1 Greece and Platonic Love in E. M. Forster’s Maurice, or the greatness and limits of Antiquity as a source of inspiration 1 (First part) Pau Gilabert Barberà Universitat de Barcelona (University of Barcelona) 2 To Annie Carcedo and in the memory of Patricia Cruzalegui Given a title like this, one might think that this article deals –or will deal- mainly with evidence. I am not going to deny it, since, after all, Forster himself explains in the “Notes on the three men” -who are the protagonists of this novel- that one of them, Clive Durham, shows a “Hellenic temperament”. He is a man who believes in the Platonic way of life and tries at the same time to get his great friend, Maurice, to adopt it as well. I shall not reveal, then, any secret, though I shall try to offer an accurate analysis of something known and “confessed”. It is also true that, in the “Terminal note”, Forster declares himself deeply impressed by Edward Carpenter, a follower of Walt Whitman, and he is convinced of the nobleness of love between comrades. As Forster explains, Carpenter and his friend George Merrill turned into the creative stimulus that made his novel flow smoothly with no impediments. And, nevertheless, it is quite evident that Greece, Plato and his dialogues –mainly his Symposium and Phaedrus- and the Platonic love that thanks to them became fully outlined are the inspiration, the archetype or model, the challenge and, finally, what must be abandoned in order to go beyond it or to guide it towards its true origin. This is logical –or, at least, comprehensible-, since we should remember that Forster, after having been admitted to King’s College in 1897, studied Classical Languages in Cambridge and he even taught Latin at the “Working Men's College” in London 3 . There are certainly many other reasons which explain the Platonic dependence of Maurice in an age like the Victorian-Edwardian one, but I would rather deal with all these questions later on. For the time being, I am interested above all in proposing a clear method of presenting my comments and pointing out its advantages and inconveniences. Indeed, if my aim is to offer an accurate analysis of the inspiring role of Greece and Platonic love in a specific novel, I could focus logically on some points and add the best quotations ad hoc. However, I have already underlined that, in my opinion, both topics are the basis and the structure of a literary work perhaps less complex than the majority of Forster’s novels. Therefore, I should prove that, with regard to Maurice, my reading is really useful in order to perceive its true spirit. On the other hand, I do not forget the readers’ right to follow me, thus 1 This article was published in Catalan in BELLS (Barcelona English Language and Literature Studies), first part, 1994, volume 5, pp. 39-56, and the second part in 1995, volume 6, pp. 71-88 2 Ordinary Teacher in the Classical Greek Department at the University of Barcelona, Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes 585, 08007 Barcelona. Telephone: 934035996; fax: 934035596; e-mail: pgilabert@ub.edu ; personal web page: www.paugilabertbarbera.com 3 As an introduction to his biography, human and literary personality, etcetera, see e.g.: Ackerley, J. R. E. M. Forster. A Portrait. London: Ian Mckelvie, 1970; Advani, E. M. Forster as Critic. London: Croom Helm, 1984; Beauman, N. E. M. Forster. A Biography. New York: A. A. Knopf, 1994; Cavaliero, G. A Reading of E. M. Forster.London: Macmillan, 1979; Colmer, J. E. M. Forster: the Personal Voice. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1975; Furbank, P. N. E. M. Forster: A Life. Oxford: O.U.P., 1979; Gardner, Ph. E. M. Forster. Harlow: Longman, 1977; Gillie, Chr. A Preface to Forster. Harlow: Longman, 1983; King, F. E. M. Forster.London: Thames & Hudson, 1978; May, B. The Modernist as Pragmatist. E. M. Forster and Fate of Liberalism. Columbia and London,: University of Missouri Press, 1976; Messenger, N. How to Study an E. M. Forster Novel. Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1991; Page, N. E. M. Forster. Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1987; Scott, P. J. M. E. M. Forster: Our Permanent Contemporary. London: Vision, 1984 and Summers, C. J. E. M. Forster. New York and London: Garland, 1991.