I can understand and appreciate every slight change, simplification or alteration in the film as being necessary to tell the tale properly in a motion picture medium...except this one.
Why was Clive's estate of Penge changed to Pendersleigh in the film? Not that Pendersleigh isn't a nice name, but it just seems strange to change it. Was there some reason for this I don't know about?
I have wondered that myself and cannot find an answer. It's just a guess, but I suppose it's possible that there is a "real life" estate somewhere named Penge and the moviemakers wanted to avoid possible legal hassles, but that's just a guess.
Another question, and forgive me if I'm wrong about this because it's been a long time since I read the book, but didn't they switch Cambridge for Oxford in the movie? If so, I suppose the reason could be something as simple as Oxford refusing to allow them to film there.
No, the university wasn't switched for the movie. Maurice and Clive attend Cambridge in both the book and the film.
Thanks for the Penge info, it seems to be quite the mystery.
The other problem is that "Penge" comes out in a nice neat package when you say it, and "Pendersleigh" almost takes effort to pronounce. It wasn't the best choice of names, to be sure...
shareMy impression is that Pendersleigh is much more of a place-name, much easier to understand. As a person that doensn't speak English from the beginning, I would have had problems understandig "Penge", as it (to me) sounds more lika a word than a place-name.
shareIt is odd that they changed the name - I admit that I haven't read the book so I didn't realise. 'Pendersleigh' sounds much more like a Country Estate than 'Penge'. 'Penge' is actually the name of a not very nice area of South London - no offence to anyone from Penge reading this!
shareHere's part of what Wikipedia says:
After the Crystal Palace was moved to Penge, a fashionable day out was to visit the Crystal Palace during the day and take the tram down the hill to one of two Music Halls - The King's Hall and the Empire Theatre. Music Hall comedians were in the habit of making fun of the locale in which they appeared and consequently Penge became the butt of many jokes. Playing on the idea that the word penge seems to be an inherently funny word, and its apparent shabby-genteel image, the place has been lightly parodied (many times).
I've been speaking English all my life (in Canada) and I don't have any idea how to pronounce the word. Is it penj, peng, pen-gay, pen-jee? I like Pendersleigh better. To me, it sounds more like the name an English country house or estate might have. When I read the book, 'Penge' irritated me a bit, it didn't seem appropriate--but presumably Forster gave some thought to the name, and must have known what he was doing.
Maybe he was also poking a bit of fun at it. After all, it was somewhat dilapidated and the roof leaked, causing water to drip onto the grand piano.
It's pronouced 'Penj'like the the first part of Benji. Whenever I hear people talk about Penge it reminds me of a friend and her husband who were looking to buy a house there as it was one of the only areas in South London they could afford. When she talked about it she referred to it as 'Pange' - with a french accent like 'Blancmange' in a (comically conscious) effort way to make it sound better - like Hyacinth 'Bouquet'!
The bottom line is, whatever it once was, it certianly isn't now.
I'm British, and I'm sure jules5bh is right about the most obvious reason for this change.
The screenwriters (particular Kit Hesketh-Harvey, I imagine) would almost certainly have snickered at the name 'Penge', with its outer-South-London, not-very-attractive suburb connotations. It's the kind of area where Leonard Bast from Howards End would be more likely to live than Clive (if Leonard came up in the world a little). For a contemporary British audience, the inclusion of a line like 'come to me at boathouse Penge' would be the equivalent of asking someone to meet you for a romantic tryst in Croydon - i.e. an instant passion-killer.
However, Forster states clearly that 'Penge' is in Wiltshire - so Clive's estate is definitely not in the same place/area as the real Penge, though Forster may have been joking by using the name.
A possible rationale for the choice of 'Pendersleigh' occurred to me only very recently. It sounds remarkably similar to Pemberley (in Austen's Pride and Prejudice), doesn't it? Thus (via this parallel) claiming a place for Maurice within the tradition of 'reader, I married him' narratives. That's my theory, anyway!
By the way, I had to use the word 'snickered' in this post because the IMDb censored the UK English version of this word!!
Yes, I can't help but think that the name change may have a connection to "Pride and Prejudice"---just hearing "Pendersleigh" brings "Pemberley" to mind, and makes one think of a country estate.
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