women and marriage in e

8/13/2019 Women and Marriage in e

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WOMEN AND MARRIAGE IN E. M. FORSTERS NOVELS

In the Western Civilization and up to this day and age, men and womenhave become habituated to marriage, which symbolizes the desire for

permanent union, the ideal of those to whom love means more than anoccasional physical relationship. But how was marriage considered duringEdwardian times?

uring Edwardian England marriage was still associated with the ideaof a reward for female virtue. !nly virtuous women deserved to becomehappy wives. "irls were prepared since early childhood to turn into faithfulsubmissive wives and conse#uently devoted mothers. $hat was their sole aimin life. What else could they do to earn a living? $here were strict rules to

blindly obey. %rudery, decency, housewor&, bearing and raising children, lac&

of personal interests and a tendency to serve, admire and comply with theirhusbands stood at the pinnacle of the ladder of re#uisites. If the girl fulfilledall these conditions she could be reward with the prize of marriage.

'ingle motherhood was not even discussed ( at least openly ) andsingle mothers were not accepted in society. Children born out of marriagewere considered bastards and ran the same fate as their mothers. $hey wereregarded as outcasts and underwent eviction from society.

*oney, property, social class, family status, character, prudery,morality and even manoeuvring were associated with marriage. In Howards

End , +unt uley *unt, an upper)middle class matron, receives all the benefitssociety gives rich women and thus models an interesting contrast to ac&yBast, the aging former prostitute. *rs. *unt and *iss +very-s comments onmarriage are not very idyllic and they show the importance of ad acent issuesattached to marriage. When referring to *argaret-s father-s marriage sheconsiders that it was luc&y that *r. 'chlegel had married a wife with money

but appreciates that her thoughts are sarcastically un&ind and silences themaway. Even *iss +very, the lonely spinster, considers that /uth Wilco0

should not have married 1enry because he was not 2a soldier3, he was not aman able to become a forceful hero who fights to connect, to e0press hisemotions instead of repressing them, thus implying he will not be a goodhusband for *argaret, either. In A Passage to India t he +nglo Indian wivesalso en oy and parta&e of the profits their husbands benefit from their

positions in the government. $hey even ta&e advantage of them.


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ivorce was still a taboo and women would not dare even to thin& of itsince the law did not favour them. Wives were not allowed to sue for divorceunless their husbands had abandoned them. In 4567, $he ivorce and*atrimonial Causes +ct was passed, establishing new divorce andmatrimonial property laws. $he +ct was not intended to change the financialstatus of married women, only to grant property rights to wives who wereseparated from their husbands. $he deserted married woman immediatelyassumed the property rights and status of a single woman or feme sole 8legalterm for unmarried women with inherited9 e#ual with men, as long as sheremained apart from her husband. $he ivorce and *atrimonial Causes +ctdid not affect the rights or improved the conditions of women who were livingwith their husbands, who were mistreated or beaten by them, or those whowere unofficially left by their husbands .

In $ he Longest Journey marriage is presented as totally destructive. $hetitle of the novel comes from 'helley-s Epipsychidion, a poem with the themethat marriage drastically limits one-s horizons:

2I never was attached to that great sectWhose doctrine is that each one should select

!ut of the world a mistress or a friend,+nd all the rest, though fair and wise, commend$o cold oblivion, ) though it is the code!f modern morals, and the beaten roadWith those poor slaves with weary footsteps treadWho travel to their home among the deadBy the broad highway of the world, and soWith one sad friend, perhaps a ealous foe,$he dreariest and the longest ourney go3.

In The Longest Journey marriage is a prison for both se0es, butespecially for men since it cuts them off from brotherhood and friendship,

particularly the friendship with homose0ual overtones between +nsell and/ic&ie Elliot. If The Longest Journey is indeed autobiographical, as manycritics have advocated, one may recognize this to be the early account of ahomose0ual author who chooses to write about marriage in most of his boo&s.+ male round character that possesses feminine features is the protagonist inthis novel. ;onetheless, flat women characters play an e0tremely importantrole, since they are the manipulating element within the married couple. In the


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case of +gnes, /ic&ie-s wife, she is representative of the narrow mindedwoman who ta&es advantage of her role of married woman and manipulatesher husband for her own personal benefit. 1er marriage to /ic&ie allows her toachieve the social position she has been loo&ing for. In addition, *rs


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a ma or creative force, but unrealistically surrenders to +gnes- negative viewof life.

