An Ecological Approach To Forster's Novels

Forster is a British middle-class intellectual with liberal humanistic ideal, mainly expressed in his"only connect"motto. In his eyes, personal relations and art are the most important things in life. Forster's"only connect"ideal develops at Cambridge under the great influence of the Bloomsbury Group, and later becomes his life-long creed. He holds the belief that the British middle class is hypoplastic in mind in the public-school system which turns out to be a barrier in the establishment of good personal relations. Forster's liberal humanistic ideal is incompatible with the ambition of the contemporary imperialists. He goes against the stream and airs out his unique voice in his time. While the imperialistic writers and the empire builders, represented by Rudyard Kipling, are enthusiastically praising the empire building efforts and feel complacent with the white man's obligation and glorious mission of civilizing the Dark Continent, Forster takes the opposite road, criticizing the inhuman imperialism and condemning it for undermining the interracial personal relations. He quests for harmonious coexistence of man and nature as well as harmonious relationship among human beings, and rejects to every form of domination in the world. All these ideas are embodied in his environmental consciousness shown in his works. An ecological study of his novels may lead to an in-depth understanding of Forster's novels, and to decoding the imperialist world. This thesis makes a careful research on Where Angels fear to tread, The Longest Journey, A Room with a View, Howards End, A Passage to India and Maurice from the perspective of ecology. By exploring the romantic ecology, the green moral and his social concern by illustrating Forster's ecological philosophy the thesis aims at revealing the true nature of imperialism, and contributing to ecocriticism.This thesis is divided into five chapters. The first chapter is an introduction, in which a brief account is given of the theme of Forster's novels to which ecological approach can be applied, the present situation of the study of ecocriticism and the intended conclusions that Forster is a writer of environmental consciousness and ecological ideology.Chapter Two traces ecocriticism to its romantic pastoral origin which emphasizes human's spontaneous spiritual reaction to his environment and explains that the interactivity of landscape and mind may lead to self-consciousness.Chapter Three illustrates the countryside as a refuge to protect the tradition threatened by industrialization and modernity, and the greenwood as a shelter for deviant sexual orientation. It argues for the redemptive and unifying force of nature, through which the character may discover his intrinsic self.In Chapter Four, Forster's social concern about such problems as imperialism and colonization, racial and gender discrimination is dealt with by social ecological and eco-feministic approaches. In terms of the subject of anti-imperialism and anti- capitalism, Forster celebrates culture and class diversity, and opposes all forms of domination on grounds of race, culture, class and sexual orientation.The last chapter concludes that it is due to the environmental consciousness and ecological philosophy that Forster exceeds other liberal humanistic authors in his age.