The author of
Maurice, the first homosexual novel with a happy ending. An Edwardian man of his time, for sure. Without him, Merchant/Ivory would never have existed.
England has always been disinclined to accept human nature.
Love and understand the Italians, for the people are more marvelous than the land.
There is something majestic in the bad taste of Italy.
"Was Mrs Wilcox one of the unsatisfactory people -- there are many of them -- who dangle intimacy and then withdraw it? They evoke our interests and affections, and keep the life of the spirit dawdling round them. Then they withdraw. When physical passion is involved, there is a definite name for such behaviour -- flirting -- and if carried far enough it is punishable by law. But no law -- not public opinion even -- punishes those who coquette with friendship, thought the dull ache that they inflict, the sense of misdirected effort and exhaustion, may be as intolerable. (Howard's End)
You can transmute love, muddle it, ignore it... but you can never pull it out of you.
We cast a shadow on something wherever we stand.
Most quarrels are inevitable at the time; incredible afterwards.
They go forth with well-developed bodies, fairly developed minds and undeveloped hearts. An undeveloped heart-not a cold one. The difference is important.
3 comments:
»England has always been disinclined to accept human nature. Love and understand the Italians, for the people are more marvelous than the land.«
Was Alfred the Great disinclined to accept human nature? In any case, isn't this the greener grass on the other side of the fence syndrome? One makes one's choice (e.g. programmes for moral progress, including the possibility of idealistic novels about homoerotic relationships) and then complains of the downside of that choice (e.g. morally obtuse high-mindedness that seems "disinclined to accept human nature"). Cultures that "accept human nature" on the other hand pay the price of no moral progress. A friend of mine studying in France enjoy'd visiting England now and then for the experience of queuing up for things. Germans make a civilization with efficiency, and the like to visit Italy for spontaneousness, libidinous laisser-faire. I guess when Italians visit Germany, they enjoy the experience of stuff that actually works. ... Aside from any denominational issues, would you prefer that the Spanish Armada had conquer'd England and English law and government were changed accordingly? (Presumably English-speaking RCs imagine various scenarios whereby the rule of Catholic Kings and a return to a Catholic monoculture in England would nevertheless not interfere with the development of English law and government including 1776. All denominations do wishful thinking, but reality, even socially constructed reality, has limits, internal logic, etc etc.)
True enough. Every choice has a downside. If human nature be fallen, then a certain disinclination to accept it can be healthy. Italy may be a wonderful place for food, love and family life, but business or government, not so much.
And I suspect that Forster, in Edwardian times, neglected the long earlier history of England, when human nature seemed as much in flower, for good or ill, as anywhere else.
Yes, and I suppose that some could say there's rather a lot of "disinclination to accept human nature" in Androphile idealism (vs protest culture gay sexuality, or however you may prefer to describe it).
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