Links to websites

https://www.shmoop.com/study-guides/literature/room-with-a-view/characters

https://www.litcharts.com/lit/a-room-with-a-view/themes

https://www.gradesaver.com/a-room-with-a-view/study-guide/themes

https://www.sparknotes.com/lit/room/characters/

Characters & Analysis

Lucy Honeychurch

• Young woman from Surrey

• Upper class

• Doesn’t know what she wants

• Plays the piano to ‘escape’

• Breaks social norms and codes throughout the book

• She chooses to break the expectations of her, and marry George instead of Cecil

• Themes she relates to:

  • Honesty

  • Sexism and women’s roles

  • Love

  • Music

  • The muddle

  • Distinction between classes

George Emerson

• Young man

• Progressive

• Desire for truth

• Middle class

• At the beginning of the book he struggles to find meaning in life

• Falls in love with Lucy in Italy

• He encourages her not to marry Cecil Vyse

• Themes he relates to:

  • Society, manners and changing social norms

  • Love

  • Distinction between the classes

Charlotte Bartlett

• Lucy’s older cousin

• Chaperones Lucy in Italy

• Attempts to hold Lucy to “proper” standards

• Doesn’t approve of the Emersons

• Old-fashioned ideas

• In the end she assists Lucy in marrying George Emerson

• Themes she relates to:

  • society, manners, and changing social norms

  • sexism and women’s roles

  • distinction between classes

Mr Beebe

• The reverend in Lucy’s hometown who she meets in Italy

• Aims to use his influence to help others

• Likes those that are honest

• Supports Lucy throughout the book until she decides to marry George when he turns against the idea

• Themes he relates to:

  • Education and independence

  • Sexism and women’s roles

Mr Emerson

• Doesn’t conform to social norms

• Progressive

• Described as both ungentlemanly and beautiful

• Helps Lucy to realise her feelings for George and fight back against social norms

• Is in the middle class

• Themes he relates to:

  • society, manners, and changing social norms

  • love

  • the muddle

  • distinction between classes

Cecil Vyse

• dislikeable

• Lucy’s fiance for a short period of time

• doesn’t like the people from Lucy’s town

• sees Lucy as an object

• treats people without kindness or respect

• tries to be authoritarian and manly but is really just awkward and self-conscious

• upper class

• themes he relates to:

  • education and independence

  • distinction between the classes

Eleanor Lavish

• a writer staying at the same pension as Lucy and Charlotte

• unconventional

• themes she relates to:

  • education and independence

Mrs Honeychurch

• Lucy’s mother

Freddy Honeychurch

• Lucy’s younger brother

• Dislikes Cecil and likes George

Themes

Society, Manners, and Changing Social Norms

Sexism and Women’s Roles

Honesty

Education and Independence

Love

Beauty

Music

The muddle

Distinction between the classes

Quotes

Symbolism

• muddle

• outdoors

• piano playing

• kite

• flowers/kiss

• change

• growth

• new understandings

• closed/open window

• new view

• Lucy’s coming of age

• Lucy’s journey of self-discovery

• societal demands & expectations

• being true to yourself

• breaking free from repression

• an understanding & acceptance of who you really are

• knowledge of our own identity and the challenges to it

Essay Structure

Intro

• address the question - create a thesis; use words from the question but don’t repeat it

• Identify text (novel - underline the title) + author - contextualise (Edwardian England etc)

• Sign post the ideas/paragraphs in your essay

Paragraphs

• Point - linked to intro

• Evidence/explain

• Technique

• Analyse how your evidence supports your point

• Link back to question

Conclusion

e.g. Thus it is clear that Lucy Honeychurch learns to embrace her own identity & resist the repressive manners of the Edwardian Period.

Poems

FLIRTS

F - form/structure

• stanza

• specific types of poems (e.g. haiku)

L - language techniques

• first person, second person, third person

• type of language

• diction

• cultural slang

I - imagery

• auditory - sound

• sensory - texture

• visual - what the author is describing that you can see

• techniques

  • metaphors

  • similies

  • symbolism

  • juxtaposition

  • repetition

  • rhetoric

  • assonance

  • contrast

  • anaphora

R - rhyme/rhythm

• rhyme scheme (abab/abba)

• pace

• enjambment

• caesura

T - tone

• attitude the poet shows towards the subject

  • bias

  • opinion

  • negative/positive

  • tonal shifts

  • specific vocabulary

S - subject

• overall idea

• theme

• purpose

• underlying messages