Abstract: Edward Morgan Forster (1879-1970) is one of the most renowned British writers in the early twentieth century. Maurice is Forster’s only full-length novel which directly describes homosexuality. This book was written during 1913 to 1914. However, due to the homophobia attitude hold by society and his own family, Forster refused to publish it during his lifetime. A year after his death, in 1971, Maurice finally came to the readers. Maurice not only thoroughly illustrates the homosexual’s life predicament and inner feelings, but also profoundly manifests Forster’s hope as a writer, a homosexual, a combatant for the homosexual’s right. His hope is that the society could understand the gay people and that the homosexual as well as the heterosexual could be co-existent. With the Queer Theory of Sedgwick, this thesis analysis Maurice who was confused about his sex orientation when he was a teenager then was led to gradually realized his orientation but Maurice was still in bewilderment and fear. Finally he shows a middle-class homosexual image that can frankly and seriously faces this inborn preference. Moreover, this thesis adopts Queer Theory to express Maurice as a full queer image. This thesis is made up of three parts. The first part analyses how Maurice “wanders around the closet” and his questions to sex and sex orientation. The second part analyses Maurice's state of “hiding in the closet”. When he is in relationship with Clive, Maurice is led to gradually be aware of his own sex orientation and after the break-up with Clive, Maurice doubts himself again and even looks for curing his “illness”. The third part analyses how Maurice falls in love with Alec and shares soul and flesh with him. They run away from the bondage of society and fly to the Greenwood together. It demonstrates how Maurice “comes out the closet”. Maurice truly and entirely shows a homosexual image of that time who wandered, hided but eventually came out.
Key Words: Forster; Maurice; Queer Theory; “closet”
Contents
Abstract
摘要
Introduction-1
1 Wandering around the Closet: Maurice’s Bewilderment-3
1.1 Teenage Confusion-3
1.2 From Unconsciousness to Consciousness-5
2 Hiding in the Closet: Maurice’s Platonic Love and another Doubt-8
2.1 Walking to Platonic Love with Guidance from Clive-8
2.2 Broken and Cured-10
3 Coming out the Closet: Maurice’s Self-realization and A Choice of Love and Peace-13
3.1 The Combination of Soul and Flesh-13
3.2 The Greenwoods-15
Conclusion-18
Bibliography-19
Acknowledgments-20
