英语语言文学硕士 文献综述 作者 朱军宏

E.M. Forster

’

s

A Room with a View

Literature Review

I. The study of the novel by foreign scholars

The study of Forster abroad began as early as his first novel

Where Angels Fear to Tread,

1905 came out. But few

scholars dealt with

A Room with a View

at that time. Some critics only gave a plot summary for this novel. Alan

Wilde

?

s

Art

and

Order:

A

Study

of

E.M.

Forster

(1964)

makes

a

detailed

analysis

on

A

Room

with

a View

.

In

Wilde

?

s opinion, this novel marks the philosophical culmination of the earlier work. It is perhaps the earliest long

academic research on this novel. From then on, more and more researches into the novel have been done from

various

respects

by

foreign

scholars.

The

present

author

finds

40

results

（

32

of

them

are

critical

essays

and

8

monographs

）

from 1979 to 2010 from Gale Literature Resource Centre and the result shows that the number of

articles

and

works

concerned

with

the

study

of

the

novel

is

steadily

increasing.

Through

analysis,

the

present

author divides the researches into four aspects: cultural conflicts between England and Italy, the plot and themes

of the novel, technique studies and study on homoeroticism. There are as follows specifically:

Firstly, most researches are devoted to exploration of the conflicts and contrasts between the English middle-class

conservative and parochial conventions and the free and enjoyable atmosphere of Italy.

They have made

a lot of

contrastive

studies

on

the

two

cultures

reflected

in

the

novel.

Johan

Heje

argues

that

the

novel

depicts

“the

dramatic

clashes

between

British

middle-class

respectability

and

a

more

intuitive

and

sensual

response

to

life

represented by Italy and the Italians”.

John Colmer says that Forster

contrasted

“

the instinctive life of Italy with

the stifling conventions of English

suburban life.”

Twayne

notices “Italy a free and open existence as compared to

cramped, stereotyped, middle-

class British life” And Tess Cosslett?s article investigates from an intertextual point

of view how Italy is represented by Forster through compari

son of Forster?s fiction

s with those of Vernon Lee,

Mary Ward. It also puts stress on the significance of Italy which “possesses a spiritual or supernatural dimension

that can act to transform visitors from other countries”.

And

then

there

are

many

researches

paying

attention

to

studies

on

the

theme

and

plots

of

the

novel.

Lynne

Walhout

Hinojosa

said

that

the

plot

of

the

novel

“follows

a

?conversion?

pattern

in

which

the

main

character

comes to sudden insight about him-or herself and is transformed from so

me old way of life to a new one.” In the

novel, Lucy Honeychurch learns to read the depths of her soul to shed her false self and find her true self.

William

H. Pritchard said,

“

A Room with a View, by contrast, both style and content seem easy: a novel about the troubles

of men and women who might pass for you and me a hundred years ago.”

John Colmer defines

some themes of

the novel: personal relations, money, salvation through love, imagination, and the wisdom of the body.

Jeffrey

1

sums up researches about the love, art, self-realization, Edwardian manners, feminism, values and their revision,

exposure

and

concealment,

completion

and

interruption,

daily

life

and

celestial

life,

the

subconscious

mind,

language,

myth

and

so

on

made

by

many

scholars.

Elizabeth

A.

Ford

sees

the

“travel

as

a

metaphor

for

self-

understanding”. Alexandra Peat “compares writing to a journey and defines it specifically as

a kind of secular

pilgrimage”.

Tess Cosslett deems that

“Forster satirizes anti

-

tourism.”

. Alexandra Peat feels

“

These narrative and

touristic

pilgrimages

depend

upon

the

creation

of

sacred

spaces

where

geographical

setting

attains

a

new

significance

through

apparently

transcendental

spiritual

experience.”

Elizabeth

A.

Ford

says

,

“In

his

writings

about the countries central to his experience--England, Italy, India, and Egypt-- Forster's meticulous sense of place

evokes

more

than

setting.”

Twayne

argues

that

“The

English

and

Italian

settings,

rendered

with

complete

immediacy,

reveal

Forster?s

sensitivity

to

place.

Houses

and

buildings

take

on

life

in

his

fiction…

”

Lynne

Walhout

Hinojosa

analyzes

“the

reworking

and

inversion

of

the

Puritan

hermeneutical

practice

of

Biblical

typology…in order to show how the novel is fundamentally concerned with religion…

.by comparing the novel

with Defoe?s

Robinson Crusoe

and Laurence Sterne?s

Tristram Shandy

.