$he conventional se0 roles are inverted in this novel since the womanentraps the man. $he flat character entraps the round. /ic&ie fails to ma&econnections. 1is main fault, that of idealizing people and ascribing them withfeelings and values they do not possess, ma&es him an easy prey unable toescape. !ne can assume that, in this particular case, /ic&ie, the malecharacter, e#uates 8with9 the woman protagonist of most of


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opportunity to ma&e their clasp his own and proposes to +gnes who acceptshim unenthusiastically. $hus his marriage to her is based on illusions andideals.

+gnes changes /ic&ie as early as their engagement. $hese changes areall negative and his deterioration sets as soon as he becomes engaged to+gnes. 1e marries a girl who has previously given her entire soul to a loverwho has died. $he marriage between /ic&ie and +gnes is ironicallyannounced as a wedding that has ta&en place behind the scene and 2had beenno mighty landmar&3. 84749 $heir pathetic matrimony is one of convenience,li&e many of the marriages portrayed in


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of others. 1er intolerance of the different and the anomalous ma&es her hate/ic&ie after "erald-s death and is responsible for their mutual unhappiness.'he never really stops loathing /ic&ie since she resents the fact that he is alivewhile "erald is dead, so she tears him to pieces, or at least she wants todestroy /ic&ie-s spiritual portion, a facet that "erald never had. /egrettably+gnes personal tragedy lies in her inability to love more than once.

;evertheless, her loss is primarily physical but as she is not capable ofdiscerning this she never becomes conscious of this fact. 'he is maliciouslymean and vindictive since she blames her suffering on men, but she hasharmed them much more than they have damaged her.

*rs. s mother-s son, not his father-s, and also agrees with+gnes to hide the information of their relationship from 'tephen. $hus they

both intentionally prevent him from accepting and realizing his brotherhoodwith 'tephen. In re ecting 'tephen, /ic&ie dooms himself in accepting+gnes- condemnation of 'tephen he forgets that he himself is lame, so he isabnormal and different, too. But /ic&ie still entertains one more hope: a childis to be born to them. 'orrowfully, he still has to go through another ordealsince his daughter is born lame and being her defect worse than his, she soondies. Ironically, +gnes easily overcomes the tragedy as she gets overeverything, but /ic&ie undergoes this new trial once again in solitude.

In addition, /ic&ie also loses his independence under 1erbert%embro&e. /ic&ie, strained by the demands of his marriage into the life of'waston 'chools, ta&es to practical needs. 1e considers he only yields toinsignificant re#uests in his daily search for money because they seem correctfor him, without realizing that in this way he becomes a despot among his

students and a weapon in 1erbert-s gloomy attac& on the dayboys.

1erbert-s attitude to marriage is pathetic grotes#ue and caricaturist. 1e proposes marriage at two days- notice when possessing a wife is anindispensable #ualification for his ob. +fter being violently re ected by thefirst woman, he considers marrying another one, a narrow)minded womanrepresentative of the rigid local society in which he lives. Being unable to


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ac#uire a wife, his selfishness urges him to use +gnes as house&eeper to promote his own advancement at 'waston 'chool. 1is outloo& on marriagealso contributes to doom +gnes and /ic&ie-s married life since he influenceson his sister to such an e0tent that +gnes is closer to 1erbert than to /ic&ie.

+s the novel develops /ic&ie becomes isolated from his wife, who doesnot respect him or his wor& and, as he deteriorates, his marriage deteriorateswith him. 1e does not realize that the lie about 'tephen has ruined their livesuntil he becomes conscious that +gnes- attention to *rs.


