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
Clive passes the bar exam then falls ill with the flu. He is reluctant to enter public life. He thinks the public has grown tired of the leisure class riding about in motorcars looking for something to do. He wants to travel to Greece instead. When he visits the Hall house, still recovering, he faints. The Halls put him up in bed as they wait for a nurse to come, and Maurice grows uneasy, as he can’t hold Clive or care for him in a way that would attract attention.
Clive remains ambivalent about the path laid out for people of his socioeconomic standing. Entering public life is not something he genuinely wants but something people around him want for him. Instead, he wants to travel. Maurice, on the other hand, seems to mostly want to be with Clive, and he yearns more than anything to be able to show his affection to Clive publicly.
Themes
