Freddy: "Why does she always look like that?"
Lucy: "Like what?"
Freddy [imitating Charlotte]: "Charlotte Bartlett"
Lucy: "Because, Freddy, she IS Charlotte Bartlett."
Rupert Graves and
Helena Bonham Carter,
A Room with a ViewReverend Eager: "Remember the facts about this church of Santa Croce; how it was built by faith in the full fervour of medievalism. "
Mr. Emerson: "Built by faith indeed! That simply means the workers weren't paid properly."
Patrick Godfrey and
Denholm Elliot,
A Room with a ViewI recently found a paper I wrote as a sophomore for a European film class. The paper is over one of my favorite movies of all time, the Ivory Merchant classic
A Room with a View. Here it is in all its glory--but be warned, it's looong!
A Room with a View on View
Many people expect the Ivory Merchant production masterpiece, A Room with a View, to be a stuffy period film or simply a romance. These people are missing what the film actually is; a brilliantly-adapted social commentary of British middle-class sensibilities and the effect the rigid social structure has on a young girl struggling to find her identity. The film focuses on the themes of British national identity, social structure, and the effects of these on marriage within a small group of travelers in Italy. This heritage film, like many Ivory Merchant productions, is rich in culture and landscape which illuminate the contrasts between the two nations in the film, Italy and England. In this paper, I will be closely analyzing this story of middle class romance between a young woman caught up in the world of the British social structure unable to free herself, and the young man who’s own sense of freedom is, for her, a room with a view. The film is centered around the implications that are illuminated through the contrast of Italy and Britain. A Room with a View opens at an Italian boarding house full of English travellers, and later moves to England where the characters spend a large portion of their time reminiscing of what happened in Italy and comparing British life to Italian life. The countries serve as foils for each other. England is painted as rigid, with a strict social structure, while Italy is depicted as more relaxed with room for the intermingling of different classes. The construction of national identity for each country is seen through the narrative construction, visual elements, and the individual characters, specifically the heroine Lucy Honeychurch.
One way the narrative is constructed is through the subdivisions of the film. The film looks like literature on film because it is divided into “chapters.” Each chapter is proceded by a title telling us critical information. “Lucy as a Work of Art” tells us that her fiance does not really value her company, but rather values her as something to admire and show off. The chapter titles“Lying to George,” “Lying to Cecil,” “Lying to Mr. Emerson,” “Lying to Mr. Beebe, Mrs. Honeychurch, Freddy, and the Servants,” show us that by lying to practically every character in the film, Lucy’s also lying to herself. These “chapter” titles give us insight to the characters and their viewpoints, especially Lucy Honeychurch.
Lucy is caught between the life she wants and the life she feels she should want. The life she feels she should want is waiting at home for her in England. In England is a man, Cecil Vyse, who has proposed marriage to her more than once. Each time previous, she has refused him, but when she comes home from Italy, she accepts. Lucy has been changed by her visit to Italy; something happened to make her change her mind. It is in Italy that she first got a taste of the life she actually wants. Somewhere in Italy she fell in love with George Emerson, a young man who, according to his father and traveling companion, “has brains but is very muddled.” George is very much like Lucy except he shows the emotions he’s feeling while Lucy represses them so as not to cause a stir. George is too serious and too melancholy for his good, according to his father. Mr. Emerson seems convinced that Lucy could make George brood and worry less, and look at life with a lighter heart. While Lucy likes both Emersons, she is well aware of the audacity Mr. Emerson has to approach her with this idea when he barely knows her. The Emersons are a middle class family. The significant thing about them is that they possess no concept of social structures. In their eyes, everyone is equal. They don’t see what everyone else sees, and that is that even within the middle class, society is highly stratified. Because the Emersons are unaware of this, the people around them look down upon them, and consequently, they become socially inferior even within the middle class. Lucy recognizes that other people feel this way and it troubles her. She also understands that Mr. Emerson has raised his son to be like himself; kind, feeling, and generous, but with a bit of impropriety and lack of judgment.
Despite his impropriety, Lucy is attracted to George. When George spontaneously kisses her while a large group from the hotel are out and about, Lucy is at first swept away. It is only later when under the influence of her chaperon and cousin, Charlotte Bartlett that she realizes she should be upset over the kiss because she has been taken advantage by society’s standards. It is only because she realizes that by society’s standards, she should be upset that she gets so. She realizes while in Italy that Mr. Emerson and George do things for other people out of kindness despite what social norms are. They do not pay attention to what is proper and what is not, they simply try to help any way they can. Furthermore, Mr. Emerson cannot grasp the reason some people (such as Miss Bartlett) do not understand this and why others do not do the same thing. Despite her attraction and innate similarity to George’s character, she suppresses her romantic desire for him. Instead she accepts a marriage proposal from a man back in England who talks of equality within classes but in reality is a terrible snob. In fact, when they return to England Lucy’s fiance, Cecil Vyse, invites the Emersons to stay in a nearby cottage to teach a lesson to the landlord. Cecil does this because although the Emersons are middle-class, their lack of British sensibilities makes them decidedly lower in social rank and the landlord is well-known for his snobbery. Cecil wants the landlord to get vulgar tenants to punish him for his snobbery. Cecil tells Lucy that this landlord, Sir Harry, stands for all that is wrong with this country. The implication of what Cecil is saying is that in London Sir Harry would be kept in his place, but down here in the country, with all its freshness, he throws his gentility and his patronage around and the worst of all is that everyone, including Lucy’s mother, is taken in. The irony is Cecil sees them as vulgar and doesn’t understand that he is perpetuating the class system through his thinking, despite his act of “generosity” when he recommended the Emersons for Sir Harry’s cottage. He believes himself to be superior to them, and furthermore, doesn’t even care for them much. In fact, the only person he does like is Lucy, which I will analyze more closely later on. He also puts up with the vicar, Mr. Beebe, who was with Lucy in Italy.
