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A Room with a Kew, 1908 L L I ~ \ H o n c \ i h ~ ~ l i h nurrlc\ Gco~gcEmc1\on dr the end of A Rooit7 ti,it/: u 1 zcw 1908 .\I7c tcc tl-ie hcroii~e,iild l-icro for tl-ie l ~ s r ti~llc in ,i pension in Florcnic, in ,In ,irtitudc of \\.orshipoil tl-icir knees, c,icl-i~vl-iis~criilg tl-ie othcr's n,imc. E. M. Forster 1112\. h ~ \ . c ended chis no\ el hrippilJ..but he \\.AS b\. no rllcdns sdnguinc ,ibout l-i,it\pr endings ill geilcr,il. 1 1 1 his rijjlcrtj of t/:c I\ivc/ the ilorcl: "Lore, like dc,ith, is congcni,il to ,I novelist bcc,iuse it ends J book ion\ cnicntl!.. H e idn rlldkc it d p C ~ l l l d l l C l l i \ ' , 2nd l-iis reciders c,isilv ,icqtliesee, bcc,iuse one of tl-ie illusions ~ t t ~ i h ~ d to 101 e is thdt it \\.ill be p c r ~ ~ l ~ n e n t . . . . dl1 our cxpcristrong enlorion brings \\.irh ir rhc illusion of pcrnldncnic. 2nd the ilorelists l-i,ire seized ilpon this. Ther L~SLI,III~ eilil tl-icir books \\,irh n l ~ r r i ~ g c . 2nd \\.c do nor o b ~ c i tb c i d ~ ~ ~ c \\.c lend thcnl our dre,ims" 1861.His biogr,iphcr, F ! S . Furb,iilk, notes Forstcr's disrrusr of the insrirution of mdrri~gc:"He quire scriouslr. ,ind on filllv tl-iought-out grouilds, distrusted nl,irridge 2s An institution ~ n d fretted dt h ~ \ , i n g ro \\.rice 'nl~rridgcfiction .' H c sust\ccted m,irri,igc migl-it t\roducc more l-i,irnlt11,in good; he \\..IS sure. . ~ t Ic,lsr, r h ~ r there \\.ere finer possibilities outside it" :2318. Forstcr l-i,id recad the ilorcls of ,\usre11 n-it11 grcdr i d I C , dnd ddrllircd her dbo\c dl1 other no\,clisrs, nlo\ing I00 % The Ronl,iilcc \'ox el. 1740-1908 hi111to cxcl,iinl. "HOT J,iilc ,\usten c,in ~vritc!"Aj/~crt.i 1 1 6:'. I'et her legcicy of fictioi~ ,ibout "lore." t11,it is, l-ier IcS,icy of ron1,incc ilorcls, ~v,is one tl-i,it I-ie crei~ru,illr felt conlt.ellcd to nlorc berond. Ii~deed, A Rooin with a I zcw is his onl:. no\,cl thdt ends h,lppil\.. It is his onl:. rorlldnic no\,cl. Pcrh~ps ~ C ~ J L I S C of his skcptiiis111dbour nldrri~gc, or p c r h ~ p s ~ C ~ J L I S C Iitcrdr :. fiction itself II~O\.CS d\\.d:. fro111the l.Ollldl3iC no\,cl f i r m in the cdrl:. t~vcntietl-iceilturr, critics ,ire diridcd ,ibout the cffectircness of Forster's cndiilg ill A Rooril ti,itl: a 1 icw. Bonnie Bl~~rncnth~il Finkelstcii~c,ills it ",ill -. cffcctirc pciecillto l-iercrosex~l~il lore ,and m,irri,igc" 1 8 7 : . B,irb,ir,i Roseirdl3iC links rhc homoscxudl Forstcr's hcsit~rionsro his scxudl oricnrdtion, finding r h ~ t " [ t he no\,clqsionilusion represents Forstcr's on11 redl \,iiror:. for pcrson~l rcldrions ~ n d n l ~ r k s his single hdrnlonious dssoii~rionof pcrsoi ~,il fillfillmcnt ~vitl-i l-ietcroscxu,il lore" 1 83:. Otl-ier critics ,ire not coilrinced bv tl-ie eildinS. Jol-in Colmcr fiilds t11,it "nl,irri,ige ,is tl-ieh,ipt\v clinl,ix - - . . .- ,i- ~ C O L I I I ~ S for ,I cert,iin f,ilsitv of toile t11,it inlpiirs its -tl-ie ~ ~ o r e l * s cnding " : I IS:'. Judith Sihcrcr Hcrz iririiizcs the "ion\,cnrion~l hdpp:. ending." ldbcling ir "nlcihdniidl 2nd somc\\.h~r rri\idl." She bclic\,cs thdt Forstcr, on rhc i L l S p of modcrnisnl dt the beginning of his idrccc " t ~ k c [ s - ,i tr,iditioi~ t ~ v o l-iili~dred ve,irs ill the formills ,ind sirnult,ineouslv ,icccpt [s- ,ind rclcct-S] it" 1 8 8 : . Rosccr,ince ,agrees, "[DIespitc the h,ipt\v cndii~g. Forstcr inlplics ,I modern coildition" 190:. The cnding ofA 1Zoot1l ~ v i t ba T i c ~ vis nor ~ m b i \ , ~ l c n r , bur ir is the rcsulr of d i ~ l l i ~ l...

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