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each other-s arms3 8 749. Ironically after he dies his writings are publishedand his wor& transcends beyond his death.

$he home life of *r. and *rs. Elliot is as awful as /ic&ie>s ownmarried life. 1is parents- marital life is created out of the lives of manyDictorian couples, whose marriages were arranged by convention. 1is parentsnever loved each other and came to live apart. 1is father is a terrible man whoforces his family to live in a suburb similar to 'waston and sends his son to a

public school similar to the school he wor&s at and abhors. *r. Elliot patronizes and sniggers at both his son and his wife. $he revulsion he stirs in/ic&ie suggests a compensatory veneration for his mother, a sweet, tenderwoman whose act of rebellion gives the plot of the novel its turn. 1er plight aswife stands for what can happen to a woman entrapped in miserable marriage.1er e0clusive function in the novel is to stand for that type of woman who is

not allowed to live for herself. +lthough she is much happier after herhusband-s death, she only survives him for eleven days. 'he e0ists only tosuffer, to be her husband-s slave. 'he e0ists only as a wife and mother. 'he is

particularly unfortunate in the people who react to her, for *r. Elliot isspiteful and estimates her only on taste, /ic&ie idolizes her, and 'tephen isnever familiar with her since he is never allowed by society to be ac#uaintedwith her. +lthough she is unconventional because she brea&s away fromsociety-s conventional pattern in her love affair with /obert, she cannot stand

by her own, separate from her husband-s fate, and her life ends with that ofher husband. 'he is practically driven into her love affair with /obert due to*r. Elliot-s unforgivable faults. 1e refuses to ta&e seriously his wife-s claimto 2save3 her from what she considers betrayal. 1owever, undergoingsalvation is impossible and /obert-s se0ual rescue of *rs. Elliot is onlymomentary. +fter an idyllic seventeen days affair /obert drowns and *rs.Elliot feels that her soul has sun& with him, but she realizes that she could stilllove people passionately. +lthough she is forced to return to convention she ismore honest and fairer than +gnes. If one compares /ic&ie-s mother to 1elen'chlegel one is to conclude that there are similarities as well as differences inthese characters. *rs. Elliot-s urges are more honest than 1elen-s and at least

she &nows what she is loo&ing for. *rs. Elliot-s bastard son, ust as 1elen-sillegal son, functions as saviours of their societies. $hey both represent thehope of the future. +lthough /ic&ie cannot have another child, 'tephen doeshave his own child and names her after their mother, thus giving /ic&ie theonly physical posterity he can get. 'tephen guarantees that their maternal linewill stay alive.


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'ome fictional people function ust as prototypes in the novels. E. *.


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/uth-s main occupation is the domestic running of the house. 1er 2life had been spent in the service of husband and sons, had little to say to strangerswho had never shared it3 85 9 When she first meets *argaret she is 2alarmed3

by *argaret-s 2clever tal&3 and is even happy not to have to vote. *argaretsoon comes under the influence of the seemingly conventional *rs. Wilco0,who thin&s it is 2wiser to leave action and discussion to men. 'he has only one

passion in life ( 2her house3. What about her home? What does E. *.


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*argaret soon comes under the influence of the outwardlyconventional *rs. Wilco0, who never discusses anything with her family athome, and who is alarmed by *argaret-s clever tal& and thin&s it is 2wiser toleave action and discussion to men3. *argaret becomes increasingly identifiedwith her and, after the death of the former *rs. Wilco0 she marries thewidow and becomes another *rs. Wilco0, but still &eeping her uni#ueness ofthought and ideas.

*r. Wilco0-s marriage proposal is not ran&ed 2among the world-s greatlove scenes3. In fact it is businessli&e 8%age 4 59 but *argaret is overcome by2immense oy3 and a 2central radiance3 that means love to her. 'heunderstands that 1enry is not involved 2with emotional tal&3 847G9, yet shewas 2thrilled with happiness3.


