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Lucy Honeychurch

Lucy Honeychurch is a fictional character in E. M. Forster's 1908 novel, A Room With A View in which the Bildungsroman narrative illuminates the young woman's progression from a conventionally quiet and confirmative Victorian character, to a progressive and passionate young woman who echoes early 1900s Edwardian values. Throughout the novel, Lucy journeys to find both herself and fall in love. Faced with inner conflict about who she should become, Lucy finds herself in a 'muddle' as she progresses towards independence. Written on the cusp of Edwardian society, Lucy Honeychurch champions passion and truth, finding her own voice and speaking out for who she really loves. Lucy Honeychurch's character can be seen as a vehicle to explore the idea of women's freedom as Lucy must choose between two very different men from opposing social status'. Her character follows the popular romance narrative during the early 1900s of a woman who grows from the passive to the passionate.

Character Overview
Lucy Honeychurch is the protagonist in E. M. Forster's novel A Room With A View. Lucy is part of a fairly wealthy family during the early twentieth century, living in England. Lucy's family consists of her mother, Mrs. Honeychurch, and her brother, Freddy, as well as her older and poorer cousin, Charlotte Bartlett whom accompanies Lucy on a trip to Italy at the opening of the novel. As a young and naive woman, Lucy's trip to Italy is the beginning of her characters development as she is confronted with a boy who challenges the Victorian status quo that Lucy knows. Throughout the novel Lucy is faced with the decision to conform to the status quo, or whether to let go of social expectations and pursue a life of passion and independence as Lucy, by the end of the novel begins to challenge the status quo of the early twentieth century.

Character Development
Over the course of the novel, Lucy Honeychurch progresses from a passive and naive young woman, to a passionate and independent character who reclaims her voice from Victorian societal conventions. Lucy is faced with questions of true love and finding her own voice as a young woman during the early 1900s, taking charge of her own life. Lucy Honeychurch can be seen to follow the course of a Bildungsroman character arc, as Lucy's character development signifies moral and social progression as a young English women during the early twentieth century. Lucy Honeychurch’s character development can be broken down into key moments in the novel which signify her progress as a character, these moments consist of:
 * Lucy's Trip To Florence, Italy.
 * Lucy's Muddle
 * Lucy Returns To England And Is Engages To Cecil
 * George Kisses Lucy For A Second Time
 * Lucy's Muddle Continues
 * Lucy Ends Her Engagement With Cecil
 * Lucy's Progression Towards Independence
 * Lucy Declares Her Love To George

Lucy's Trip to Florence, Italy
At the opening of the novel, Lucy Honeychurch is introduced as a young woman of the upper social class during a trip to Florence, Italy with her older cousin and chaperone, Charlotte Bartlett. Charlotte’s Victorian attitudes uphold the status quo and dictate how Lucy is to act as gender roles, etiquette, and social conventions were strictly abided by. Lucy begins the novel as a passive and naive young woman, repressed by societal expectations.

During the trip to Italy however, Lucy’s perceptions of the world begin to be challenged by events that take place which bring her closer to George Emerson, young English man also touristing Florence, Italy. Unlike Lucy, George is of the working class and disregards Victorian attitudes towards social etiquette; George is led by his own feelings and beliefs. Lucy’s relationship with George is arguably the most influential factor in her character's development into an independent and assertive young woman.

A significant moment for Lucy’s character takes place one afternoon just outside of Florence, as Lucy is kissed by George in a moment of passion and impulse which contrasts her passive nature at the opening of the novel. This moment takes place in Charlotte’s absence as the narrative explores the moment of the kiss in the pastoral setting just outside of Florence, Italy.

This quote, taken from the end of chapter six, depicts the moment of their kiss as it becomes an important moment for Lucy and her development. The narration explores how she wore a blue dress and the kiss took place in the pastoral setting just outside of Florence.

 'He saw radient joy in her face, he saw the flowers beat against her dress in blue waves. The bushes above them closed. He stepped quickly forward and kissed her.' E.M Forster, A Room With a View, Chapter six. By the end of chapter six, Lucy experiences a moment of passion with George Emerson which can be pinpointed as the first step towards her development into a progressive and passionate woman.

Lucy's Muddle
The aftermath of George’s kiss leaves Lucy feeling confused and ‘muddled', as the passion and impulse of the moment proves unfamiliar and disapproved of under Victorian social expectations. The novel states that the kiss left Lucy ‘suffering from the most grievous wrong’ and as a result, both women decide to keep the kiss a secret and move on in hopes that Lucy can forget it happened. This proves difficult however, as Lucy begins to show signs of inner conflict about her feelings for George.

Lucy Returns To England And Is Engaged To Cecil
Upon returning to England, Lucy accepts Cecil’s third engagement proposal in chapter eight. Lucy’s engagement to Cecil is neither passionate nor loving, as the two characters appear to clash over their differences in social class and attitudes, appearing incompatible, yet Lucy moves to London to live with Cecil and his family. This engagement plays a significant part in Lucy’s development as Cecil follows the Victorian societal expectation of the upper class which leads Lucy to stray further from finding passion and independence. In chapter eleven, Cecil’s mother, Mrs. Vyse tells her son to ‘Make Lucy one of us’ and that Lucy is ‘becoming wonderful’ illustrating how Lucy’s progress towards a liberal and independent woman is being hindered by the Victorian social expectations which Cecil and his mother conform to. Lucy’s character development during her engagement with Cecil takes her further away from the passionate and impulsive romance that George’s kiss on the outskirts of Florence symbolised in chapter six.

