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Chapter 18
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
Over this time, Maurice and Clive’s families become acquainted as well. Mrs. Durham continues looking for wives for Clive and puts Maurice’s sisters on her list. Maurice, in turn, establishes himself in his mother’s house, becoming a small-scale suburban ruler in charge of the servants and his sisters, his edicts stronger because they are fair and mild.
While Maurice and Clive have been in a relationship for over two years, their families are unaware. Mrs. Durham follows heteronormative models by looking for wives for Clive. At the same time, Maurice shows his propensity to accept the prevailing conventions of the patriarchal society by unquestioningly becoming the “ruler” of his mother’s house, again taking up one of the roles formerly occupied by his father, who has so often been held up to him as a masculine ideal.
Themes