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her sister from social re ection. 'he is torn between two forces but succeeds inma&ing her husband feel affection for her and have 1elen by her side. 'hedoes not develop according to romantic conventions but to her profoundinstincts, basic common sense and great &nowledge and understanding ofhuman relationships, to her ability to connect.

In the course of the novel *argaret changes her loyalties. uring Evie-swedding she defends her husband against her sister, but at the end she defends1elen against 1enry. +ttitudes towards se0 ma&e her do so. *argaret canaccept 1enry-s incapacity to connect his own se0uality internally. But whenhe condemns 1elen for doing the same thing with =eonard that he has donewith ac&y, the lac& of connection is too important to bear, and *argaretstands up to him. *argaret-s reaction to 1enry-s love affair is e0tremelyunconventional. 'he does not condemn the specifically se0ual aspect of

1enry-s infidelity. What annoys her most is that he has betrayed anotherhuman being. *argaret accepts 1elen at this point, but her acceptance doesnot lead to a brea& with 1enry until 1enry himself refuses to accept 1elen.*oreover, their love is rooted in common things, so *argaret remains aconventional wife and as&s 1enry for permission to allow 1elen to stayovernight at 1owards End. 1e refuses and proposes to marry 1elen to theseducer. +t first *argaret seems to accept but on second thoughts she refuses.1enry as&s for the name of the seducer but *argaret brilliantly stands up to1enry and tells him that he cannot connect that what he has done is what1elen has done. 1enry still does not give his permission but *argaret staysthere with her sister in spite of him. 'he decides to leave 1enry and live with1elen. Charles- murder of =eonard reunites *argaret and 1enry.

In the end 1enry is bro&en and *argaret is left to 2ma&e what she canof him3. +t the end of the novel, *argaret, 1enry, 1elen and 1elen-s baby areall living at 1owards End .$he only relationship that survives intact is*argaret-s and 1elen-s relationship with each other, and one could argue thatat the end of the novel they underestimate the casualties of their own privatewar. $hey have done away with the men who have opposed their goal.

*argaret self)confidently and steadily sees the house, representative of the beliefs of its previous possessor, delivered to the hands of its proper spiritualowner, 1elen-s son, the offspring of the most unconventional of the sisters.*argaret and 1elen mould a curious comple0 match, living in a world ofdreams and ideals with very peculiar common sense and intellect. +t the endof the novel *argaret is no longer the woman the reader meets at the

beginning, while *r. Wilco0 is the same man. *argaret has grown into a


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mature woman whereas her husband, though older is the same conventionalaristocrat who cannot either understand 1elen or *rs. Wilco0 wish.

+lthough 1elen has much in common with *argaret, she is more beautiful, more impulsive, idealistic, uncompromising and enticing. 'hechooses to remain single. 'he predicts she will never marry because there areno men for her, but, she is constantly loo&ing for e0cuses for not committingherself to anyone and although she is passionate and emotional she cannotentrust to only one man. 'he is the first of the sisters to fall under the charm ofthe Wilco0 men although she can never understand them. 'he falls in lovewith %aul Wilco0 as #uic&ly as they brea& up. +fter this incident she has amarriage proposal, which was 2the wor&3 of a "erman relative who wanted towin her bac& to the 2


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herself from decadence by entrapping a husband, in this case a young one.$his 2article3, 8%age 4 49 will provide her with the respectability she needs inorder to find a place in her social class. +s she is very poor and decadent shehas to save herself from old age and needs a man to rescue her from hereminent fall. +fter her marriage, it is =eonard-s ob to worry about money, nothers.


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'ome characters sole function is to represent different roles womenundertoo& within the married couple.