”

Alexandra Peat said that “the journey

that a pilgrim undertakes is,

by tradition, an act of religious devotion”.

.

Philip Gardner said that “

The consequence

of his father's death was that Forster's childhood was dominated by women: to whom he was very close and with

whom he lived until her death in 1945; and to a lesser extent by his maternal grandmother (on whom he modeled

one of his most likable women characters, Mrs. Honeychurch, in

A Room with a View, 1908).”

Thirdly, some scholars analyze techniques used in the novel.

Mahmoud Salami points out that “music

in E.M.

Forster?s

fiction

possesses

a

narratological

and

discursive

nature

that

embodies

social,

cultural,

political

and

aesthe

tic bearings.”

William H. Pritchard says that

Forster used “rhythms in various patterns” in

A Room with a

View

. Twayne finds that Forster uses music played by Lucy in the novel. And three great musicians, Beethoven,

Schumann

and

Gluck

are

mentioned

accordingly.

Philip

Gardner

says

that

the

title

of

the

novel

has

symbolic

overtones.

“Rooms

stand

for

social

conventions,

deadening

by

themselves;

views

for

naturalness,

freedom,

whatever makes it possible for the spirit to breathe and expand.”

And

lastly,

there

are

researches

on

Forster?s

homoeroticism

tendency

reflected

in

the

novel.

Eric

Haralson

?

s

article

reveals

that

“Forster

found

himself

searching…for

?a

public

and

plausible

form'

of

representing

homoeroticism in unobjectionable relation to both heterosexist taste and famine authority.

”

II. The study of the novel by domestic scholars

Compared with researches by foreign scholars, domestic studies on

A Room with a View

began very late, starting

from nearly the end of 20th century. The present author has searched for critical articles about

A Room with a

2

View

from 1988 to 2011 in CNKI and has got 31 results, including 21 essays and 10 master dissertations. Based

on the data from CNKI, the present author makes a statistic analysis on study of this novel in China in terms of

publication of time, authors and the field of study.

Firstly, in terms of the publication of time of the articles, the study of

A Room with a View

can be divided into two

periods. The first period is from 1998 to 2007 and the second period is from 2008 to 6th, 2011. In the first period,

the number of articles is small. There are altogether 6 articles published and there is no articles published in 1999,

2000, 2003, 2004 and 2005 at all. During the second period, at least 6 articles are published each especially from

2008 to 2010. This shows that the study on this novel is attracting more and more domestic scholars.

Secondly, in terms of authors publishing these articles, 25 authors write all the 31 articles. So the distribution is so

wide that there are few scholars specialize in the research of this novel which may have caused its slow

development.

Thirdly, in terms of the field of research, domestic scholars focus more on the application of methods and

approaches used in China. I divide their researches into 4 aspects: the study of the themes and character analysis,

cultural study, the study from the feminist point of view and study on the techniques used in the novel.

Many researches are on the study of the novel through theme and character analysis

—the “undeveloped heart” of

the British people, freedom and love, initiation, the ethic and moral themes, the dilemma faced by British

intellects and their way of out. Huang Qinshu(

黄书钦

), Zhang Weiran and Jia Zhaojie(

张巍然，贾朝杰

)analyze

the characteristics

of the “undeveloped heart” of the British people

－

stereotyped, repressive, indifferent, arrogant,

lack of vitality, passion confidence and encouragement and their influences on the characters in the novel. Wen

Rong and Hu Qiang(

文蓉，胡强

) study how the characters attempt to break away from the traditional western, or

rather British ideas to pursue freedom and love. Wen Rong(

文蓉

) also emphasizes the theme of initiation of Lucy

in the novel.

Then, some researchers focus on the study of the novel from the feminist point of view or the awakening of

Lucy?s consciousness in the novel.

Jiang Dongyan(

姜冬艳

) said that Lucy lingers about between obedience to

patriarchal society conventions and her reaction against them and finally she achieved self-awareness and attained

freedom and happiness.

Geng Chao(

耿超

)holds that Lucy has the experience of converting from

self- unconsciousness to self-consciousness. Zhang Jianmei(

张建梅

)analyzes the influence of

patriarchal society

on Lucy, the impact of old

Emerson and George?s philosophy of

freedom on Lucy and the development of

self-consciousness in Lucy.

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