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E. M. Forster: A Passage To India
E. M. Forster: A Passage To India
Introduction to E. M. Forster
E. M. Forster was born in 1879 and died in 1970, his life spanning
almost an entire century. His father died when he was an infant, and
his mother moved with him to Hertfordshire, where he spent some
unforgettable days of his childhood. He studied at Tonbridge public
school from 1893 to 1897. He went on to study at Cambridge where
he made good friends like John Maynard Keynes, Leonard Woolf,
Lytton Strachey, Desmond MacCarthy, Roger Fry, Alfred Whitehead
and Bertrand Russell. After graduating in 1901, he spent two years
travelling in Italy and Greece. He inherited a legacy from his great
aunt for which he was forever grateful because it enabled him to lead
a life of private means and become a writer.
He published four novels in the first decade of the 20th century,
Where Angels Fear to Tread (1905), The Longest Journey (1907), A
Room with a View (1908), and Howard's End (1910). He visited India
in 1912-13, and again in 1921-22. He began his first draft of A
Passage to India after his first visit and finally completed and
published it in 1924. He continued to publish a wide variety of books
including a critical work, Aspects of the Novel (1927). He died in
1970.
9.0 Objectives
Friends, a study of this chapter will enable you to :-
a) Analyse the characters in the novel
b) Study the setting of the novel
c) Study the themes in the novel
d) Study the symbols in the novel
9.1 Introduction
While studying the novel by D. H. Lawrence in the previous chapter,
we noted the way in which Lawrence not only portrays the character
of the protagonist with reference to his social and familial background,
but also emphasizes on the life force within the individual. E. M.
Forster's A Passage to India was published in 1924, more than a
decade after D. H. Lawrence's Sons and Lovers , which was published
in 1913. This is why we are studying it after Lawrence's novel, though
he was born after Forster. Forster presented an admirable picture of
India during the British rule, and while doing so, showed not only the
romance of the east, but the difficulty the Indians and the Anglo-
Indians had in mutual understanding.
9.5 Conclusion
In the next chapter, we are going to study a novel by Graham
Greene, who also studies human nature in the context of society, but
9.6 Summary
This novel was begun after Forster's first visit to India and was
completed after his second visit to the country. The novel begins with
the visit of two Englishwomen, Mrs. Moore and Adela, to Chandrapore
in north-eastern India. Mrs. Moore meets Dr. Aziz, and as their
friendship develops, he plans a trip to the famous Marabar Caves.
They plan to go in a group, which include two other friends, Fielding
and Godbole, but only Adela, Aziz and a guide enter the cave. They
are separated and Aziz comes out alone in time to see Adela depart
with a lady. Aziz is arrested for molesting Adela in the caves, and has
to face a trial. Mrs. Moore goes back and dies on the voyage. The
Anglo-Indian and Indian communities develop hostile attitudes toward
each other. Adela takes back her accusation against Aziz and decides
9.3
The three ethnic groups represented by the three sections of the
novel are Muslims, Christians, and Hindus.
9.4
The caves present a spiritual challenge for Mrs. Moore and a
psychological challenge for Adela.
Field Work :
Read the critical text Aspects of the Novel by E. M. Forster.
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