E. M. Forster Criticism
E. M. Forster, a distinguished English novelist and essayist, is celebrated for his exploration of humanism and the complexities of human relationships through both traditional and modern lenses. His novels and short stories, such as Howards End, A Passage to India, and collections like The Celestial Omnibus and The Eternal Moment, delve into themes of cultural dynamics, repression, and the potential for personal transcendence. Forster's writing is marked by a blend of realism with fantasy, often incorporating elements of mythology, comedy, and a critique of societal norms. This intricate style has been noted by critics such as Hamish Miles and Lionel Trilling.
Forster's personal experiences, including his formative years at Cambridge and his travels around the Mediterranean, significantly influenced his work. These experiences are reflected in stories like "The Story of a Panic," where the contrast between vibrant Mediterranean culture and the stifled English society is vividly depicted. Posthumous publications such as The Life to Come showcase Forster's exploration of homosexual themes, previously suppressed due to societal norms, as highlighted by Claude J. Summers. These stories offer critical insight into his personal life and artistic pursuits.
Forster's critical examination of Edwardian society through fantasy is evident in works like "The Machine Stops," which critiques technological dehumanization. Despite some criticisms from Elizabeth Hardwick regarding the mastery of his short stories compared to his novels, these stories remain integral to understanding his artistic vision and societal commentary. Gorman Beauchamp describes "The Machine Stops" as a pivotal piece in the dystopian genre, advocating for a return to nature.
In his novels, Forster frequently addressed the tension between societal expectations and personal desires, a theme central to A Passage to India. This novel, recognized by I. A. Richards, illustrates the Hindu principle of total acceptance as a unifying force, blending critical values and sociological insight. Similarly, D. S. Savage and Frederick C. Crews highlight how Forster's novels like Howards End and Maurice address social issues and ethical dilemmas, using comedy to critique human pretensions.
Forster's personal life, particularly his experiences in Alexandria and India, and his homosexuality, profoundly enriched his thematic exploration of unity, love, and continuity in human relationships. Jane Lagoudis Pinchin notes how these layers of personal and cultural experiences inform his narrative style and thematic depth. Although Forster's literary output diminished after A Passage to India, his legacy as a critical voice in literature endures, continuing to resonate with readers and scholars alike.
Contents
- Principal Works
- Forster, E(dward) M(organ) (Vol. 3)
- Forster, E(dward) M(organ) (Vol. 9)
- Forster, E(dward) M(organ) (Vol. 2)
- Forster, E(dward) M(organ) (Vol. 1)
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Forster, E(dward) M(organ) (Vol. 10)
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The One Orderly Product (E. M. Forster)
(summary)
In the following essay, Frank Kermode examines E. M. Forster's symbolic artistry, asserting that Forster, through "faking" and unifying disparate elements in works like A Passage to India, demonstrates how art transforms human "muddle" into meaningful mystery, highlighting the extraordinary as essential to order and unity.
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Forster: A Collection of Critical Essays
(summary)
In the following essay, Malcolm Bradbury argues that E. M. Forster's complex blend of social comedy and modern symbolism both enriches and complicates his literary reputation, as his novels, particularly Howards End and A Passage to India, explore themes of liberal humanism, cultural representation, and the tension between traditional and modern elements.
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Second Thoughts on E. M. Forster's 'Maurice'
(summary)
In the following essay, Frederick P. W. McDowell critiques E. M. Forster's novel "Maurice," arguing that its shortcomings lie primarily in the lack of complexity and empathy in the protagonist, Maurice Hall, as well as Forster's unequal treatment of societal themes and character development, despite the novel's significant contributions to Forster's body of work.
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Gorman Beauchamp
(summary)
In the following essay, Gorman Beauchamp argues that E. M. Forster's novella The Machine Stops is a foundational anti-technological dystopia that presages the genre's central themes, including the dehumanizing effects of technology and the mechanized suppression of individuality, ultimately portraying a failed rebellion against an overpowering technological society and a longing for a return to Nature.
