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Chapter 16
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Maurice, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Love and Sacrifice
Sexual Orientation, Homophobia, and Self-Acceptance
Masculinity and Patriarchy
Religion
Class
Summary
Analysis
Toward the end of the visit, Maurice is surprised when Mrs. Durham takes him into her confidence and asks if he thinks Clive should do a fourth year at Cambridge. Maurice responds that Clive means to. Mrs. Durham tells him that Clive will inherit their estate, Penge, once he marries. While riding, Maurice and Clive talk about children and inheritances. Clive says, “Why always children? For love to end where it begins is far more beautiful, and Nature knows it.”
While Mrs. Durham says it almost offhandedly, the fact that Clive will inherit Penge when he marries becomes pivotal for the rest of the novel. Of course, the idea that Clive would marry is counter to his relationship with Maurice, since the two cannot marry. Clive then reassures Maurice while they are riding later on, saying that he is not concerned about children or inheritances and that they must live the life they’ve been given. He claims there’s not much use to worrying about the rest. His laissez-faire attitude about inheritances foreshadows the decisions he will make later in the novel about marriage and Penge.
Themes
