Lucy¿s relationships with Cecil and George and their importance for her personal development in ¿A Room with a View¿

Seminar paper from the year 2009 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, grade: 1,0, University of Trier, language: English, abstract: A main issue of the novel is the contrast between the established notion of women seen as subordinate to men and the modern view of equality between the sexes. Cecil is a promoter of the ancient image of womanhood, whereas George holds a more modern view. As Cecil and George are so contrasting, Lucy¿s relationships with them differ similarly.
Consequently, it is worth examining Lucy¿s relationships with Cecil and George as far as important characteristics, the role of society, the influence of others, and meaningful symbols in their relationship are concerned. My focus will be in the examination of both of Lucy¿s relationships with regard to the same points of interest in order to show the extent to which they differ. Cecil will be first discussed because it is more suitable to account for George second, as he is the one Lucy finally selects. Moreover, Lucy¿s relationships with Cecil and George have an enormous impact on her development as a woman as well as on her character, which I will examine afterwards. Some older as well as recently published sources will be taken into account for the analysis and will serve to show that the relationships between Lucy and Cecil, and Lucy and George are quite contrasting and both influence Lucy¿s personality in different ways.
¿Remembering that she was engaged to Cecil, she compelled herself to confused remembrances of George: he was nothing to her; he never had been anything; he had behaved abominably; she had never encouraged him.¿ (Forster, 2000) This quotation is taken from E. M. Forster¿s novel A Room with a View and is made by Lucy Honeychurch, who is the central character in the novel, and who is torn, as reflected in the quote, between two men, namely her upper class fiancé Cecil Vyse and the passionate lower-class George Emerson. Cecil and George are two completely different types of men who represent different social classes and ways of life. It is for Lucy to choose not only the man she wants to spend her life with, but also to make a decision about her future position in life as well as in her relationship. Considering the time the novel was written (1908), Lucy¿s choice was determined by external factors, such as the social class of her future husband, the opinion of her family, and other social conventions.