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The One Orderly Product (E. M. Forster)
(summary)
- Forster, E(dward) M(organ) (Vol. 4)
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Forster, E(dward) M(organ) (Vol. 13)
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A Passage to Forster: Reflections on a Novelist
(summary)
In the following essay, I. A. Richards argues that E. M. Forster's novels are characterized by a unique blend of critical values, mysticism, and sociological insight, focusing on life's automatism and authenticity, with an emphasis on the continuity of life and moral forces, particularly evident in works such as Howards End and A Passage to India.
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E. M. Forster
(summary)
In the following essay, D. S. Savage critiques E. M. Forster's early novels for their emotionally intense but ultimately flawed portrayal of spiritual conflict within a naturalistic framework, arguing that Forster's shift in "Howards End" reflects an embrace of social issues and the limitations of his ethical naturalism to sustain genuine spiritual drama.
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The Comic Spirit
(summary)
In the following essay, Frederick C. Crews examines E. M. Forster's use of comedy as a counterbalance to symbolism in his novels, highlighting how Forster's ironic vision and skepticism toward providential order shape his narrative style and thematic exploration of human pretensions and isolation.
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The Bridge: E. M. Forster in Alexandria
(summary)
In the following essay, Jane Lagoudis Pinchin examines how E. M. Forster's homosexuality deeply influenced his writing, shaping themes of unity, love, and continuity, as well as how Forster's geographical and cultural experiences, particularly in Alexandria and India, informed his exploration of human relationships and the interplay between history, art, and personal identity.
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A Passage to Forster: Reflections on a Novelist
(summary)
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Forster, E(dward) M(organ) (Vol. 15)
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The Novels of E. M. Forster
(summary)
In the following essay, Virginia Woolf critiques E. M. Forster's novels, arguing that while his works are rich in observation, charm, and social critique, they often struggle to seamlessly integrate the poetic and the prosaic, with his efforts to balance realism and symbolism leading to inconsistencies in achieving a cohesive masterpiece.
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E. M. Forster
(summary)
In the following essay, Austin Warren argues that E. M. Forster's novels embody a delicate balance between action, character development, and philosophical insight, emphasizing the "inner life" and humanistic values, while highlighting Forster's critique of cultural pretension and his belief in reconciling the mind, body, and soul.
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E. M. Forster: A Critical Study
(summary)
In the following essay, Laurence Brander examines E. M. Forster's literary philosophy as articulated in his Clark Lectures, highlighting Forster's exploration of storytelling, character development, and the novel's capacity for expressing complex human experiences, while also suggesting that Forster's theoretical framework reveals his ambivalence towards the novel as a form constrained by time and narrative convention.
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'Overleaping Class': Forster's Problem in Connection
(summary)
In the following essay, Wilfred Stone argues that E. M. Forster's works, particularly his homosexual fiction, reflect the author's struggles with dualism, class division, and personal identity, emphasizing the challenges and failures of achieving genuine connection across societal and personal boundaries.
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The Novels of E. M. Forster
(summary)
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Forster, E(dward) M(organ)
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Throw Them Overboard!
(summary)
In this review, Mansfield, a highly respected writer and literary critic, cautiously praises Forster's "Story of the Siren" for its sensibility and humor, but notes that he does not entirely commit his imagination to his writing.
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Review of The Celestial Omnibus and Other Stories
(summary)
In the following excerpt, Miles comments that civility is the essential quality of Forster's writing.
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E. M. Forster in the Vein of Fantasy
(summary)
In this favorable review, Kronenberger notes Forster's successful venture into the realm of fantasy literature.
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Review of The Eternal Moment and Other Stories
(summary)
In this mixed assessment, Muir praises the genius of several stories, but describes the remainder of the collection as flawed by sociological concerns.
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The Short Stories: A Statement of Themes
(summary)
In the excerpt below, Trilling discusses how Forster's short stories illumine our understanding of his novels.
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Review of The Collected Tales of E. M. Forster
(summary)
In this examination of Forster's short fiction, Redman focuses on the central theme of escape from the stifling conventionalities of pre-World War I England.
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E. M. Forster's Quality of Insight
(summary)
In this favorable estimation of The Collected Tales, Baker praises Forster for his power of imagination and insight.