The contrast of Lucy’s relationship with George in Italy versus her relationship with Cecil in England shows two separate national identities. George is clearly an embodiment of what Italy is supposed to represent in this film. The brooding George is able to let go of his worries when he is in the out of doors of Italy. At such moments, he abandons his broodings and is able to simply feel. At one point, amidst the breathtaking landscape, he yells his creed, “Beauty, joy, love!” This is a powerful moment because while the other characters are gossiping of what is happening back in England, the sound of George’s voice yelling his creed because of all that he sees in Italy, is heard throughout. Moments later, the sight of Lucy against the backdrop of Italian landscape sweeps him away, and this is when he kisses her. He had been standing amidst a field of wildflowers and is overcome by his emotions so he passionately releases it to Lucy. The implication of this is that it was the free-spiritedness that Italy inspires that motivated George to do this.
By contrast, Cecil is a representation of England or at least English sensibilities. Cecil is a prudish bore, more interested in ideas than experiences. He says of himself, “Some people are better suited for books,” than actions. He speaks of noble causes like the equality of classes and democracy, but as Lucy tells him, he doesn’t know what the words mean. Cecil is the exact opposite of George. The one time he chooses to show Lucy emotion, it is as completely opposite of George’s expression of emotion as possible. Cecil asks to kiss her while they are standing near a pond in a small woods. He is all done up with his hair neatly combed and his pince-nez in place. He is in sharp contrast to the natural setting around him. The actual kiss is awkward and embarrassing for both the characters and the audience as Lucy is more forward than Cecil, expecting greater things from her previous experience. Afterwards, Cecil comments she always seems uncomfortable with him outside and Lucy responds that he’s right. When she thinks of him, she always pictures him within a room. The implication of this is that George’s sense of freedom is like a room with a view. George has physical responsibilities but he is idealogically free because of his views. Cecil however, is boxed in. He has ideas of freedom but would actually be quite uncomfortable if there was no class structure. Cecil spends much of his time thinking about the class structure and how it is wrong and what he needs to do about it. He is so focused on the issue, he never actually does anything about it because he spends the rest of his time passing judgments on others. George on the other hand, never thinks of it at all. It is not an issue to him. Everyone is equal in his eyes. Lucy is caught in the middle of these two views. When Cecil tells her that even Mrs. Honeychurch is taken in by Sir Harry and his snobbery, Lucy can’t help but wonder if it really matters. Cecil’s mind is closed off like a room while George is open-minded like a room, but one with an inspiring view. As Cecil and Lucy leave the small pond, Lucy has flashbacks to the scene in the great outdoors of Italy when George kissed her. As she’s reflecting, she comments to Cecil that every person they met in Italy was extraordinary. Cecil could not know that this was the most intimate conversation that the two had ever and would ever share.
Besides the narrative and landscape, the construction of Italy comes through visual elements such as the landmarks around Florence. The film’s most significant landmark in Italy becomes a loggia in the middle of a Piazza. As Lucy is sight-seeing among familiar Italian monuments, a brawl erupts among several Italian men near the Loggia. One of the men becomes seriously injured. The fight attracts many others, and a camera shot from above shows Italian flocking to the injured man straining for a closer glimpse, like sharks are attracted to blood. The man dies and the scene turns absolutely chaotic; the police arrive and handcuff the assaulter while others cart the dead body away. Before this happens, Lucy catches a glimpse of blood pouring from the man’s mouth and faints. George happens to be nearby, catches her and carries her away from the Loggia. Later, when she expresses embarrassment over her release of emotions though fainting, George tells her he nearly fainted himself. These statements contradict what most Italians in the scene were shown doing. They wanted to get closer and be a part of the action while the English wanted to get away. Lucy summarizes this by saying, “Italians can be so lovable and so kind, yet so violent.” This comment is said as if it was true only of Italians, and furthermore, that is was true of all Italians. The implications of this scene are that while England is clearly very civilized, Italy is chaotic and uncivil.
