#maurice and alec

[batri-jopa]

Some tasty bits

#maurice 1914 #I love tasty suggestiveness😋 #''bright brown eyes'' #''now he knew very well what he wanted with the garden boy'' #and the ''too smart to be straight'' sounds freaking funny today🤭 though I'm quite sure this was not the case 100 years ago #em forster #maurice and alec #maurice hall

[forgondor]

I haven’t read the book so I can’t say but something that struck me in James Ivory’s 1987 Maurice is the fact that Maurice & Alec’s relationship is started by Maurice unknowingly sending a signal to Alec, which Alec largely misinterprets, but it works out anyways, and much later at the end, when they meet at the boathouse, Alec goes “did you get my wire” and Maurice goes “what” because again he completely missed that signal but it doesn’t matter because he’s here anyways. And it’s like. There were a million mistakes to make and a million mistakes they made, but somehow, they find their way to each other, almost unwittingly. Maurice says “It’s a chance in a thousand we met” but I don’t think that’s true. I think it was always going to be like this, in every world they would have found each other. It’s the way they fall into each other’s arms so easily and they try to get away from each other but they can’t and they’re separated by so much but they still collide... This story is SCREAMING at us that no matter how impossible it is no matter how alone and repressed you feel you mustn’t lose hope because your love will find you and you can’t avoid it! You will be happy!

#this isnt about being soulmates i don't really believe in soulmates nor do i love soulmate stories #this is about how queer people have never been alone and have always found each other throughout history even in the most repressed of times #this is about how maurice never gave up on his hopes for happiness and ultimately thats what brings him happiness (unlike clive) #if you trust life and you put yourself out there and you're true to yourself then happiness will find you #just dont lose hope #it's also when alec says 'when you arrived i thought I want that one and look at us now' its like well of course. of course #meant to be etc #also intertwined with the themes of nature and the natural and freedom etc #maurice #maurice 1987 #maurice and alec #maurice hall #alec scudder

[artsandcraps]

I like to think that when Tab Hunter crossed over to the other side and reunited with Anthony Perkins, it was like the end scene in the Merchant Ivory movie Maurice where Maurice goes to the boathouse and finds Alec waiting for him, and they kiss and Alec whispers, "Now we shan't never be parted; it's finished."

#no disrespect to their partners in life #tab hunter #anthony perkins #tab hunter and anthony perkins #tab and tony #maurice #maurice and alec #alec scudder #maurice hall #merchant ivory #someone please draw this #maurice 1987 #a pair of strong arms grabbed him and a familiar voice whispered tenderly in his ear 'now we shan't never be parted it's finished'

[lifeisnowx]

I have covid. Perfect time to watch Maurice for the 95739th time.

#Maurice #maurice 1987 #maurice and alec #Rupert Graves is the cutest #love this movie too much

[zanephillips]

Maurice (1987) dir. James Ivory

#maurice #maurice 1987 #james wilby #maurice hall #rupert graves #alec scudder #filmedit #lgbtedit #lgbt #usersavana #usermichi #userwilliam #gifs #mine #* #perioddramaedit #filmgifs #romancegifs #cinematv #dailyflicks #userbbelcher

[oscarskirt]

Maurice (1987) - directed by James Ivory

#maurice #maurice hall #alec scudder #filmedit #moviegifs #fyeahmovies #cinemapix #tvandfilm #filmtvdaily #dailyflicks #filmdaily #weloveperioddrama #perioddramasource #perioddramaedit #dailylgbtedit #lgbtsource #ops I did it

[bivampir]

Maurice girlies (gender-neutral) it's my duty to inform you that a Vietnamese LGBT movie channel have made a fan reconstruction of the 1987 movie, by adding all deleted scenes (which include establishing wayyyy earlier that Alec works at Durham's, establishing Alec's bisexuality, Maurice's beautiful ending monologue to Clive, and many more) resulting in a movie that's almost 3 hours long, and uploaded it to youtube (with English subtitles!) here!

#EDIT: this is not an official version! per someone's request in the replies i feel the need to mention this is NOT official lmao #the 2h20mins is the director's cut #EDIT 2: I DID NOT MAKE THIS WTF LMAO #maurice 1914 #maurice 1987 #Maurice #clive durham #maurice hall #alec scudder #e. m. forster #my posting #3rd degree failpost #mauriceposting

[oscarwetnwilde]

Vanity Fair:

A PASSAGE TO WILBURY | September 1987 | Ismail Merchant

#Interviews #James Wilby #Maurice 1987 #Maurice Hall #Ismail Merchant #Vanity Fair #Magazines #Hugh Grant #Clive Durham #Rupert Graves #Alec Scudder #Because there's a picture of Rupert in there

[sunsfawn]

They’re of the Oscar Wilde sort x

the quality is rubbish, i also posted this on my twitter and instagram! :) @ sunsfawn

#maurice #maurice hall #alec scudder #maurice 1987 #maurice 1914 #em forster

[morrieandlicky]

Sweet Moments Between Maurice and Alec That You Have Not Seen Before (From E.M. Forster's 1st Draft for Maurice)

Context: Forster's first version of Maurice, finished in 1914, has a rather different ending than the final published version (no hotel scene, and no boathouse reunion). See here.

