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Student 33482460

Victorian and modern values in Ann Veronica and A Room with a View
Words: 2072

2. Discuss two works of this period in terms of the contrasts they show between
Victorian attitudes and distinctively modern values

Goldsmiths University of London

Autumn 2016
Post-Victorian Literature

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This essay aims to discuss the contrasts between Victorian and modern values in E.M.
Forsters A Room with a View and H.G. Wells Ann Veronica. Central themes, symbolisms and
characters are analysed and linked to historical developments of the period.
The two novels followed one another closely; A Room with a View was published in 1908, and
Ann Veronica followed in 1909. Edwardian England was the threshold to modernity, and saw
the rise of ideologies such as socialism and feminism (Hynes 1968: 3). Victorian values of
propriety and decorum were challenged by socialists, suffragettes and the younger
generations, as depicted in both novels. Foster uses symbolism, setting and characters to
portray Victorian and modern values in the context of early 20th century Britain and Italy.
Several of the books themes, notably travel, views, vitality and social norms are based on
Fosters own journeys throughout Europe (Forster 2000: XVII). Ann Veronica is a rather
straightforward, perhaps less artful novel. It has been characterised as a roman clef by
literary critics and those who knew Wells. Ann Veronicas inner monologues function as an
outlet for Wells own opinions (Wells 2005: XIX). The social circles Ann Veronica joins in
London are Wells own, her experience with the Fabians are his, as are the unfavourable
depictions of the suffragettes.
The condemnation of traditional Victorian values is explicit in Ann Veronica. In the
introductory pages, Ann Veronicas inner monologues establish a contempt for the wrapped
houses and unfeeling, even unthinking people within them (Wells 2005: 8). Her open
rebellion against household confinement can be interpreted as a symbol of womens rebellion
against being trapped in the repetitive and limited lifestyle in the domestic sphere (Mildorf
2015:57). Ann Veronica is also recognised as a New Woman novel. A literary trend in the
late 19th century, the New Woman was an unconventional figure of agency and autonomy,
seeking to defy patriarchal standards and gain independence. Ann Veronica participates in a
suffragette storming of the Houses of Parliament, participating in first wave of feminism
where women fought for the right to vote (p.190) (Heilmann 2000: 12).
Unlike the characters in A Room with a View, most of whom are nuanced even Cecil Vyse
has moments of self-reflection the characters of Ann Veronica are frequently flat and
stereotypical. Mr. Stanley, being the archetype stern Victorian patriarch, naturally opposes
Ann Veronicas quest for independence. Hopelessly devoted to propriety, he disowns his
daughter Gwen after she elopes with an unsuitable husband (Wells 2005: 60). He readily
voices his profound dislike of the infidel professor Russell and refuses to let Ann Victoria
study at Imperial College (p.27). Russell is modelled on Wells own biology professor T. H.
Huxley, a Darwinist agnostic (Wells 2005: VIII). Mr. Stanleys unreasonable behaviour seen
through Ann Veronicas eyes - makes him an easy character to dislike and dismiss as
hopelessly conservative, a Victorian relic in an increasingly modern world.
In contrast, Mr. Manning embodies the Kantian philosophy of gender (Kant 1960: 76). Not
unlike Cecil Vyses attitude towards Lucy, he is oblivious to Ann Veronicas depth of
personality. He sees her as an object to be worshipped, altogether too fine for dusty politics
(Wells 2005: 43). His attempts to justify womens subordinate position through arguments of
what is natural reveals him to be equally patriarchal as Mr. Stanley, despite his claims of
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being a Socialist (ibid.). His flamboyant love letter comes across as absurdly clichd, in which
his hierarchical ideals place him as Ann Veronicas protector rather than equal partner. He
offers refinement rather than adventure, exactly the docile life she runs away from
Morningside Park to escape (p. 47).
In her letter to Manning, Ann Veronica compares her wrapped life to the natural phenomena
of etiolation, where light-deprived plants lose their colour and stretch for light, as she
stretches for knowledge and independence (p.88). Likewise, should she conform to
convention and marry him, she too would find herself withering away. The fact that Ann
Veronicas metaphor of choice stems from biology heightens the sense that the realm of
science, rather than domesticity, is where she belongs. In addition, light in literature often
