Compare and Contrast E.M. Forster and Philippe Besson’s Portrayal of Male Homosexuality in their novels ‘Maurice’ and ‘Lie With Me’

Male homosexuality is the central theme in both novels, and despite being written a century apart, they portray homosexuality similar in many ways. ‘Maurice’ was written and is set eighteen years after the infamous Wilde trails, which placed homosexuality at the forefront of public thought. The trials also cemented in the public mind a distinct image of homosexuality personified by Wilde. It could be argued that Forster portrays homosexuality as anathema to Christianity and in order to be socially acceptable requires fundamental changes in society. The bestselling novel ‘Lie With Me’ is set sixteen years after the May 68 riots in France. By the 1980s, the Senate and Assemblée nationale were fighting over Article 331 — a law that raised the age of consent for homosexuals to twenty-one. Contextually throughout the 1970s, homosexual groups such as the Front homosexual d’action revolutionnaire had brought the struggles of homosexual individuals to public attention. ‘Lie With Me’ is set in a more ‘accepting’ era  than ‘Maurice’, however Besson’s focus is therefore centred around the secrecy that was needed to maintain a homosexual lifestyle.

Both novels are similar in their portrayal of homosexuality and Christianity being antithetically aligned to one another. In ‘Maurice’, Christianity cannot be combined with homosexuality, and therefore homosexuals as an alternative should “convert” to the study of philosophy. The narrator of ‘Maurice’ comments on Clive’s rationale for this, through an allegorical dry tone, (critiquing) the abandonment of Christianity due to his homosexuality: “... between Clive’s temperament and that religion there is a secular feud. No clear-headed man can combine them.” Forster’s allegorical reference to homosexuality as a “temperament” implies that a temperament is a part of your character which dictates behaviour – which it has done in terms of Clive’s religion. The dry tone utilised here implies that there is no compromise from Christianity on homosexuality. This is further reinforced through the use of the tautology that homosexuality and Christianity are not compatible lifestyles. This conflict between Christianity and homosexuality becomes the catalyst for Clive’s ‘conversion’ to a secular ‘religion’, i.e. philosophy. This ideology, he believes rationalises his homosexuality. There is a focus on the philosophy of Plato as it accommodates his ‘temperament’ – as opposed to Christianity. Contextually, Edward Carpenter, the inspiration for ‘Maurice’, at one stage was a Christian who converted to the study of philosophy whilst at the University of Cambridge. There are clear contextual parallels here with Clive’s decision whilst studying at the same university. The loaded reference to Plato’s ‘Symposium’ in helping him accept his ‘temperament’. This use of Plato’s defence of homosexuality becomes a common motif in homosexual literature and is used by

Maurice’s catalyst for conversion to and the study of philosophy is driven by the love he feels for Clive. Plotline infers that for homosexual love to ‘blossom’, atheism must be the accepted ‘religion’. To highlight this Forster, through a metaphor comparing the conversion to that of a military campaign, “... Maurice, although he had lost and yielded his opinions ... was really winning and carrying on a campaign that he had begun last term.” Comparing Maurice’s conversation to a “a military campaign”, militaristic and emotive language emphasises the driving force that Maurice’s homosexual desire plays in his conversion.  This is emphasised when Clive returns to heterosexuality; he will return to Christianity. This further reinforces the argument that homosexuality and Christianity are mutually exclusive. We know this as Clive is referred to as “... isn’t an atheist.” By a Minister staying at Clive’s estate. There is irony in this statement as Clive was a former atheist yet is being praised for Christian virtue, by a character who epitomises Christian virtue. This conversation takes place after he has been wedded to a woman, with Maurice’s mother exclaiming: “... Mr Durham’s engaged to be married”. Maurice and Alec therefore strategically remain atheists as to remain homosexual. This is further reinforced through Maurice’s imperative to Alec, in a dramatically short sentence, to “Damn the church.” To enable them to spend time together. This contradicts directly to Clive who continues his heterosexual married life.

This dichotomy is furthered through the character of Philippe from ‘Lie With Me’, who is used to present Christianity and homosexuality as being directly opposed to one another using apposition and allegory: “... this oppressive religious ideology—the deliverance from evil as a divine principle drummed in day after day”. The use of an apposition here in Philippe’s provision of context to the reader furthers the negative views towards Christianity amongst the homosexual community. When Philippe is talking with his boyfriend, Thomas, about religion and the use of the word “evil” is allegorically used frequently within the Christian community for homosexuality. In the 1980s France, homosexuality was viewed as a societal taboo, often referenced as — “fléau social”. Besson therefore associates homosexuals as being societally associated with sin. They chose a café “... just at the edge of town.” So, the “... people will forget us the moment we leave.” Here, Besson effectively implies the café houses the morally bereft as “... gamblers who bet on horses ... old boozers” will be people surrounding them. This listing of moral ‘outsiders’ seeking refuge in the outskirts, furthers the notion that according to Christianity these are who would need a “... deliverance from evil”, as they are sinful and therefore should be shunned from the ‘centre’ of the town (literally) and society metaphorically.

