E. M. Forster Summary

Forster, E. M. (1879–1970), British novelist and essayist. A prolific British writer of the twentieth century, Edward Morgan Forster was born in London on New Year's Eve in 1879 to Morga... Read more

Biography EssayDuring the Edwardian years and into the 1920s, E. M. Forster consolidated his reputation as a novelist of distinction and as a persuasive man of letters. He attained the greatest recogn... Read more

At first glimpse, the work of the British novelist and essayist, E. M. Forster, would hardly be thought to be the stuff of Hollywood. His finely detailed novels explore the Edwardian world of society ... Read more

During the Edwardian years and into the 1920s, E. M. Forster consolidated his reputation as a novelist of distinction and as a persuasive man of letters. He attained the greatest recognition and autho... Read more

Edward Morgan Forster, though best known as a novelist, also distinguished himself in other genres, including the short story. His first collection of stories as well as four of his six novels appeare... Read more

In a 1959 lecture, "Three Countries," E. M. Forster called himself "a confirmed globetrotter," but the impact of travel on his life and work cannot adequately be suggested by that light phrase. What F... Read more

In this review, Mansfield, a highly respected writer and literary critic, cautiously praises Forster's "Story of the Siren" for its sensibility and humor, but notes that he does n... Read more

In this excerpt, Godfrey discusses Forster's preoccupation with the effects of the unseen supernatural as it relates to the plots and characterizations of his short stories. Although the storie... Read more

In the following excerpt, Welty, an acclaimed novelist and essayist, notes that while the stories of The Life to Come are linked to Forster's other fiction by their emphasis on passion, they ar... Read more

In the following excerpt, Miller argues that the constrained quality of Forster's posthumous publications justifies the author's own misgivings about their literary merit. Despite what i... Read more

In the following excerpt, Colmer discusses the role of place, the supernatural, pagan mythology, and the importance of the past as dominant themes in Forster's short fiction. In many ways the s... Read more

In the following excerpt, Cavaliero praises the posthumously published short stories for their irreverent humor and satirical power. Forster's late stories pose problems for the reader. His own... Read more

In this excerpt, Wilde argues that Forster's acceptance of chaos, evidenced in the posthumous short stories, reflects a diminishing of Forster's vision. When Sir Richard Conway [in �... Read more

In the following excerpt, Summers notes the importance of Forster's short fiction to our understanding of his artistic vision. Forster is not a master of the short story. His importance as a wr... Read more

In this excerpt, an eminent Forster scholar favorably assesses Forster's posthumous fiction for its intensity and complexity. Arctic Summer and Other Fiction, a volume in the monumental Abinge... Read more

In this excerpt, Lago considers the posthumously published short fiction a valuable and rewarding epilogue to Forster's publishing history . Although Forster defined himself as novelist, the sh... Read more

In this mixed assessment, Muir praises the genius of several stories, but describes the remainder of the collection as flawed by sociological concerns. "These stories," Mr. Forster infor... Read more

In this examination of Forster's short fiction, Redman focuses on the central theme of escape from the stifling conventionalities of ñre-World War I England. E. M. Forster is one of the un... Read more

In the following excerpt, Hardwick argues that Forster's stories are overly restrained and ultimately minor, despite his expert craftsmanship. Nothing could be further removed from Sartre and h... Read more

Critical Essay by Frank Kermode Mr. Forster is a kind of Symbolist. He declares for the autonomy of the work of art; for co-essence of form and meaning; for art as "organic and free from dead m... Read more

Critical Essay by I. A. Richards Where another writer possessed of an unusual outlook on life would be careful to introduce it, gradually preparing the way by views from more ordinary standpoints, Mr.... Read more

Critical Essay by Frederick C. Crews The trouble with Rickie Elliot's short stories, and equally with Forster's own, is an overbalance of meaningfulness at the expense of represented lif... Read more

Critical Essay by Virginia Woolf Mr. Forster is extremely susceptible to the influence of time. He sees his people much at the mercy of those conditions which change with the years. He is acutely cons... Read more

Critical Essay by Laurence Brander Forster made his chief contribution to the subject [of the novel] in the Clark Lectures which he delivered in the spring of 1927. [They were printed unrevised as Asp... Read more

Critical Essay by Jeffrey Berman Since its publication in 1909, E. M. Forster's longest novella, "The Machine Stops," has received brief and sometimes begrudging critical attentio... Read more

Critical Essay by John Bayley More than most successful writers E. M. Forster proceeded by fits and starts; success with him never produced a formula he could go on using. Two novels at least were abo... Read more

Critical Essay by Anthony Dickens [Arctic Summer and Other Fiction contains] the remnants of Forster's unpublished or uncompleted novels and short stories…. All these pieces and fragment... Read more