Forster's first draft for Maurice is, in my opinion, the rawest in terms of boldly displaying the love shared between Maurice and Alec. This version shows much more of Alec's emotion and tenderness, as well as of Maurice's sentiments and affection towards Alec. It is definitely not as subtle as the final version, with quite a few straightforward declarations of love.

Hence, I'm disappointed that Forster did not manage to integrate at least some of these 1914 texts into the final version: it would've made the love between Maurice and Alec much more pronounced and convincing, as well as made Alec a character with more depth and feelings.

Having read Forster's first draft for Maurice, I share below some of these moments between Maurice and Alec that are not in the final version (ordered on how lovely I think each moment is. Bolded texts are the highlights).

1. After running into Mr. Ducie in the museum and Maurice bursting out to Alec.

M: "I'd possibly have blown out my own brains."

A: "Why?" he asked, stopping dead.

M: "I should have known by that time that I loved you."

A: "You can't, sir, you couldn't."

M: "I love you, sir be damned."

A: "Maurice"—never before had the word been spoken—"you're an angel."

M: "I don't want to hear that."

A: "Maurice, Maurice" his voice failed also; he had once said the rest to a woman. "Maurice - what you've said I feel. Understand?"

M: "I think so, but I want to be sure. Remember those rose bushes in the other rain? - Look at me hard - That's right. That'll do. It's settled." (Maurice is referring to the moment when Alec ran in the rain across the rose bushes at Penge just to see Maurice's face.)

2. The conversation after Maurice refuses to stay the night with Alec—a scenario that only happens in the first draft in 1914. Be prepared for tears.

A: "Come just for a little to me."

M: "If I came it would be for ever."

A: "Ever's the best."

M: "Why, man, you sail Thursday."

Alec found no answer.

...: here's when Maurice explains in a long paragraph why they can't be together because of their class difference and the fact that they're both men. But in this long paragraph Maurice pretty much brings up wanting to marry Alec—"We can't have the particular thing we want (which is roughly speaking marriage) unless we sacrifice something else"

M: I thought from that letter of yours you might want me to come. But, Alec, come where to?"

A: "I'd know if you weren't a gentleman," Alec said. "We'd a' found work together as mates."

M: "Yes, and if you were a gentleman, I'd take you this minute to my home.

A: "I'd a' been what young Clive was to you, then."

M: "He's a saint and we aren't. Leave out him."

A: "I'd a' been yours till death, then." ("I would've been yours till death, then")

M: "Out there if you get a chance to marry, take it. That's what I wish.

A: "Maurice, what'll you do without me, dear? Have you no other friends?"

Maurice dared not look forward to his own future. He rushed on the parting.

M: "And if there's ever a child, I shan't ever have that, so remember me."

A: "I'll remember you, child or none. God bless you. O God bless you, and be with you if I can't."

3. Right after Maurice puts his hand on Alec's back in the museum

"Yes, awfully serious," remarked Maurice, and rested his hand on Alec's shoulder, so that the fingers touched the back of the neck, doing this merely because he knew that he loved Alec, that he loved him not as a second Dickie Barry, but deeply, tenderly, for his own sake, beneath weakness and vulgarity.

4. In the museum, Alec in pain and acting cute

[Alec] had bitten his lip, his eyes were red too; face and body were cramped with pain.

M: "Alec -"

A: "Alec am I?"

M: "I'm sorry I used that other name of yours."

A: "Don't speak to me," he growled, "let me go, you calling me Alec when I"

M: "Did you give me away then on purpose?"

A: "You're correct.

M: "Was it to get money - or only to do me harm?"

A: "I couldn't say."

M: "Come, let's get away where we can finish our talk."

A: "What? What do you say?"

M: "Come along, Alec."

A: "Do you call me that still?"

M: "Come away, man, don't break down for God's sake...." He took hold of [Alec's] arm. The touch was not reminiscent; it hinted at a relation to come.

A: "Oh but you must, I want it." Alec yielded.

5. Maurice at night thinking about Alec's letter

He tried to forget the treacherous letter, but it stole back to his mind, and he suffered most during moments in bed, when it masqueraded as a real love letter, and offered him the completeness that Clive enjoyed with Anne.

