Classic queer literature is rarely explicitly queer. Dropped surnames, grazing hands and altered dress codes can all allude to a character’s hidden sexuality, but unless you can recognise the signs, 20th-century queer literature could quite easily be traditional literature. This, however, is not the case for Maurice.
Written in 1913-14 but published in 1971, six months or so after the author E. M. Forster’s death. Maurice is a classic novel about a man named Maurice discovering his homosexuality and navigating his newfound position in British class and society.
“The book’s perspective on class and culture would have been very deeply frowned upon”
He has two lovers. The relationships are written with such clarity that it is obvious why the novel couldn’t be published at the time of writing. In fact, publishing after the author’s death wasn’t a choice but a necessity. Homosexuality was still very much illegal in the United Kingdom in the 1910s. Additionally, the book’s perspective on class and culture would have been very deeply frowned upon.
All in all, Maurice was an illicit piece of not-quite-fiction that relayed a story too advanced for the period in which it was written. Maurice is about queer love, cross-class love and prosperous love. The early 20th century wasn’t quite ready for a tale such as that. However, that doesn’t negate that a secret homosexual life was the reality for many. Forster and Edward Carpenter who was inspiration for the novel, are two such examples.
“Somehow a happy ending comes into play”
Forster admired Carpenter, who was known as a poet, philosopher, socialist, and early gay rights activist. Upon visiting Carpenter’s home in 1913, Forster began writing Maurice and seemed to stencil his protagonist and one of the love interests on Carpenter’s real relationship with his working-class partner. The two men were openly together for 40 years and died a year apart, buried in the same Surrey cemetery.
Like both men, Maurice is the quintessential British businessman. He is a student at the University of Cambridge where he meets Clive, a man who challenges Maurice’s beliefs and intellectually stimulates him. After a few bumps in the road, the pair begin a relationship. However, their happiness doesn’t last as the expectations of British society begin to weigh too heavily on the shoulders of Clive. He leaves Maurice and becomes engaged to a woman. After this heartbreak, Maurice turns to medicine and gimmicks to cure himself of his homosexuality – unsuccessfully.
With this, Maurice includes two common displays of internalised homophobia. One man is ignoring urges and the other addressing them and trying to remove them. Forster’s understanding of the difficulty of Edwardian queer life is woven through both characters, so he makes sure neither man is to blame. Instead, society is at fault for its threats of ostracism and criminal conviction.
Yet somehow a happy ending comes into play. Alec, a groundskeeper, sits at the opposite end of the class spectrum from stockbroker Maurice. Yet, neither of them let their class or their gender get in the way of them forming a relationship. They are equally passionate and desperate for each other. Both happy to abandon their individual lives to create a new one. Together, in the English woods, away from prying eyes. They knew they couldn’t change society yet neither could they change themselves. They find happiness with each other and away from British society.
“True stories can’t be concealed forever”
Forster let his friends read Maurice, but it did not reach the public eye for nearly 60 years. Given society at the time, Maurice’s delayed publication is all too understandable, however publishing in the 1970s was still a risk. Homosexuality may have recently been legalised in England, but attitudes were not quick to change. The book’s reception was mixed.
Then, in 1987, Maurice became a movie. Facing the same societal factors, being released amidst the AIDs epidemic.
True stories can’t be concealed forever; Forster knew that. His bravery, his knowledge and his beautiful eloquence make Maurice both a brilliant and an important read. Maurice’s front-page dedication simply reads: “to a happier year”. 1971 became that happier year because of the book’s publication; the following years became only happier because of Forster, and the bravery of artists like him who stuck their necks out and shared their truths. Maurice stands proudly at the forefront of queer literature as that is where it belongs.
Image Credit: Merchant Ivory Productions
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