A Room with a View, Chapters 16–18

1. First, consider everything you’ve learned about nineteenth-century social realities, assumptions, and gender roles. Through a nineteenth-century lens, think about Lucy’s current situation, and everything you know about her, what she seems to want, her family, and her situations with Cecil and with George. List between three and five realistic options she has as of the end of chapter 18. Which of those options do you think would be best for her and why?

2. Now shift to a twenty-first-century lens. Think about Lucy’s current situation, what you know about her, what she seems to want, her family, and her situations with Cecil and with George. List between three and five realistic options she has as of the end of chapter 18. Which of those options do you think would be best for her and why?

3. George observes that the “desire to govern a woman… lies very deep” in men” and that “men and women must fight it together before they shall enter the garden.” What do you think this means and do you agree?

A Room with a View Ch. 13-15

In chapter 13, the narrator says that for Lucy "the ghosts were returning" (p. 134), and there are several references to these "ghosts" in this section of the novel. What do you think these ghosts represent, and why is Lucy so afraid of them?

A Room with a View, Ch. 10–12

What textual evidence do we have, from any chapter so far, about how Lucy feels about Mr. George Emerson kissing her?

A Room with a View, Ch. 4–5

Briefly describe the dramatic events that Lucy and George separately witness in the Piazza Signoira, and the effect they have on each of them.

What do you make of George’s summing-up of his reaction in his conversation with Lucy near the end of chapter 4 (“I shall probably want to live”). What do you think he might mean by this?