‘Lie With Me’ presents homosexuality and Christianity are opposed to one another through the theme of suicide. The climax of the novel is foreshadowed as Philippe claims: “... biblical message of fixed gender roles”. The implied critique of Christianity and ‘normative’ heterosexual relationships being reliant on fixed gender roles, is reinforced through the label of religion and ‘biblical’. Thomas returns to Spain where a woman called Luisa “... becomes pregnant.”, and he is therefore expected to follow the Catholic heterosexual lifestyle — Besson further emphasises this through the embittered tone alluding to how “It’s Catholic Spain after all”. This heterosexual marriage as a result of the pregnancy leads to Thomas hanging himself, as he cannot be with Philippe. This tragedy is further emphasized by Thomas when he writes in a letter, doubling as a suicide note, for Philippe: “I have never been so happy, and that I already know I will never be so happy again.” There is a sense of irony in Thomas choice to kill himself to being forced into a heterosexual ‘Catholic lifestyle’, as the act of homosexuality is portrayed as a sin, but he commits a mortal sin in enacting suicide.

The theme of secrecy forms another motif in both books. Secrecy within ‘Maurice’ is portrayed less pivotal to the homosexual lifestyle. This is possibly due to a secretive homosexual community Maurice and Clive associate themselves with. The narrator notes they: “... walked arm in arm ... When they sat it was … Maurice in a chair, and Durham at his feet, leaning against him.” Forster’s use of repetition and parallelism here illustrates how relaxed they felt in the company of others. Modern readers would clearly notice the subtext of them being homosexual lovers, yet it has “... attracted no notice” amongst their friends. The acceptance is clear with Risley, who acts as the caricature of ‘flamboyant’ homosexuality, These subtle acts of affection mean that Maurice and Clive are freely to act in their community. Contextually, the University of Cambridge had many homosexuals. Most notably the Cambridge Apostles, which comprised of homosexual figures such as Lytton Strachey and Wittgenstein. Therefore, it is in historically accurate to portray a supportive network in these novels.

Yet, acceptance is not available within the heterosexual community. Forster implies that homosexuality only needs to be secretive when amongst heterosexuals. We see this most notably when Maurice and Alec first spend time alone together, which leads to Alec saying he’ll “... lock” the door to Maurice’s room. This dramatic short sentence highlights the fear of discovery that frequently drove homosexuals into secrecy. In terms of secrecy and plot, this happens whilst at Penge – Clive’s estate – and his transition to homophobia become more notable. Readers can sympathise with their desire for secrecy given the historical context about the treatment homosexuals received through the Victorian to Edwardian period in Britain. ‘Maurice’ itself was a secretive book by Forster that few knew, aside from the rumours of Forster having an unpublished work, but one of Forster’s reasons to keep ‘Maurice’ a secret was the banning of Allatini’s ‘Despised and Rejected’ which featured a story about homosexuality. It was censored due to the “Defence of the Realm Act”. Therefore, just like the characters in his novel, being driven to secrecy, the novel metaphorically was as well.

In ‘Lie With Me’, it could be argued that keeping homosexual love a secret will ultimately result in immense pain. It is stated: “This passion that can’t be talked about, that has to be concealed”. Besson refers to homosexuality through a euphemism, calling it a “passion”. Depending on the definition of “passion”, it can imply barely controllable emotion, intense desire and sexual love. This adds a paradox to the excerpt, as the central theme of the book is focused on controlling your emotions so they can “… be concealed”. Therefore, it establishes the act of control is futile. Thomas will kill himself after concealing his homosexuality. “My father hung himself” Thomas’s son will tell Philippe. Thomas kills himself after his son confronts him about Philippe, this affected Thomas so much “... he lost his balance.” This idea of pain due to hiding love is enforced even in the original French, with it using the term “brûlure” – which was translated into “passion” – with its direct translation being “burn”. As a noun, burn can mean an injury caused from exposure to heat and this is ironic as the two characters will endure injury due to secretive nature of their homosexual love. Philippe comments on this saying there is an “insanity of not being able to be seen together.”  When Philippe and Thomas can show their homosexual love in public as Philippe is “... holding on to him, that I’m holding on to him outside.” Besson stressing the fact it is outside with italics highlights the importance to Philippe of not being forced to hide his homosexuality and being able to expose it to the public. Thomas and Philippe would want to keep their homosexuality secret as a 1980 poll in L’express found that 39% of French society was disgusted at the love of homosexuals.