In this way Italy is depicted as more primitive. The people are a part of nature; they feel it. They release their passions and emotions while the British hold them in. The British are too caught up in what is “proper” to truly feel life. At one point Mr. Emerson calls Lucy a “poor girl” because he recognizes she has the ability to truly enjoy life, yet she doesn’t because she is too busy making niceties and being British, the way Britishness is constructed in the film. She responds indignantly, “Poor girl? I think I’m a very fortunate girl.” The implications of this scene are very clear. She is traveling in Italy, yet rarely does she allow herself to feel Italy; it is easier for her to repress her true feelings so she doesn’t step out of line or shock anyone.
One of the first shots we see of England is a garden party celebrating Lucy’s engagement to Cecil. Cecil is disturbed by all the fuss and comments that “it’s barbaric.” His description of an engagement party as barbaric contrasts completely with the actual barbaric fight scene by the Loggia. Italy becomes even more primitive while enhancing the intensity of the British class system and the accepted ways to behave.
What makes Lucy Honeychurch the heroine is her inner struggle with the accepted ways to behave. Her struggle between these two ways of life is resolved when she accepts her self-identity and responsibility to make her own decisions. While in Italy, the reverend Mr. Beebe, after hearing Lucy play Beethoven on the piano tells her that he has a pet theory about her. Her piano playing is passionate and emotional while she’s living her life as Charlotte Bartlett and the rest of proper British society think it should be lived, sensibily and quietly. The piano, however, is the one place where her true passion can be showed. Mr. Beebe’s theory is that one day music and life will mingle. It is only after playing Beethoven that the viewers can feel they see the real Lucy. In fact, Mrs. Honeychurch prefers for Lucy not to play Beethoven because it makes her peevish. We see this several times throughout the film; it is Beethoven that she has been playing when she decides to go for a walk by herself and finds herself at the Loggia. Had she not gotten herself riled up by playing, she never would have there to see the fight. As a musician it is acceptable for her to express her passion. One day, Mr. Beebe feels, she won’t need the Beethoven to release her, she will be able to find it in life.
Mr. Emerson sees this quality in Lucy also, as does another guest Eleanor Lavish. Miss Lavish is a romance novelist and tells Miss Bartlett that Lucy would be the ideal heroine because of her innate passion. The interesting part, according to Miss Lavish, is that Lucy has yet to meet the someone who will open her up. Charlotte is upset with this idea and spends much of her time restraining Lucy. She puts barriers between Lucy and George, afraid George will influence her to forget her “Britishness.” Charlotte works her own influence over Lucy, convincing Lucy that she is merely one of his “exploits.” Lucy is embarrassed that she was taken advantage of this way and sees that this “courtship” is improper according to British sensibilities. Therefore, she accepts Cecil’s marriage proposal. However, despite Charlotte’s attempts, George still seems to have the same effect on Lucy that Beethoven does, and slowly Mr. Beebe’s theory begins to come true. Lucy does her best to squelch her instincts and act “properly” but she becomes riled up every time he is near her. The audience feels a strong connection to George because he is able to pull the real Lucy out of the world of British sensibilities.
Part of Lucy’s struggle to find her own self-identity is that she tries to embrace both the primitivism and restrain it. She comments that as a little girl she enjoyed swimming in a nearby pond and her brother Freddy is constantly attacking her and wrestling her to the ground, which she seems to enjoy. This type of behavior, from Cecil’s point-of-view, would be all right for a child, even a girl. But as Lucy grows into a woman, she must succumb to British sensibilities. Lucy knows that this is what is expected from her so she lies to everyone around her and continues to say she loves Cecil. She perpetuates her own constraint. Even after she has admitted to herself that she loves George, she will not admit it to him she cannot shake her British sensibilities.
The implication of this story of middle-class is that even the people with the deepest of British sensibilities instilled in them, such as Charlotte, want the society and the social structure to change. Charlotte fought Lucy and George on the surface, by keeping them apart, but yet she hoped for them. She kept their connection alive by pestering Lucy about George and what happened between them in Italy. It was Charlotte who, in the end, realized the error of her ways, and cornered Lucy into talking to Mr. Emerson. Charlotte realized that only Mr. Emerson, with no sense of social hierarchy, could force Lucy to see things clearly. Mr. Emerson told her, “You’re in a muddle” and made her see that it was George was muddled her and it was George who could unmuddle her. To become unmuddled, she needed to rid herself of her societal restraints and the only way to do this was to listen to herself. In the end she realizes that George is nearly the only person around her who doesn’t want to restrain her. He wants her to have her own thoughts and feelings, and make her own decisions. Whereas Cecil wants her to be a Leonardo or some other painting, George wants her to be real.
Through Lucy’s traveling in Italy, she sees that life has more to offer than the sensibilities of middle-class Britain. She does not have an easy time fighting her own instincts to let go of these decorous customs and live like she saw Italians living, but with the help of many around her, she does. She rejects a life with Cecil where she would be an object to admire and accepts responsibility for her life by marrying George who can only offer his wish for her to keep her own identity and his sense of freedom which reminds her of a room with a view. The film shows this through the construction of narrative, visual elements, and analysis of individual characters. The effect is a masterpiece.
