Sunday, March 27, 2011
A Room With a View by E.M. Forster
Lucy Honeychurch is young and single. She is on a trip to Italy with her chaperone and cousin, Charlotte. While in Italy they meet the Emerson's, an elderly gentleman and his son George. Mr. Emerson quickly tries to switch rooms with Charlotte and Lucy when he finds out they are displeased with their view and knows the view from his own room is much better. The Clergyman, Mr. Beebe, says of Mr. Emerson, "..he is not tactful; yet, have you ever noticed that there are people who do things which are most indelicate, and yet at the same time -- beautiful?" (14). Charlotte is unimpressed with the men and suggests to Lucy that she stay away. While Lucy is off on her own, touring the sites, she runs into the Emerson's and learns more about them. She soon is whisked away to Rome when Charlotte finds out that the younger Emerson has kissed Lucy while on an outing. Finally, after completing her adventure, she returns home to become engaged to Cecil, an outgoing, higher class young gentleman whom her mother adores and her brother does not care for. She soon runs into George again, however, when he and his father move into the cottage next door. Freddy and George quickly learn to enjoy one another's company and Lucy sees more and more of the young Emerson. In the end will she remain with her fiance Cecil or will she break off the engagement in search of something more? 1. Do you think that someones social standing still has a large influence on who someone chooses to marry? Why or why not? 2. Although not main characters in the novel, clergy members seem to have a large influence on Charlotte and Lucy's mother, but only serve as mild advisors to Lucy. Does a pastor's opinion still have a lot of infuence on people's lives today? If so, what choices do these opinions majorly affect?
11 comments:
1. I think social standing plays less of a role today than in the past, but it does make an impact. Most people in the high class marry someone of their class. I think it has to do with what their environment is. High class citizens tend to be in a more wealthy enivironment, and so have more opportunities to see others in the same social position. This isn't always the case I know, but it works out that way a lot.
So, do you think that if people in a higher class had the opportunity to meet people in a lower class they would be more likely to end up together?
I think that in a lot of people's lives, rekigious people are very influential still. In my life though, they do not make a very big difference because of my personal beliefs. Their tips and ideas on how to better my life help even though I don't believe this whole God, heaven thing.
1. As sad as it may be, there are still a number of people marrying for money or social class. We all know about Charlie Sheen's "goddesses" for example. They act completely fine with the fact that they are sharing a man simply because of his money and fame. The same goes for Crystal Harris. She's more than likely not in love with Hugh Hefner, but in love with his wealth. The majority of people, however, do marry for love. (As they should, in my opinion.)
Do you think that if they were giving advice in a way that did not include any religious aspects you would be more likely to listen to their ideas and take their advice?
1. I feel that social standing does not play as large of a role in our present day society. At the time of this book, social standing was very important and people were defined solely by social class. Today, a person is not defined solely by his social standing, and I feel that people will marry out of their social class because it is not looked down upon as much now as it used to be.
I definitely believe that social status stills plays a large role in determining who someone is going to marry. For example look at celebrities. You hardly ever hear about a celebrity marrying someone who is not a celebrity, they are always marrying some other celebrity. Also, science shows that people are more likely to marry people that are more similar to them. A few examples being; intelligent people usually end up marrying intelligent people, people with high earning potential (aka rich people) usually marry other people with high earning potentials, athletic people do not usually marry people who are very out of shape, etc.
1) I think that social standings can indirectly play a role in who one chooses to marry. If someone is going to an expensive, prestigious college, chances are he may marry someone from the same college. But this isn't always true, especially if someone is there on a scholarship. It all depends on the people.
2) I think that this also depends on the situation and on the person. Some people strongly believe in his or her religion and follow what a pastor may say. Others believe in their religion but not as strongly as others; therefore, may not always agree with what their pastor says. Others don't believe in a religion so they may not believe what a pastor says. But it also depends on what the pastor has to say. I think they can be a really big help in general because it's someone to talk to and someone willing to help in any way that they can.
1. Someone's social status used to play a large part when it came to marriages. I think now in the 21st century, in America at least, people marry for love. The only reason I think people will marry outside of love is for citizenship purposes to avoid deportation. But getting back to social statuses - I think it is a concept of antiquity that is not used in modern times.
1. I think it depends on the person, but I do think irbid less now than it used to be. It probably does matter sub-consciously to most people, but we like to believe it is all about the love and not other factors
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