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Fiction Chronicle
(summary)
In the following excerpt, Hardwick argues that Forster's stories are overly restrained and ultimately minor, despite his expert craftsmanship.
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Eternal Moments in the Short Fiction of E. M. Forster
(summary)
In this laudatory essay, Hagopian focuses on Forster's ironic yet sympathetic portrayal of his principal characters in "The Road from Colonus" and "The Eternal Moment."
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The Short Stories
(summary)
Here, Thomson, a noted Forster scholar, discusses the mythical and archetypal aspects of Forster's short stories.
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The Short Stories
(summary)
In this excerpt, Godfrey discusses Forster's preoccupation with the effects of the unseen supernatural as it relates to the plots and characterizations of his short stories.
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Love, Madness, & Other Anxieties
(summary)
In this unfavorable review of The Life to Come, Scruton describes the collection as unpleasant and indecent in its callow portrayal of homosexual relationships.
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A Collection of Old New Stories by E. M. Forster
(summary)
In the following excerpt, Welty, an acclaimed novelist and essayist, notes that while the stories of The Life to Come are linked to Forster's other fiction by their emphasis on passion, they are flawed by the absence of Forster's comic genius.
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Hazards of An Honest Life
(summary)
Below, Hynes notes that Forster's recently published sexual fantasies lack artistic merit but command interest for their honesty.
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Forster and his Merry Men
(summary)
In the following excerpt, Miller argues that the constrained quality of Forster's posthumous publications justifies the author's own misgivings about their literary merit.
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Fizzling Sexual Time Bombs
(summary)
In this excerpt, Meyers asserts that the homosexual stories of The Life to Come are feeble, timid, and selfindulgent.
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Short Stories
(summary)
In the following excerpt, Colmer discusses the role of place, the supernatural, pagan mythology, and the importance of the past as dominant themes in Forster's short fiction.
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Short Stories: The Life to Come
(summary)
Here, Page analyzes how the posthumous stories develop more fully the central themes and techniques first explored in the early short stories.
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Maurice and the Later Stories
(summary)
In the following excerpt, Cavaliero praises the posthumously published short stories for their irreverent humor and satirical power.
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Injunctions and Disjunctions
(summary)
In this excerpt, Wilde argues that Forster's acceptance of chaos, evidenced in the posthumous short stories, reflects a diminishing of Forster's vision.
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"Maurice" and Fictions of Homosexuality
(summary)
In this excerpt, Rosecrance notes that the homosexual stories reveal defeat and the fragmentation of Forster's artistry.
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Other Kingdoms: The Short Fiction
(summary)
In the following excerpt, Summers notes the importance of Forster's short fiction to our understanding of his artistic vision. Forster is not a master of the short story. His importance as a writer rests on the novels and the nonfiction. Yet the stories are not negligible. Some of them are significant achievements in their own right, and taken together, they help reveal the complexity of Forster's art. They locate the source of some of his most characteristic effects in the tension generated by an imagination that is at once visionary and local, romantic and realistic. They make obvious the romantic base of his vision, tracing—in various ways and with varying degrees of success—the quest for a nostalgic wholeness, glimpsed fleetingly during those Wordsworthian 'spots of time' in which the creative mind and external nature intersect to yield an organic whole and to imagine other kingdoms whose existence tellingly exposes the world of local reality.
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E. M. Forster
(summary)
In the following excerpt, Kessel argues that Forster used fantasy elements to clarify his belief that human salvation depends on the ability of people to connect.
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Publishable and Worth It: Forster's Hitherto Unpublished Fiction
(summary)
In this excerpt, an eminent Forster scholar favorably assesses Forster's posthumous fiction for its intensity and complexity.
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The Stories II: Narrative Modes
(summary)
In this excerpt, Herz discusses the doubleness of Forster's short fiction as revealed in the disjunctive relationship between narrative strategies and narrative voice.
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The Lonely Voice
(summary)
In this excerpt, Lago considers the posthumously published short fiction a valuable and rewarding epilogue to Forster's publishing history.
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Throw Them Overboard!
(summary)
- Further Reading