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of Dictorian)Edwardian England. 1er name 2Eve3 discloses the outcome thatlays ahead any woman who does not ma&e every effort to loo& for somethingfurther beyond her se0ual stereotypes. 'he hides her feelings beneath adisguise of o&es and ests. +fter her mother-s death her puppies and fatherwere the only things she loves. +bruptly the author seems to suggest that Evieis old enough to get married, that she is ready for the 2net of matrimony3. In afew days she meets *r. %ercy Cahill and they feel attracted to each other.=ove does not seem to be enough for him who is 2a very good sort of fellow3,

but rightly demands 2a suitable provision with her3. 2%oor little Evie3 truststhat %ercy Carhill will be a decent husband. !nly the preparations for thewedding, the presents, the invitations, and the ceremony itself are described as

part of the conventions of the times. Evie and %ercy-s ritual is presented as a performance of duty, a signing of documents, and a 2blend of 'unday churchand fo0)hunting3. *argaret wishes 2someone had been upset3. 'he finds

everything e0tremely perfect without any incidents or complications. ;othingis said about the newly married couple-s love or future plans. $his weddingceremony is presented in opposition to *argaret-s and 1enry-s, which is

briefly and concisely described simply as 2#uiet3. !ne can reflect that Evie-sritual portrays /uth-s and 1enry-s own ceremonial and preparationsrepresentative of Dictorian conventions.

In many respects +gnes and /ic&ie-s couple show a reversal of rolesand opposes *argaret-s and 1enry-s. *argaret and /ic&ie strive to be happy,to assert their uni#ueness, to search for truth and love and to find a place oftheir own, while 1enry and +gnes are incapable of showing emotion,understanding and connecting with the other. $hey are both conventionalistswho belong to 2the benighted3 and are determined to own people, in the sameway as they hold property. $hey are boorish, prosaic, and dull and lac& humanwarmth and emotion.

In A Passage to India the reader is confronted with two e0tremelydifferent types of marriage. !n the one hand, the Indian wives who are

concealed behind their husbands- lives and who seem to have no individual or public life at all, and, on the other hand, the +nglo Indian wives who ta&eadvantage of their husbands- political and economical situation in India anduse them for their own personal benefit.

In A Passage to India Indian women hardly e0ist to their fellow Indiansthey live behind the purdah 84H9 in a state of oppression greater even than that


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of Italian wives in Where Angels Fear to Tread . $he reader does not see muchof Indian women, but the #uic& loo& one gets behind the purdah, when +ziz istal&ing to his aunt, 1amidullah Begum, is alarming and distressing: 2It wasdifficult to get away, because until they had had their dinner she would not

begin hers, and conse#uently prolonged her remar&s3. 84H9

Indian women-s only role is to be married and bear children, preferably boys Indian society does not allow her anything else. *en marry simply because they see it as their responsibility to save women from the 2tragedy3 ofan unmarried life and in order to have descendants as in Italy, women do note0ist in their own right.

+ziz- marriage is the only one the reader is told in depth. It begins inthe tradition custom, arranged by the family. 1is wife loves him, and he falls

in love with her also, but unfortunately she dies giving birth to a second son.+ziz-s attitude towards his children defines the position of women in India,when he mentions his children to *rs. *oore he lists the girl last, althoughshe is elder child 8 9. 1is daughter does not count for him when +ziz is illand asleep, he &eeps amusing memories of 2his honoured wife and dear boys3844F9. =i&e =ilia in Where Angels Fear to Tread, Indian women e0ist to bearsons.

Women are so absorbed in their role that, when 1amidullah-s wife isoffered to come out of purdah by her own husband she refuses to do so, andwill not see


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more compassionate and civilized than the Italian system, where caff brotherhood is firmly &ept apart from marital life or the English smo&ing roomwhere women would never dare to get in. +ziz, who is tremendously

perceptive of the rights and feelings of the oppressed Indian race, fails toconnect or feel sympathy for Indian women, who are similarly sub ugated. In

particular, he shows no concern for unbeautiful women and is mainlyinfuriated for being accused of se0ual assault 2by a woman who had no

personal beauty3 8 H69 and wants +dela to write a humiliating letter ofapology to him claiming that she wished +ziz had come into the cave sinceshe is an old hag and he was her last chance.


