WOMEN AND PASSION IN E. M.

FORSTERS NOVELS English sexual propriety and prudery are ever-present in works such as Where Angels Fear to Tread and A Room with a View. In A Passage to India the importance of duty and good manners, the suspicion of everything foreign and unfamiliar are once more brought in contrast against the naturalness and impulsiveness of an un-English country. The aravar !aves force to the outside the conflict between traditional and concealed undeveloped feelings and emotions. "#i#$s thoughts about sex are %hard and direct, though not brutal, exactly the inverse of "dela&s in view of the fact that he did not endow them with a moral wrap. 'e deems "dela sexually disgusting. 'e confesses to (ielding that %she has practically no breasts) , while "dela considers him %a handsome little *riental), who has %beauty, thick hair and a fine skin) and she is eager to know if he has %one wife or more than one). In such a state of mind she enters a !ave, dispensing her thoughts to "#i# and not to the scenery. "dela&s inability to see the view parallels +ucy&s powerlessness to acknowledge her sexuality when she first visits Italy. (rom the day of her fantasy until the culmination of the trial "dela recurrently tries to recreate the episode in undeviating rational conditions. 'as her virtue been menaced or has she unconsciously revolted against her decorous prudery, 'as "#i# attacked her or have her hidden instincts expected some sort of physical gratification, It is evident that "dela loses her sense of reality when she fails to connect head and heart. -he fails to understand that reality is one and static, though a sense of reality can vary according to circumstances. This is what also happens to +ucy 'oneychurch when she enters %the army of the benighted) or to +ilia when she falls in love with .ino. "ll of them %muddle) themselves into a state of unreality until a crisis arises and restores them to a sense of acceptance of reality. In the case of +ucy she finally willingly accepts her sexuality but in the cases of +ilia and "dela they reluctantly accept reality. "dela, on the other hand, recovers from hysteria and accepts what has been happening to her, both with the help of %the beautiful naked god) and rs. oore&s telepathic persuasion. /nfortunately "dela&s undeveloped heart prevents her from further expanding her sexual life. Evidently, E. . (orster wants to pose the idea that fictional characters, as well as real people are incomprehensible and unmanageable, and that it is impossible to make the genuine framework of human action available. Thus, (orster&s round characters are able to astonish the readers

1ust as real people astonish each other with their unexpected unpredicted reactions and responses.