Just reread it in the book, and it's almost word-for-word what happens in the film. Basically, Maurice kisses Clive without thinking, and then Maurice asks her not to say anything, with the excuse that they're "great friends" and "relations almost." She's presumably surprised, but not shocked (as I say, probably because homosexuality was so far from people's minds in that era); she agrees not to tell anyone about the kiss because she likes the idea of her son entrusting her with a secret.
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HarlowMGM
12 years ago
I agree with you. I think Maurice was concerned mainly if he thought the kiss came off with a little too much passion but his mother just took it as a friend's warm concern which probably most people would have as well at the time. It was an innocent unsexual era it was not all that uncommon for men to give a slight peck of a kiss as a greeting for a very close male friend even in America or England. You will occasionally see this in a few silent movies from the 1910's or 1920's.
The movie was set in the early 1910's before sexuality was thrown in people's faces. People had restraint and did not act on most sexual impulses as is clear even with Maurice and Clive, they can admit to themselves they are in love with each other but will not go much further than hugging and Clive is uneven uncomfortable kissing Maurice in a romantic way. Because even men of "breeding" back then rarely had sex outside of marriage (except for the occasional prostitute perhaps) and the concept of homosexuality was considered unspeakable (note the college professor's reaction to the allusion when they are translating the text) as well as improbable it would never cross most people's minds something like that might be going on with people they knew.
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ncgraham
12 years ago
Also, it says in the book that she liked sharing a secret with her son again, like when he was little. It makes her feel important.
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