a read.
http://goat-song.livejournal.com/85382.html
I'd like to see the epilogue too. I really loved the book, and while Howards End is brilliant, Maurice is a total gem in its own right.
shareWell, duh! If it is an epilogue to Maurice, who else would they be????
Of course they are Maurice and Alec
For whatever reason, various critics consider Maurice to be the worst of Forster's novels. I have no idea why that is, except that maybe they thought the ending was unrealistic; however, as Forster was partially inspired by Edward Carpenter and George Merrill (sp?), who were an inter-class gay couple living together for a long time, I don't think it's unrealistic.
Holding out hope for The Front Runner.
I couldn't understand why it was Forster's least respected novels either. When I read Maurice I was absorbed from the beginning but when I read Howard's End I found it hard to finish, I had to slog through it. It was quite boring to be honest. Perhaps because Maurice was more relevant to me, I'm not sure.
shareI think you're definitely on to something, james1986london. Maurice was the only novel in which Forster was able to give full rein to his dearest fantasy: that of an upper class man falling in love and sharing a life with a working class man. It was a fantasy that I don't believe he was ever able to experience in reality. Some of his short stories also feature this plotline. Since this was the only novel where Forster could really 'let go' and indulge himself, it sticks out like a sore thumb when compared to his other works, which generally explore complex social and cultural themes in a more distant and intellectualised manner. I think what charms us when we read Maurice is its very lack of the somewhat pretentious intellectual overlay. It is just Forster's favorite daydream, presented in novel form, and it is all the more visceral and affecting for it.
Forster most certainly did realize in his life the fantasy to which you refer. He maintained a relationship with a working-class Englishman for many years, even after the man married (a woman).
Allen Roth
"I look up; I look down."
One shouldn't believe all the crap that appears in the trivia sections of IMDb.
It is ridiculous to suppose that there is one received opinion on any work by a leading (or even following) literary artist. Or about any writer. Period. It simply doesn't happen.
Maurice appeared posthumously and was Forster's last published work. It obtained a cult following from the beginning. It isn't inferior to anything. It is what it is.
If we are to be brothers, let us be brothers for life, die together.
Maurice was only published after Forster's death, and he wasn't comfortable with publishing it in his lifetime. I'm sure the officialdom at Oxford knew this--as did the students. And the students won and some filming was allowed at King's College and Trinity.
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