symbolises knowledge, progress and reason.
In contrast, Ann Veronicas experiences with darkness are of a more sinister kind. On her first
afternoon in London, she is followed by a stranger (p.84). His relentless pursuit plants fear in
the hitherto unfased Ann Veronica, who now becomes afraid of the dark which she has
never been before. This endorses the Victorian and patriarchal notion - which in part still
prevails that the night does not belong to women, and those who venture into it do so at a
significant risk (Mildorf 2015: 62). The juxtaposition of darkness and light can be a symbol of
Victorian and modern values, where darkness brings entrapment and light emancipation.
Similar symbolisms occur in A Room with a View. Characters are linked to eras of European
history; Cecil Vyse is described as Medieval, his attitudes derived from the Dark Ages. His
perception of relationships is described as feudal, the Medieval system of the powerful
protecting the powerless in exchange for their loyalty (Forster 2000: 143). George Emerson
on the other hand, is described as Michelangelesque (p.120). Cecil compares Lucy to the
elusive women of Leonardo da Vincis paintings, connecting her to the Renaissance humanist
tradition. Renaissance is French for rebirth, and both Lucy and George are frequently
depicted in nature suggesting fertility and growth. Similarly, the Italian carriage boy and his
sweetheart are dubbed Phaethon and Persephone, both figures of Classical mythology
(Wagner 2010: 276). The allusions to Medieval and Classical/Renaissance eras juxtaposes the
narrow-minded, barren and restrictive Victorian mentality to the open-minded, fertile and
humanist modern mentality. Foster lets modernity triumph in the last chapter, The End of the
Middle Ages, where Lucy and George are happily married and enjoying liberation in Italy.
One of the most explicit displays of modern attitudes in A Room with a View occurs when
George speaks to Lucy about her engagement to Cecil Vyse. Describing Vyse as the kind
who has kept Europe back for a thousand years, he openly condemns Victorian, patriarchal
norms (Foster 2000: 154). Cecils Victorian ideals depict of a woman with no access to her
independent judgment, protected from her own thoughts of the world, ever awaiting guidance
and protection from a man. Indeed, Lucy has internalised these norms. After the murder
incident in Florence, she is troubled at the prospect of not receiving moral guidance, as she
was accustomed to have her thoughts confirmed by others (p. 43). George however, states
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that he wants her to think independently even when in his arms encouraging her to defy her
Victorian upbringing by not letting partnership erase her individuality.
Both Foster and Wells use setting as a tool to explore the contrasts between Victorian and
modern attitudes. In A Room with a View, characters with decidedly conservative attitudes,
such as Cecil Vyse and Mrs. Honeychurch, are often depicted inside rooms. Mrs.
Honeychurch also prefers keeping the curtains drawn, shutting out the light from Windy
Corner (p. 81). Lucy, upon taking Cecil for a stroll in the countryside, discovers that she
always imagines him in a room with no view (p. 99). Consequently, both Cecil and Mrs.
Honeychurch are depicted as narrow-minded with limited imaginations, remaining within the
four corners of the old, predictable world where convention governs social relations and
people are not truly free. Cecil and Lucys first embrace takes place in nature, but lacks the
spontaneity and passion of true love and heartfelt attraction. This suggests that the free realm
of nature is inaccessible to Cecil, who is incapable of laying custom and self-consciousness
aside (p. 101).
On the other hand, characters with modern mindsets are mostly depicted outside and are
associated with views. George Emerson and Freddy Honeychurch gleefully bathe naked in the
natural pool (p.122), an activity Lucy also enjoyed before she was barred from it. The image
of the nude people in nature can be interpreted as a biblical allusion. The Emersons also refer
to the Garden, where men and women are equal, comrades in their natural state.
According to their modern philosophy, natural desires are not to be feared or suppressed, and
constructed social norms mostly serve to bar the individual from pursuing happiness. By
giving up their rooms with views to Lucy and Charlotte, they attempt to make view
characters out of two women, who by societys standards are destined to be room characters
(p.4).
Unlike the too formal kiss with Cecil, Lucy and Georges first embrace is spontaneous, it
occurs a natural landscape in the heart of Renaissance Italy. Italy was a popular holiday
destination where sexual morals and social convention were more relaxed than in Britain