(This is brilliant writing because we, as readers, know that Alec's letter is a love letter, yet Maurice's "muddles" prevent him from seeing it as a love letter, and it is only at night, when he's craving Alec's presence, that he's able to allow himself to see the truth and succumb to his feelings for Alec.

Here, again, is also a suggestion of Maurice wanting to marry Alec, like how Clive married Anne)

6. One version of Maurice's and Alec's first night together

A: "Good evening - sir, said the low voice. Was you wanting something? Couldn't you sleep?" It was the gamekeeper.

On your rounds? gasped Maurice, trying to sound natural, and felt corduroys. Their touch disconcerted him. Whither was he tending from Clive into what companionship?

A: "Just wait till I've set down my gun - eh aren't you trembling?"

M: "So are you - ah don't."

A: "Don't you like that?"

M: "I don't know."

A: "Christ you're fussy. Don't you like me to touch you."

M: "That's you lad."

A: "Yes."

Side notes: hopefully these will shut all the detractors (of the relationship between Maurice and Alec) up—namely Clive apologists, Clive+Maurice shippers, and all of those dark academia classist out there.

#em forster #maurice #maurice 1987 #maurice em forster #maurice hall #alec scudder #em forster maurice #clive durham #edward carpenter #george merrill #dark academia #dark academism #dark acadamia aesthetic #dark acadamia quotes #gay novels #gay love #gay history #homosexuality #homosexual #m #mlm #gay literature #e.m. forster #edwardian era #happy ending #gay boots #gays #lgbt fiction #lgbt #lgbtq

[transsexualcoriolanus]

yeah i'd love to bring e.m forster back from the dead to let him know that maurice was published and made into a film and gay people can get married in britain now and stuff, but on the other hand how would we break the news to him that a significant percentage of maurice fans prefer clive to alec from a combination of classism and being horny for hugh grant

#em forster #maurice #maurice 1987 #maurice 1914 #clive durham #alec scudder #edit: i have just been informed that forster actually arranged for it to be published after his death #(and somehow i didn't know that it was actually only published a year after he died) #rest of the post still stands tho

[batri-jopa]

Maurice by E.M. Forster - Notes by David Leavitt:

The most sustained criticism of Pianola in literature comes in Forster's posthumously published novel Maurice. Here Clive Durham, the boy with whom Maurice falls in love up at Cambridge, is found in chapter six sorting out 'a castle of pianola records' of the march from Tchaikovsky's Pathétique; then, when he goes to play them, a mutual friend tells Maurice, 'You should get away from the machine [Pianola]' - and therefore Clive himself - 'as far as you can'. The Pianola manufactures music in the same way that Clive 'manufactures' heterosexual passion (which consequences less outwardly disastrous for him than for Tchaikovsky). That the way one makes music - or connects to music - signifies one's values in Forster's work is illustrated beautifully when Maurice meets Alec Scudder at Penge: together they move a real piano from under a leak in Clive ancestral home. This instrument, like their relationship, is the genuine article, and worth protecting from the decay of that society. The instrument itself embodies virtue.

#I would never think about that pianola and piano thing myself and I'm not sure if this association is accurate to author's intentions #but I love parallels in stories so #maurice 1914 #maurice hall #maurice and clive #maurice and alec #clive durham #alec scudder #maurice em forster #e.m. forster #em forster #pianola #parallels

[july-septembre]

be proud of who you are! 🩷🏳️‍🌈

#maurice #maurice 1987 #maurice meme #maurice hall #clive durham #alec scudder #em forster #pride

[expo63]

Maurice (James Ivory, 1987) set photography: Rupert Graves as Alec Scudder waiting at the boathouse.

I’ve always loved this shot, but for many years I only had a microscopic newsprint copy. There’s also a gorgeous variant (impatient Alec in profile).

#maurice 1987 #rupert graves #alec scudder #set photography #jon gardey #boathouse was a place i always fancied #expo63 my OPs

[spocks-got-a-glock]

When you get so irked by someone saying that "Clive and Maurice were the better romantic pairing because they truly loved each other while Alec and Maurice's relationship was based on nothing but sex" that you end up writing a small essay in a Pinterest comment section (which had to be broken up into 500 character chunks because of Pinterest's character limit).

Anyway, I actually like what I wrote so I wanted to share it here. I didn't say everything I wanted to in the exact way that I wanted to due to the word restrictions, but I think it did the job.

#maurice em forster #maurice 1914 #maurice 1987 #maurice 1971 #maurice #maurice/alec #maurice/clive #em forster #e.m. forster #maurice hall #alec scudder #clive durham #queer literature #queer liberation #classic literature

[declanslander]

yes they're at the british museum folks

#alec scudder #alec william di canzio #maurice #maurice 1987 #maurice em forster