On The Homosexual Images In E, M. Forster’s Maurice

Edward Morgan Forster (1879-1970) is one of the most celebrated British writers in theearly twentieth century. Maurice is Forster’s only full-length novel directly based onhomosexuality. Nicola Beauman, a famous biographer, remarks that Maurice displays “almostdocumentary detail” of the life of one particular group in Edwardian society. Critics mainlyhave probed into the protagonist’s self-identity and the structure of the novel up to now.However, they pay less attention to the three different kinds of homosexual images.Queer theory is a sociological and literary theory on sex and gender studies which hasgained popularity within the western academia since the1990s.“Closet” is a term proposedby the American queer theorist Sedgwick in her book Epistemology of the Closet. In her view, thecloset is “the defining structure for gay oppression”, and the oppression is logically relating tothe specific social environment and moral value. According to Sedgwick, it is the life in thecloset, namely,“wandering around the closet”,“hiding in the closet” and “coming out of thecloset”, that dominates homosexuals’ living and spiritual situation.With Sedgwick’s three key words, this thesis focuses on the three homosexual imagesand explores the living predicament of homosexuals in Edwardian period in order to reflectpeople’s moral values in the transitional period.Chapter one analyses Maurice, the homosexual image of wandering around the closet.Maurice is confused about sex in public school, then gradually admits his true homosexualdesire in Cambridge. But then he spares no efforts to deny his true nature because ofbewilderment to the platonic male love. Actually, young Maurice has an ambivalent attitudeon sex orientation. The second chapter focuses on Clive, the homosexual image of hiding inthe closet. Clive eventually submits to conventionality and chooses marriage as a shelter fromhis homosexual desire in order to hide in the closet during his lifetime, and the secret behindhis marriage with particular factors. The third chapter examines Alec, the homosexual imageof coming out of the closet. Alec esteems his homosexual desire and pursues his ownhappiness bravely. Finally, leaving aside the worldly shackles, both Alec and his lover rebelagainst conventionality boldly and escape into the greenwood together and love each otherwith an undying affection. In the conclusion, it clarifies that Forster not only aims at revealing the living predicament of homosexuals in the transitional society, but also questions thetraditional mainstream discourse of heterosexuality. He also holds that homosexuality andheterosexuality are not binary opposition but just two forms of being in gender category. It isthrough depicting the consummated ending in Maurice that Forster expresses his wish for theco-existence of homosexuality and heterosexuality in a tolerant and rational society. What’smore, this existence is not only an inevitable truth but also the respect of human being.