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marriage is horrifying. $he reader cannot imagine +dela-s loveless marriedlife centring around the social club, entertaining and being entertained by thegroup of the +nglo Indian women and their manipulated husbands. !necannot imagine +dela being turned into a *rs. $urton, loo&ing down on thenatives. !nly when +dela impulsively tells +ziz that she does not intend tomove to India does she become conscious, for the first time, that she has nointention to marry /onny, but she later changes her mind again. If she hadfollowed her first thoughts, the tragedy might have been avoided, butincongruously +dela, who insists on living a totally intellectualised life,ma&es the same mista&e as the capricious =ilia in Where Angels Fear to Treadand persuades herself that superficial se0uality is love. +ll thesemisperceptions, together with the incident at the caves lead to her personalcatastrophe. 'he only achieves consciousness and personal understandingwhen she understands that she has a ma or temper defect which would have

ruined her marriage: she has an undeveloped heart and is incapable of feelingaffection or emotion.

*rs. *oore is the only female character that seems to have achievedhappiness through marriage. +t the beginning of the novel she believes in thatinstitution successfully since she has married twice and has had children withher two husbands. 2E0cellent it was to see the incident repeated by theyounger generation38F 9.

Even though, she is not very optimistic about +dela and /onny-s futuremarriage she mista&enly advises +dela to marry /onny. 2It is the childrenwho are the first consideration until they are grown up and married off. Whenthat happens one has again the right to live for oneself ( in the plains or thehills, as suits.3 subse#uent to this, after she comes out of the caves she nolonger believes in marriage or personal relations. 2'he felt increasingly8vision or nightmare?9 that though people are important the relations betweenthem are not, and that in particular too much fuss has been made overmarriage centuries of carnal embracement, yet man is no nearer tounderstanding man3. 84H 9 ;ow, marriages seems futile to her. 2Why all this

marriage, marriage? $he human race would have become a single personcenturies ago if marriage was any use. +nd all this rubbish about love, love ina church, love in a cave, as if there is the least difference .384F79. uring thetrip to the caves she gets a touch of sun and becomes a bad)tempered, dyingwoman, instead of the figure of strength and perception the reader has met atthe beginning of the novel. 1er weariness of needless complications, ointlywith her restlessness, impatience, old age and decaying health contribute to a


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state of general confusion. 'he can no longer distinguish her thoughts veryclearly so she decides to leave /onny and +dela by themselves and departsfrom India and its muddle. 1er personal outloo& of marriage also helps to

bring about the catastrophe at the caves. 1er thoughts and actions opposethose of *rs. Elliot-s in The Longest Journey who lives for the others andsacrifices herself convinced that in this way she will grant the others-happiness. !pportunely, her une0pected telepathic faculty miraculously ma&es+dela understand her misappreciations. %rovidentially, *rs. *oore-sdaughter-s marriage to


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simply called by her husband-s name. 'he directs her energies into trying tolive through her children and run their lives since she is not allowed byconvention to do any real wor&.

.3 It was not nearly ten years since Charles had fallen in love with=ilia $heobald, because she was pretty, and during that time *rs.1erriton had hardly &nown a moment-s rest.


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with love. 'he is so trapped in *rs. 1erriton-s hands that her perception ofreality is 2foggy3. ;otably, there is no verbal communication between =iliaand "ino since she spea&s no Italian and he does not spea& English. With thisdetail


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Wilco0-s since "ino and 1enry fail to connect with women-s needs and rightsand both of them sustain contrasting codes of life whenever their own

behaviour is at sta&e.

Italian women are totally segregated from male friendship and contact.$he role of women in Italian life is e0traordinarily tyrannical by denyingthem male friendship, Italy denies them any &ind of friendship.

=ilia-s female presence fulfils a double function. 1er beauty allows herto remain shallow, superficial and one)dimensional. ;ot much is demanded ofher. Charles falls in love with her e0clusively because she is good)loo&ing and"ino-s attraction to her is partly because he had 2always desired a blonde38 9. Altimately, =ilia-s function as a female is simply necessary toaccomplish her role of producing the male heir to an Italian character and the

female heir to an English family cluster.

women and marriage in e

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