A Passage to India | Historical Context

A Passage to India Historical Context

Forster's England

Although the action of A Passage to India takes place entirely in India, it should be remembered that Forster was a British writer, and that most of his readers were British. Thus, the work reflects not only the contemporary India, which is its overt subject, but also England and the milieu in which Forster lived and wrote. Moreover, al though Forster published the book in 1924 during the reign of King George V (r. 1910-36), he is commonly regarded as an Edwardian novelist. Forster's first four novels were written in the first decade of the twentieth century, during the reign of King Edward VII (r. 1901-10), and his values and outlook were developed during this period, before World War I. Thus, like Forster's earlier books, A Passage to India is commonly regarded as an Edwardian book (an Edwardian novel of manners, at that), even though it was not written during...
(read more)