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morrieandlicky · 6 months

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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.

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cbjustmusic · 9 months

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On what would have been her 60th birthday (born August 9, 1963), Whitney Houston performing “I Wanna Dance With Somebody”. _________________________ I Wanna Dance With Somebody Songwriters: George Merrill and Shannon Rubicam

Clock strikes upon the hour And the sun begins to fade Still enough time to figure out How to chase my blues away I've done alright up to now It's the light of day that shows me how And when the night falls, loneliness calls

Oh, I wanna dance with somebody I wanna feel the heat with somebody Yeah, I wanna dance with somebody With somebody who loves me

I've been in love and lost my senses Spinning through the town Sooner or later, the fever ends And I wind up feeling down

I need a man who'll take a chance On a love that burns hot enough to last So when the night falls My lonely heart calls

Oh, I wanna dance with somebody I wanna feel the heat with somebody Yeah, I wanna dance with somebody With somebody who loves me

Somebody ooo, somebody ooo Somebody who loves me yeah Somebody ooo, somebody ooo To hold me in his arms oh

I need a man who'll take a chance On a love that burns hot enough to last So when the night falls My lonely heart calls

Oh, I wanna dance with somebody I wanna feel the heat with somebody Yeah, I wanna dance with somebody With somebody who loves me

Don't ya wanna dance with me baby Don't ya wanna dance with me boy Hey don't ya wanna dance with me baby With somebody who loves me

Don't ya wanna dance, say you wanna dance, don't ya wanna dance Don't ya wanna dance, say you wanna dance, don't ya wanna dance Don't ya wanna dance, say you wanna dance With somebody who loves me Dance

#whitney houston #george merrill #shannon rubicam

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dissidentlibrary · 2 years

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Forster's jungle

And yet the wonder of the novel was that it had been written when it had been written; the wonder was Forster himself, imprisoned within the jungle of pre-war prejudice, putting these unthinkable thoughts into words. Perhaps listening from time to time, to give himself courage, to the faraway chop-chop of those pioneer heroes, Edward Carpenter and George Merrill, boldly enlarging their clearing in the jungle.

Christopher Isherwood, Christopher and his Kind.

#christopher and heinz #em forster #christopher isherwood #edward carpenter #george merrill #lgbt history #queer history #queer books #queer love #queer representation

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thomas-querqy · 4 months

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Edward Carpenter, son compagnon George Merrill en tailleur à ses pieds et deux amis (c. 1900)

J’avance avec plaisir dans « La vie nouvelle » de Tom Crewe. J’y ai retrouvé Edward Carpenter et son compagnon Georges Merrill, croisé dans « L’été arctique » écrit par Damon Galgut, une biographie romancée d'E. M. Forster.

Pour écrire son roman, Tom Crewe a largement et librement puisé dans ce que l’on sait de la vie des deux personnages principaux, John Addington et Havelock Hellis qui ont écrit ensemble, sans jamais se rencontrer, « l’inversion sexuelle », publié en Allemagne en 1896, 4 ans après la mort de John Addington.

John Addington Symonds, à droite, et Havelock Ellis

En toile de fond de leur rencontre et du roman, les deux procès d’Oscar Wilde, dont le dernier en 1895 le condamnera à deux ans de travaux forcés pour « grossières indécences ».

#edward carpenter #George Merrill #culture gay #grande-bretagne #tom crewe #livres #oscar wilde #procès #reading #damon galgut #em forster

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worldintheevening · 1 year

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#edward carpenter #george merrill #lgbt

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filosofablogger · 2 months

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♫ How Will I Know? ♫

I’ve been really lazy this week, haven’t dug up any new songs to play, and tonight the laziness continues. I last played this one in mid-2020 and most everyone enjoyed it, so I hope you’ll enjoy it again! Sorry, Clive … you likely won’t enjoy it. Mea culpa. This was written by George Merrill and Shannon Rubicam. According to them … George: “They asked us to write for Janet Jackson’s next…

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#George Merrill #Janet Jackson #Narada Walden #Shannon Rubicam #Whitney Houston

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weirdlookindog · 7 months

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Catacombs (1965)

AKA The Woman Who Wouldn't Die

#catacombs #the woman who wouldn't die #jane merrow #gary merrill #georgina cookson #1965 #1960s movies #george hessler #horror movie poster

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citizenscreen · 4 days

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Barbara Stanwyck, George Sanders, and Gary Merrill for Roy Rowland’s WITNESS TO MURDER (1954)

#barbara stanwyck #george sanders #gary merrill #old hollywood #classic movies

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jeanharlowshair · 5 months

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Motion Picture Magazine, August 1940.