George Kisses Lucy For A Second Time
In a turn of events, the Emersons move to Windy Corner, placing George Emerson close to Lucy's family home and on one summer's day in Cecil's brief absence, George kisses Lucy for the second time. At the end of chapter fifteen, George is described to ‘love passionately’ and again acts on feelings of impulse, as the book describes ‘for the second time, was kissed by him’. Lucy’s second kiss with George acts as a catalyst that sparks her inner conflict, as she is again confronted with passion and impulse from George whilst in an engagement with Cecil which lacks any sense of romance.

Lucy's muddle Continues
In chapter sixteen, Lucy is again confronted by George in an extensive speech about love and freedom as he criticises Lucy’s relationship with Cecil. During George’s speech, he describes how Cecil was ‘forming’ Lucy, telling her what ‘a man thinks is womanly’, declaring that Lucy would ‘listen to his voice instead of your [her] own’. George's speech highlights Lucy's development during her engagement with Cecil as the relationship represses her voice and prevents her growing towards independence and passion.

Lucy Ends Her Engagement With Cecil
Following on from George’s speech, the final lines of chapter sixteen suggest Lucy’s progress towards true love and reclaiming her voice as an independent young woman as she breaks off her engagement with Cecil the very evening after George's speech.

This quote illuminates Lucy’s progress at this moment, describing how Lucy had once allowed her judgement to be clouded as she accepted an engagement from a man she not only didn’t love, but disliked.

 'How had she stood for Cecil for a moment? He was absolutely intolerable, and the same evening she broke her engagement off.' E.M Forster, A Room With a View, Chapter sixteen.

What seems like a result of Georges speech in chapter sixteen, Lucy begins to reclaim herself from societal expectations, breaking off her unhappy engagement and liberating herself from the repressive relationship with Cecil and challenging the passive nature she displayed at the opening of the novel due to Victorian social expectations. Within chapter seventeen, Lucy displays her new found assertive voice as she declares ‘I won’t be protected. I will choose for myself what is ladylike and right.’ which shows her progress towards a liberal and independent young woman. This growth is reiterated through Cecil, as he describes Lucy as 'a different person: new thoughts - even a new voice’.

Lucy's Progression Towards Independence
During chapter eighteen, Lucy’s character demonstrates her progress from a passive and naive young woman to a more independent and assertive character who wishes to continue to grow. However, Lucy continues to deny her love for George despite her new realisations about herself and new found assertive nature. Lucy, despite having broken off the engagement with Cecil and hearing George’s passionate speech about his love for her, continues to deny any requited love for George in return, and instead focuses on her own travels. Within chapter eighteen, Lucy explains that George ‘has been bothering’ her, and that if George knows that Lucy has ended the engagement with Cecil, George ‘may begin again'. Lucy reiterates this once again through her thoughts in the narrative:

 'I do not love George; I broke off my engagement because I did not love George; I must go to Greece because I do not love George' E.M Forster, A Room With a View, Chapter eighteen''.

This quote signposts Lucy’s romantic denial within the novel as she continues to repress the notion of George’s love.

Although Lucy continues to deny her feelings for George, her progress continues as she explains to her mother that she wishes to travel, showing that Lucy is ready to become more independent in chapter nineteen. Lucy explains she has ‘seen the world so little’ and how she’s ‘seen so little of life’, prompting her to want to travel and explore more. Not only does Lucy state she wishes to tour more of the world, but continues to explain that she may ‘share a flat for a little with some other girls’.

This signals Lucy’s progress from the opening of the novel as she speaks outwardly and unconventionally about her wishes to travel and gain independence living with other girls in London, yet her denial of her love for George prevails.

Taken from chapter nineteen, Lucy is described as ‘She knew she wanted something, and independence was a useful cry’, showing her characters development as she acknowledges that she wants more from her life than what she experiences now, yet she is unsure what that is.

Lucy Declares Her Love to George
In chapter nineteen, Lucy’s muddle appears to come to a climax during a conversation with Mr. Emerson, George’s father. Mr. Emerson’s conversation with Lucy brings to the surface Lucy’s true feelings about George, declaring to Lucy that George will ‘work in your thoughts till you die’ in hopes to convince Lucy to speak liberally about her romantic feelings.

Lucy's character reaches a moment of resolution at the end of chapter nineteen, as the chapter comes to a close on Lucy’s third kiss with George, finally succumbing to her feelings. This moment shows how far Lucy has developed from the opening of the novel as she is no longer passive, but chooses a relationship with the passionate and honest George Emerson.

Role In Narrative
As Lucy Honeychurch is the protagonist in the novel, her role in the narrative is significant as the book follows her journey and development, connecting the novels characters and events together. The novel as a whole revolves around Lucy's inner conflict and her journey to liberation from expectations placed on her as a young woman in the early 1900s. Most importantly however, Lucy's role in the narrative takes the form of the a 'heroine' of the romance novel, as she embarks on a journey to find true love.

Interests and Personality Traits

 * Playing the piano - Lucy Honeycurch's character is described to have a passion for playing the piano. The opening line of chapter three, expalins that Lucy 'found daily life rather chaotic, and entered a more solid world when she played the piano' continuing on to describe that she would be 'intoxicated by the mere feel of the note'.


 * Lucy's character is described to be in a 'muddle' repeatedly throughout the novel, reflecting her inner conflict.