Insularity and connection in E.M. Forster's Howards End and A Passage to India

Abstract

E.M. Forster zil v dobe, kdy anglicka spolecnost proch:izela radou zmen a kdy se zacaly viditelne projevovat rozpory a nerovnosti uvnitr spolecnosti. Forster si byl techto zmen a nerovnosti vedom a jako zastance liberalismu je povaioval za negativni, stejne tak jako nesoulad v jakekoliv jine oblasti zivota. Jakje patme zjeho romanu a eseju, Forster si nejvice cenil pratelstvi, toleranci a svobodu jedince. Jednou z jeho stezejnich myslenek je snaha dosahnout harmonie a celistvosti ve vsech aspektech zivota. Je tak tfeba sjednotit hmotne a duchovni stranky zivota a zaroveii dosahnout harmonie v ramci cele spolecnosti. Lide maji tendenci uzavirat se v Uzkem okruhu sobe podobnych jedincu a projevovat nezajem, netoleranci, nebo dokonce nepratelstvi vliCi ostatnim spolecenskym skupinam. K dosaieni harmonie uvnitr spolecnosti je tfeba prekonat bariery mezi lidmi, at' uZ spolecenske, nabozenske nebo kulturni, pomoci navazovarn hodnotnych pratelstvi. Forsterovy dva nejznamejsi romany, Rodinne sidlo (1910) a Cesta do Indie (1924), se odehravaji v ruznem prostredi i dobe, ale oba romany vyobrazuji nejednotnou spolecnost, ve ktere existuji znacne nerovnosti a lide z ruznych spolecenskych skupin ziji sice na jednom miste, ale pfilis spolu nekomunikuji. Ruzne spolecenske skupiny tak ziji izolovane vedle sebe, ale ne...

Howards End and A Passage to India, the two best known novels by E.M. Forster are quite different in theme and setting, but they have an important aspect in common. Both novels take place in a strictly divided society and they both deal with the insularity and narrow-mindedness of separate communities and their inability to reach beyond their own environment and experience. "Only connect ... ", an epigraph from Howards End, introduces one of the central themes of F orster' s writing. E. M. Forster strongly believed in the importance of personal relationships and in living a full, undivided life. That is, a life in which spiritual, physical, emotional and rational aspects are all in harmony. 1 In order to reach the desired harmony, one needs to establish connections not only between the spiritual and material life, but also on the level of personal relations. Forster is concerned with an individual's search for harmony, but also with finding harmony and overcoming fragmentation in the whole society. To reach such harmony, both within the self and within the society, is what the characters of his novels strive for. Forster disregarded religion already during his university years2 and this may have led him to consider personal relationships of primary importance. His belief in personal relations is also...