Title: A Room With A View
Author: E. M. Forrester
Synopsis: A young girl, Lucy Honeychurch, is on a trip to Italy with Miss Bartlett,
her chaperone. While walking through the countryside, Lucy is kissed by George
Emerson, a young man her age whom she had only met the previous day. Miss Bartlett
sees them and stops the kiss. When Lucy returns home to Windy Corner, she finds
that the Emerson’s are renting a cottage in her area. Lucy gets engaged,
but breaks it off after some persuasion from George, who then marries her.
Themes: True love is a rare thing that cannot be denied or forgotten
Point of View: The novel is told by a narrator with dialogue.
Characters/types: Lucy is the protagonist, and Cecil is the antagonist.
Figurative Language/literary devices: note extensive or unique uses as well
as describing the overall effect. Forrester uses a lot of description and dialogue.
They give the reader the chance to fully understand each scene because they
can be easily pictured in the readers mind.
1. Which element was the most important to the development of the novel? Explain
why. The most important element in the novel was the preliminary kiss that happened
between George and Lucy. This kiss showed that George was in love with Lucy,
even though he did not know her. Lucy has flashbacks to the kiss, and the reader
knows that she very much enjoyed it.
2. Identify the elements of plot below. Justify your answer.
A. initial incident Lucy and George kiss, symbolizing the begging of their love
for each other
B. climax The climax occurs when Lucy ends her engagement with Cecil.
3. Give an example of conflict. Identify the type of conflict and how it is
/ why it is not resolved. There is a conflict between Lucy and Cecil when Lucy
realizes that she has no affection for him, when she thought she once did. It
is resolved when she ends the engagement
4. Give an example of irony from the novel. Identify the type and explain how
or why it is ironic. It is ironic that Lucy ends up marring George, a man she
once though to be strange and even vulgar.
5. Identify a flashback from the novel and explain the effect of the use of
this device. While kissing Cecil, Lucy knocks off his glasses. It was a very
poor, clumsy kiss, during which she flashesback to the kiss with George.
6. Give an example of foreshadowing from the novel. Explain the effect of the
use of this device. The love between Lucy and George is foreshadowed by the
first kiss that they had.
7. From what point of view is the story told? What effect does this point of
view have on the reader? The story is told from the narrators point of view,
with character dialogue.
84. Describe the setting of the novel. The novel begins in Italy, and then moves
to Lucy’s home, Windy Corner.
9. Identify two major characters from the novel. For each character: A. Identify
the type. B. Give three quotes, with page numbers, which illustrates the character.
Character one:
A. Lucy
B. “I have put my foot in it with Cecil most awfully” (p. 172)
“I will never speak of it [Lucy and George’s kiss] either to her
or anyone” (p. 166)
“The silence of life had been broken by Miss Bartlett, who stood brown
against the view” (p.159)
Character two
A. George
B. “He saw radiant joy in her face, he saw the flowers beat against her
breast in blue waves” (p. 172)
10. Give a one sentence statement of theme for the novel. Love is a thing that
can not be denied because it will prevail, even in adverse conditions.
11. Identify one symbol from the novel and explain the symbolism. The first
kiss was a symbol for the love that George and Lucy had for one another.
12. Identify one allusion from the novel and explain the allusion. Cecil was
an allusion because he did not truly love Lucy as a woman, but he loved her
as an object.
13. Identify six different types of figurative language or literary devices
used in the novel. For each type: A. Identify type. B. Give a quote with page
number. C. Explain the effect.
1. A. Foreshadowing
B.”Lying to Cecil” (p.218)
C. This shows the audience what is to come.
2. A. Quotation
B. “I haven’t had a really good education for one thing,”
she continued. (p. 234)
C. The audience can see the scene through the eyes of the character because
they are speaking directly to one another
3. A Indirect characterization
B. “Cecil won’t let a woman decide for herself- in fact, he daren’t”
(p. 234)
C. This shows how Cecil feels about Lucy. Lucy and the audience now know how
Cecil treats woman, and in turn loose respect for him.
4. A Imagery
B. “Presently her cerise dress has been a failure, and makes her look
tawdry and wan.” (p. 219)
C. This shows how Lucy looks by using descriptive language that allows you to
imagine how the dress looks.
5. A. Direct Characterization
B. “Lucy-Lucy-what a nuisance I am!
C. The reader learns about Miss Bartlett through her own voice.
6. A Title reference
B. She promised us south room with a view close together, instead of which here
are north rooms, looking into a courtyard, and a long way apart’ (p.113)
C. This sets up the scene ands give a hint as to what the novel will be about