Both novels explore the issue of self-acceptance and self-hatred within homosexuals. In ‘Maurice’ we see Maurice fluctuate between self-hatred and self-acceptance, with it relying on whether he has a boyfriend. Maurice’s first realization of his homosexuality has the narrator exclaim: “He would not ... pretend to care about women when the only sex that attracted him was his own. He loved men and always had loved them.” A contrast between Maurice’s lack of interest in women and desire to be with men in this quote is used to juxtapose Maurice’s attraction to men with women. Forster does this to represent that Maurice has accepted his homosexuality at this point within the book, as it happens after Clive tells Maurice “I love you.”. Maurice’s reason to “pretend to care about women” was due to societal and legal homophobia. Homosexuality was still illegal in the UK under the Labouchere Amendment. There is a paradoxical irony that in order accept himself as a homosexual, Maurice must be engaged in a homosexual relationship. We see this as once Clive breaks up with Maurice, Forster writes: “He wept into the hideousness into which he had been forced. ... unable to say the right words, he muttered, ‘It’s about women- ... I’m an unspeakable of the Oscar Wilde sort”. The personal pronoun stressing whenever Maurice loses Clive, he loses his self-acceptance. So much that he cannot even use the term homosexual and instead opts for an allegory to allude to being like the convicted Oscar Wilde.

Clive’s self-acceptance is thrown into question as he claims: “While in Greece I had to reconstruct my life from the bottom.” When Clive is ill and being nursed back to health by Maurice, he will admit to Maurice, he can only “care for women only, not men”. There is an irony in this as Clive is ‘coming out’ to Maurice, usually ‘coming out’ is done by homosexuals when they first tell people they’re homosexual rather than heterosexual. Clive’s conversion would give Maurice faux hope that he was secretly heterosexual and only had homosexual feelings due to his age. “Clive had turned towards women soon after he reached the age of twenty-four ... few men married before twenty-four”. Forster uses an observational tone to highlight a contrast between Maurice and Clive and to foreshadow that this won’t happen to Maurice. Instead of marrying a woman and trying to “take his place in society”, Maurice will accept his homosexuality for the rest of his life with his boyfriend Alec as Forster, notes: “Maurice and Alec still roam the greenwood.”

In ‘Lie With Me’ there is a difference in the self-acceptance of Philippe and Thomas with their homosexuality. Philippe has accepted his homosexuality by himself whilst Thomas will require Philippe to accept it. Besson comments on Thomas’s inability to say the word homosexual: “He doesn’t say: It’s not the homosexuality. He can’t even say the word; in fact, he never will once say it.” The use of italics, negation and ellipsis highlight the contrast that exists between Philippe and Thomas. Philippe has no issue with saying the word “homosexual”. Although, at the time of the book he is “... not capable of saying this sentence out loud yet”. The temporal adverb stressing that Philippe has been able to accept his homosexuality personally but not yet enough for to ‘come out’. Thomas is similar in this regard but there is a difference between his acceptance and Philippe’s. Philippe’s acceptance will allow him to “... stick to who I am. In silence, of course, but it’s a proud, stubborn silence.” Here, Besson is using a metonymy with “... who I am” implying that being a homosexual is who he is. Thomas, however, will not be proud in his silence. “... I understand the fear and panic he [Thomas] carries with him. I know how strong this fear is and that it can’t be the only fear of being caught. It’s a fear of himself too. A fear of what he is.” Besson’s repetition of “fear” and using an allegory of homosexuality being who Thomas is, helps construct a parallel structure within the quote. It helps stress the reasons why Thomas cannot fully accept his homosexuality. Specifically, it is referenced that one of his fears is “being caught”. Homosexuality was becoming more accepted in France in the 1980s but this didn’t stop homophobic attacks on homosexuals and police harassing homosexuals. One notable cause célèbre was the murder of French composer Claude Vivier in 1983 for being homosexual in Paris. Homophobia was still legal in employment in France until 1985, a year after the first chapter of the book. These factors, alongside the Catholicism of his mother who is a “... is very religious, a practicing Catholic”, likely being large factors in Thomas being unable to fully accept his homosexuality – leading to him keeping it a secret. A similarity between ‘Lie With Me’ and ‘Maurice exists here as Thomas is more accepting of his homosexuality when with Philippe as he “can no longer be alone with this feeling”.

In conclusion, Forster’s ‘Maurice’ and Besson’s ‘Lie With Me’ are emotive books of striking literary art that have the influence to make their readers cry – even on re-reads. Both novels are among the best in the literary canon of homosexual literature, especially due to the richness in their portrayal of the male homosexual lifestyle and the pain homosexuals can go through.  Both novels tackle controversial topics, with ‘Maurice’ being ahead of its time, in a delicate manner. Whether this be due to the secrecy of homosexuality or the journey to self-acceptance. This similarity in them is astounding given they were written a century apart.

Words: 2527

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