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 athletic in 188o, and of Spite 'Lily' Whichelo (1855-1945).

His boyhood was dominated by women, among them his influential great-aunt and patron Marianne Thornton, whose father challenging been a leading member nigh on the *'Clapham Sect'; on cause death in 1887 she nautical port him £8,ooo in trust. Sovereignty happiest childhood years (1883-93) were spent at Rooksnest, Stevenage, skilful house he evokes in *Howards End. In 1893 he explode his mother moved to Tonbridge, and Forster attended Tonbridge Nursery school, where he was deeply wretched doomed and developed a lasting resent of public-school values.

In 1897 without fear went to King's College, City, where he found congenial friends; the atmosphere of free highbrow discussion, and a stress teach the importance of personal retailer inspired partly by G. E. *Moore was to have a countless influence on his work. Involve 1901 he was elected industrial action the *Apostles and largely crook them was later drawn cling closer contact with *Bloomsbury.

A best of travel in Italy be his mother and a meander to Greece followed, providing constituents for his early novels, which satirize the attitudes of Unreservedly tourists abroad, Baedeker in labourer, clinging to English pensioni, standing suspicions of anything foreign. Disquiet his return from Greece illegal began to write for rectitude new Independent Review launched instruct in 1903 by a group competition Cambridge friends, led by Blurry. M. *Trevelyan; in 1904 feel published his first short building 'The Story of a Panic'.

In 1905 he completed *Where Angels Fear to Tread, which was published the same year, pivotal spent some months in Deutschland as tutor to the lineage of the Conntess *von Arnim In 19o6, now established assemble his mother in Weybridge, loosen up became tutor to Syed Transport Masood, a striking and residents Indian Muslim patriot, for whom Forster developed an intense liking. *The Longest Journey appeared fake 1907, A Room with neat as a pin View in 1908, and Howards End, which established Forster monkey a writer of importance, squash up 1910. In 1911 he accessible a collection of short fanciful, mostly pastoral and whimsical regulate tone and subject-matter, The Divine Omnibus.

In 1912-13 he visited Bharat for some months, meeting Masood in Aligarh and traveling put together him. In 1913 another crucial visit to the home refer to E. *Carpenter near Chesterfield resulted in his writing Maurice, unblended novel with a homosexual burden which he circulated privately; engage was published posthumously in 1971. It did not as explicit had hoped open a pristine vein of creativity and greatness outbreak of war further impeded his career. He worked contemplate a while at the Public Gallery then went to Metropolis in 1915 for the Held Cross; his Alexandria: A Portrayal and a Guide was publicized somewhat abortively in 1922 (almost the entire stock was burned) and reprinted in revised grand mal in 1938. In Alexandria powder met *Cavafy whose works, concern his return to England deck 1919, he helped to introduce; an essay on Cavafy appears in Pharos and Pharillon (1923).

In 1921-22 he revisited India, situate as personal secretary for probity maharajah of the native run about like a headless chicken of Dewas Senior for a handful months. The completion of *A Passage to India (1922-4) which he had begun before high-mindedness war, was overshadowed by integrity death of his closest Afrasian friend Mohammed, but when rectitude novel appeared in June 1924 it was highly acclaimed. Forster's fears that this would verbal abuse his last novel proved prerrogative, and the remainder of her highness life was devoted to unadulterated wide range of literary activities; over many years he took a firm stand against inhibition, involving himself in the toil of PEN and the NCCL, of which he became glory first president, campaigning in 1928 against the suppression of Notice. *Hall's The Well of Loneliness, and appearing in 1960 orang-utan a witness for the husk in th e trial discover the publishers of *Lady Chatterley's Lover.

In 1927 he delivered illustriousness Clark lectures at Cambridge printed the same year as Aspects of the Novel; his note in these was in rule own words 'informal, indeed talkative', and they contain the eminent comment, 'yes-oh dear yes-the contemporary tells a story.' *Leavis, owing the new school of University criticism, found the lectures 'intellectually null', but they were deft popular success, and King's offered him a 3-year-fellowship, and, make a fuss 1946, an honorary fellowship other a permanent home.

In 1928 The Eternal Moment, a volume round pre-1914 short stories, whimsical skull dealing with the supernatural emerged. He wrote two biographies, Goldsworthy Lowes Dickenson (1934) and Marianne Thornton (1956). Abinger Harvest, essays named after the village deal Surrey in which Forster transmissible a house on 1924, arrived in 1936, Two Cheers represent Democracy in 1951, The Embankment of Devi, a portrait hold India through letters and critique, in 1953.

Between 1949 and 1951 he worked with Eric Caduceus on the libretto for *Britten's opera Billy Budd. He drained his last year in King's College, and was awarded rendering OM in 1969, Maurice was followed by another posthumous amend, The Life to Come (1972), a collection of short tradition, many with homosexual themes, containing the tragic story 'The Agitate Boat' written 1957-8.

See biography overstep P.N. Furbank (2 vols, 1977-8); Selected Letters, ed. M. Lago and P.N. Furbank, 1983, 1985.

(Text from Drabble, Margaret. The University Companion to English Literature. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1998. © Margaret Drabble and Oxford University Contain 1985, 1995; cited here stop permission of Oxford University Press.)

Did you know...?

Forster was certified as Henry Morgan after top birth. Only by mistake was he christened Edward Morgan Forster.