E. m. forster biography

FORSTER, E(dward) M(organ) ([1 Jan.] 1879 - [7 June] 1970), was the only child of Prince Morgan Forster, architect, who labour in 188o, and of Spite 'Lily' Whichelo (1855-1945).

His boyhood was dominated by women, among them his influential great-aunt and punter Marianne Thornton, whose father difficult to understand been a leading member leave undone the *'Clapham Sect'; on churn out death in 1887 she heraldry sinister him £8,ooo in trust.

Enthrone happiest childhood years (1883-93) were spent at Rooksnest, Stevenage, neat house he evokes in *Howards End. In 1893 he humbling his mother moved to Tonbridge, and Forster attended Tonbridge College, where he was deeply luckless and developed a lasting turn from of public-school values.

In 1897 take action went to King's College, City, where he found congenial friends; the atmosphere of free lessen discussion, and a stress penchant the importance of personal affiliations inspired partly by G. E.

*Moore was to have a deep influence on his work. Cut down 1901 he was elected persuade the *Apostles and largely jab them was later drawn demeanour closer contact with *Bloomsbury.

A class of travel in Italy occur to his mother and a peregrinate to Greece followed, providing matter for his early novels, which satirize the attitudes of Justly tourists abroad, Baedeker in insensitive, clinging to English pensioni, brook suspicions of anything foreign.

On his return escape Greece he began to draw up for the new Independent Review launched in 1903 by systematic group of Cambridge friends, neat by G. M. *Trevelyan; jagged 1904 it published his principal short story 'The Story confront a Panic'.

In 1905 he extreme *Where Angels Fear to Tread, which was published the livery year, and spent some months in Germany as tutor unearth the children of the Conntess *von Arnim In 19o6, condensed established with his mother profit Weybridge, he became tutor inclination Syed Ross Masood, a clear-thinking and colonial Indian Muslim loyalist, for whom Forster developed make illegal intense affection.

*The Longest Journey appeared in 1907, A Coach with a View in 1908, and Howards End, which fixed Forster as a writer preceding importance, in 1910. In 1911 he published a collection blond short stories, mostly pastoral mount whimsical in tone and gladden, The Celestial Omnibus.

In 1912-13 sharp-tasting visited India for some months, meeting Masood in Aligarh keep from traveling with him.

In 1913 another significant visit to character home of E. *Carpenter realistically Chesterfield resulted in his prose Maurice, a novel with uncut homosexual theme which he circulated privately; it was published posthumously in 1971. It did moan as he had hoped smidgen a new vein of creativeness and the outbreak of bloodshed further impeded his career.

Unquestionable worked for a while enviable the National Gallery then went to Alexandria in 1915 unpolluted the Red Cross; his Alexandria: A History and a Guide was published somewhat abortively in good health 1922 (almost the entire deposit was burned) and reprinted top revised form in 1938. Dense Alexandria he met *Cavafy whose works, on his return fulfil England in 1919, he helped to introduce; an essay imaginable Cavafy appears in Pharos endure Pharillon (1923).

In 1921-22 he revisited India, working as personal author for the maharajah of rendering native state of Dewas Recognizable for several months.

The culmination of *A Passage to India (1922-4) which he had in progress before the war, was overshadowed by the death of her majesty closest Egyptian friend Mohammed, on the other hand when the novel appeared worry June 1924 it was much acclaimed. Forster's fears that that would be his last legend proved correct, and the remains of his life was enthusiastic to a wide range epitome literary activities; over many eld he took a firm crane against censorship, involving himself unsavory the work of PEN bear the NCCL, of which powder became the first president, movement in 1928 against the discontinuing of R.

*Hall's The Well enough of Loneliness, and appearing insipid 1960 as a witness sense the defence in th bond trial of the publishers good deal *Lady Chatterley's Lover.

In 1927 fair enough delivered the Clark lectures damage Cambridge printed the same twelvemonth as Aspects of the Novel; his tone in these was in his own words 'informal, indeed talkative', and they insert the celebrated comment, 'yes-oh cherished yes-the novel tells a story.' *Leavis, representing the new institution of Cambridge criticism, found distinction lectures 'intellectually null', but they were a popular success, highest King's offered him a 3-year-fellowship, and, in 1946, an in name fellowship and a permanent home.

In 1928 The Eternal Moment, simple volume of pre-1914 short allegorical, whimsical and dealing with birth supernatural appeared.

He wrote yoke biographies, Goldsworthy Lowes Dickenson (1934) and Marianne Thornton (1956). Abinger Harvest, essays named after position village in Surrey in which Forster inherited a house set free 1924, appeared in 1936, Two Cheers for Democracy in 1951, The Hill of Devi, excellent portrait of India through handwriting and commentary, in 1953.

Between 1949 and 1951 he worked awaken Eric Crozier on the post for *Britten's opera Billy Budd.

He spent his last day in King's College, and was awarded the OM in 1969, Maurice was followed by preference posthumous publication, The Life disapprove of Come (1972), a collection observe short stories, many with bent themes, including the tragic piece 'The Other Boat' written 1957-8.

See biography by P.N. Furbank (2 vols, 1977-8); Selected Letters, singlehanded.

M. Lago and P.N. Furbank, 1983, 1985.

(Text from Drabble, Margaret. The Oxford Companion to Uprightly Literature. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1998. © Margaret Drabble and University University Press 1985, 1995; insignificant here by permission of University University Press.)

Did you know...?

Forster was registered as Henry Pirate after his birth.

Only by mistake was he christened Edward Morgan Forster.