(Foster 2000: X). As Miss Lavish describes it One does not come to Italy for niceness, one
comes for life (p. 16). This contrast of values is highlighted by the incident where the Italian
carriage boys flirting with his sweetheart sparks moral outrage among his British passengers,
apart from the modern Mr. Emerson (p.58). Lucy is transformed by her experiences in Italy.
After being exposed to a larger, more unconstrained world, she is no longer content with the
placid life expected of a British upper-middle-class wife. It is in Italy that she first begins to
question the assumptions of the Victorian world, such as whether beauty and delicacy are the
same whether the natural and spontaneous can be more beautiful than the deliberate and
refined (p.10).
The beauty and truth of the natural world is also emphasised in Ann Veronica. Studying
biology serves a similar purpose for Ann Veronica as Italy did for Lucy, it opens her eyes to
the world and becomes an arena for independence. She immerses herself in the complexities
and methodologies of comparative anatomy, and it provides a certain stability that the outside
world of suffragettes and Fabians does not (Wells 2005: 134). Furthermore, the natural
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sciences provide logical explanations of why things are as they are. Upon arguing with her
father over whether she can attend the dance, she finds him unable to give any form of
reasonable justification for his views. For a New Woman like Ann Veronica, a man
exclaiming It is unsuitable, and I forbid it! is hardly sufficient persuasion (p. 26). Victorian
ideals of propriety, femininity and social classes all exist to limit her. These notions are absent
from the natural sciences, thus making biology studies a way for her to break away from
societys expectations and judgement.
Moreover, like Fosters Italy, the Alps where Ann Veronica and Capes spend their
honeymoon is a place of complete freedom. The light of life that Ann Veronica sought
through her rebellion is found in the Alps - where she experiences sexual initiation - in stark
contrast to the constraints of her life in England. She is at her happiest and most fulfilled in
the dramatic natural landscape full of light, where mountains present adventure rather than
danger to her young mind (p. 272, 292).
It is worth noting that both Lucy and Ann Veronica are rewarded with happiness in the end,
despite their unconventional choice of partners. Whereas traditional Victorian novels would
punish female characters who defied convention to pursue their passion notably Tolstoys
Anna Karenina, Hardys Tess of the DUrbervilles and Flauberts Madame Bovary the two
heroines happily settle into married life with the men they love (Limanta 2002: 8).Yet the
ending of Ann Veronica is more ambivalent, suggesting that domestic life was not entirely
right for her regardless of her love for Capes - perhaps a reminder from Wells that modern
values must transform societal institutions as well as individuals.
Modern values prevail over Victorian attitudes in both novels, mirroring the shift into
modernity in England after the death of Queen Victoria. Forsters use of rooms, views, nature
and character descriptions, as well as the impassioned speeches of George and Lucy, all
suggest that happiness depends upon the demise of Victorian morality. Wells makes an even
stronger case for womens emancipation through Ann Veronicas journey and her encounters
with men of varying mindsets. However, his ridicule of the suffragettes suggests that he was
not entirely radical. Nevertheless, the novel sparked moral outrage and calls for censorship
when it was published (Wells 2005: XIV). The issues of convention and freedom raised
through the dilemmas of Ann Veronica Stanley and Lucy Honeychurch were typical of their
time, but remain relevant.

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Bibliography
Forster, E.M. 2000: A Room with a View. Penguin Classics, London.
Heilmann, A. 2000: New Woman Fiction: Women Writing First-Wave Fiction. St. Martins
Press LLC, New York.
Hynes, S. 1968: The Edwardian Turn of Mind. Princeton University Press, Princeton.
Kant, I. 1960: Observations on the Feeling of the Beautiful and Sublime. University of
California Press, Berkeley.
Limanta, L. 2002: The Feminism and Femininity of Ann Veronica in H.G. Wells Ann
Veronica. Petra Christian University, Surabaya.
Mildorf, J. 2015: Light of Life: Gender, Place and Knowledge in H.G. Wells Ann
Veronica, in de Gruyter, W.: Dark Nights, Bright Lights: Night, Darkness and Illumination in
Literature. CPI books GmbH, Leck.
Wagner, P. 2010: Paethon, Persephone and A Room with a View. Penn State University
Press, Pennsylvania.
Wells, H.G. 2005: Ann Veronica. Penguin Classics, London.