Perpetuation of Heteronormativity in E.M. Forster’s Maurice

Abstract

This project explores both the external and internal factors which contribute to the continuation of heteronormative standards within middle-upper class English society, as illustrated by the character of Clive Durham. E.M. Forster’s Maurice explores how harmful beliefs and attitudes are constructed through socialization, as well as the impact of family and familial obligations. These familial obligations are only one of the factors which serve to reinforce heteronormative ideas within Clive, along with his public-school upbringing, significantly influenced by Plato’s Symposium. These ideas are built on by scholars such as Anne Hartree and Scott R. Nelson, who discuss the homosexual relationship between Clive and Maurice. This project expounds further on these ideas and how the repression of homosexuality—or desires incompatible with heterosexuality—continues a cycle of discrimination and prejudice which in turn perpetuates heteronormativity.