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soft-homestyle · 1 month

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The sparkling cast of All About Eve (1950)

From left to right:

George Sanders as Addison Dewitt

Gary Merrill as Bill Simpson

Bette Davis as Margo Channing

Ann Baxter as Eve Harrington

Celeste Holm as Karen Richards

Hugh Marlowe as Lloyd Richards

#all about eve #1950s #bette davis #george sanders #ann baxter #celeste holm #gary merrill #hugh marlowe #vintage #vintage hollywood #vintage celebrity #classic hollywood #classic movies #old hollywood #old hollywod glamour #black and white #vintage friday

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morrieandlicky · 1 year

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Edward Carpenter's full response letter to E.M. Forster after reading Maurice in 1914.

(The images of the letter can be found here at King's College's archive. Below is my transcription followed by photocopies of the letter. )

PS: 1) "MS" is the abbreviation for "manuscript".

23 Aug. [1914?]

My dear & blessed E.M.,

(I wish you had a name. Why do you always hide behind initials? What do your friends call you? My name is Edward, or ‘chips’!)

I have read your ‘Maurice’ after all, and am very much pleased with it. I don’t always like your rather hesitating tantalizing impressionist style - though it has subtleties - but I think the story has many fine points. You succeed in joining the atmosphere with the various characters, and there are plenty of happenings which is a good thing. Maurice’s love affairs are all interesting, and I have a mind to read them again, if I can find time - so I won’t send the MS back for a day or two. I am so glad you end up on a major chord. I was so afraid you were going to let Scudder go at the last - but you saved him and saved the story, because the end though improbable is not impossible and is the one bit of real romance - which those who understand will love.

I wish I could write more, but I am devoured just now by innumerable things. I expect to be in and about London from the 1st to 8th Sep. - so give me a cue to see you.

Your Edward C.

Transcription of vertical writings on the second page of the letter:

I am sending my birthday reply to the papers on Sep. 1 with a lot about the war in it.

Only a small part of the letter has been transcribed then included in reviews, or different Maurice editions. Which is why I wanted to transcribe the whole response from the real-life Maurice to the author of fictional Maurice after he read Maurice. The entirety is far more interesting.

Below: Edward Carpenter in 1886 and 1897.

Some contexts: based on Forster's diaries, Maurice was first finished in June/July, 1914, so Carpenter did read the first complete MS—with or without the epilogue is unclear since there's no solid proof for when the epilogue was written (though it appeared in the novel by February 1915 at the latest.)

However, since Carpenter said he liked the happy ending he read (and fun fact: the first complete MS which he read actually had a fairly different ending between Maurice and Alec than the published version's), we know that even from the first draft, Forster remained unwavering about how a happy ending is imperative.

More contexts: according to a letter from Forster to a friend, he thought Carpenter was "too unliterary to be helpful"—meaning Carpenter probably wasn't much interested in reading literature. And Carpenter sort of confirmed that in writing "I read your 'Maurice' after all", implying he was indeed reluctant to read at first.

Still, it made absolute sense for Forster to send the story back to the man who, in a manner of speaking, held the copyright of Maurice in flesh before Forster even finished it.

So the question is: did Carpenter know that Maurice was inspired by him and his lover George Merrill? Did he know that he was the real-life Maurice and Merrill was the real-life Alec? Perhaps that was why he was reluctant to read the novel at first?

#edward carpenter #em forster maurice #maurice em forster #em forster #edward morgan forster #maurice #maurice 1987 #maurice hall #maurice 1914 #maurice 1971 #alec scudder #george merrill #clive durham #1914 #1910s

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clyde49 · 2 months

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George Lowe has been confirmed by Andy Merrill to be Returning as Space Ghost in Jellystone Season 3