How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
[…] [Lucy] was seized with one of those emotional impulses to which she could never attribute a cause. She only felt that the candle would burn better, the packing go easier, the world be happier, if she could give and receive some human love. The impulse had come before to-day, but never so strongly. She knelt down by her cousin's side and took her in her arms (7.25).
Lucy, being a young, emotional, genuinely good person, feels the irresistibly human need for affection – unfortunately, the only outlet she has for it is Charlotte, who really doesn’t seem like the most huggable person. Lucy’s not sure what motivates her need for love, but we are – duh, it’s human nature!
Quote #5
At that supreme moment he was conscious of nothing but absurdities. Her reply was inadequate. She gave such a business-like lift to her veil. As he approached her he found time to wish that he could recoil. As he touched her, his gold pince-nez became dislodged and was flattened between them.
Such was the embrace. He considered, with truth, that it had been a failure. Passion should believe itself irresistible. It should forget civility and consideration and all the other curses of a refined nature. Above all, it should never ask for leave where there is a right of way (9.160-1).
Wow, what a disaster. After the swoony description of George and Lucy’s passionate kiss, Cecil’s attempt at romance really falls short. Horribly, laughably short. The hilarious detail that really kills us is the mention of how his pince-nez (a type of old-fashioned, somewhat dandyish glasses) fall between the two of them. Seriously, it gets us every time. At least Cecil has the presence of mind to realize that the kiss is a failure…we just wonder what poor Lucy thinks.
Quote #6
It is obvious enough for the reader to conclude, “She loves young Emerson.” A reader in Lucy's place would not find it obvious. Life is easy to chronicle, but bewildering to practice, and we welcome “nerves” or any other shibboleth that will cloak our personal desire. She loved Cecil; George made her nervous; will the reader explain to her that the phrases should have been reversed? (14.3).
Forster’s right – it’s easy for us to see that Lucy should end up with George, not Cecil. However, he’s also right in noting that it’s a lot easier to see things from the outside; Lucy’s problem is that she can’t separate her feelings (love for George) from her social obligations (engagement to Cecil).