“Love has no gender – compassion has no religion – a character has no race.” (Abhijit Naskar). Homosexuality has become the main issue of the 21st century. According to A.W. Connell, the term homosexuality is taken from European individuality which allows colonial empires, as well as the capitalist economy and we, can use this term as a novel concept.
She states that masculinity or homosexuality is always opposite to heterosexuality and it also gives a negative impression. She also explains three different types of homosexual relations such as power relations, production relations, and cathectic or emotional energy relations. (Connell, 2005)
Similarly, the concept of personae is taken from the Latin where it is used for the theatrical mask. Meanwhile, this word is a combination of two words: Latin word ‘phersu’ and Greek word prosōpon. Both have the same meanings. In addition, according to the dictionary definition, personae is a represented character which usually considers a protagonist of a literary work.
Adaptation has become a consequential discipline of investigation for scholars of language as well as literature which terminates the old stories. It consists following things such as points of contention, raises questions, problems and stand for collaborative perspectives to intimate response to the simultaneous effects (Sanders, 2006; Whittington, 2008; Gupta, 2013; Leitch, 2008; Cardwell, 2002). These components can be seen in James Ivory work Maurice when he first time adapts it for the film adaptation (1987).
However, adaptation is also a process of repetition with a purpose. In addition, we have various clear forms of adaptations: the wish to erase the recollection of the adapted text or has a desire to copy something to give a tribute. Adaptations can be seen in form of film remakes as it is present in form of mixed intent: ‘‘contested homage’’ (Greenberg 1998: 115), at the same time it is oedipally covetous and worshipful (Horton and McDougal 1998b: 8).
According to the dictionary meaning of adaptation “to adapt” is to adjust, to order, to make suitable. That’s why a film has to convey its message by images relatively few words than a novel. In general, adaptations, disclose about those stories who have “infective power” (193).
As we seem that novel and film have different adaptations. Following elements are given in story adaptation: its themes, events, words, characters, motivations, a point of views, consequences, contexts, symbols, images and so on. While a film consists of three forms beginning, middle, and end. In beginning conflict is established, in middle implications of the conflict is played out and in the end where the conflict resolved. (Hutcheon, 2006)
More interestingly, we have seen this in the adaptation of ‘Maurice’ novel. This novel ends up with a different ending than a movie or film. In the film, characters seem different rather than a novel. In 1987, James Ivory first time use this novel as film adaptation then it has a different ending than a novel.
In the novel main characters Maurice and Clive do not meet again but in film, these characters meet again. Owing to this, this film got three prizes in 1987 when it was first time used for cinematography. 1n 2017 and later on 2018 some deleted scenes again comprehend in this movie which was not included at that time. Perhaps, homosexuality was considered a crime at that time. Now, it has significance as a legal law.
Statement of the Problem
Previous studies are conducted on psychology. This study endeavors to examine the Homosexual Persona: Film Adaptation Study of E.M. Foster’s Novel Maurice. E.M. Foster novel yet has not been studied from the film adaptation perspective of Linda Hutcheon.
The Significance of the Study
The focus of the study is on a recreation of homosexual personae in form of the film adaptation of Maurice. This study is important for the reader who is interested in the film adaptation. It can be a direction for understanding same-sex behavior. It will be helpful for a better understanding of the film adaptation of Maurice.
Purpose of the Study
- To find out the postmodern persona which is adapted in E.M. Foster novel Maurice.
- To identify the recreation of homosexual personae in the film adaptation of E.M. Foster novel Maurice.
Research Questions
- How postmodern persona is adapted in E.M. Foster novel Maurice?
- To what extent recreation of homosexual personae is adapted in the film adaptation of E.M. Foster novel Maurice?
Literature Review
In the modern age, homosexuality is a term which derived from European individuality where the concept of homosexuality is no longer an important issue. Similarly, the western countries like France and Italy accept homosexuality as a legal law. Consequently, we are going to apply ‘A Theory of Adaptation’ for the justification of film adaptation and novel.
In other words, we can say that we are going to explain the difference between novel and film adaptation with the help of ‘A Theory of Adaptation’ by Linda Hutcheon. According to the definition of adaptation by Linda Hutcheon book “A Theory of Adaptation”. She states that theoretical issues are a common phenomenon in adaptation when we take it as an adaptation. In addition, adaptation is a form of repetition in which changes occur. (Hutcheon, 2006)
Agır, B. (2017) did work on ‘The Search for Sexual Identity in E.M. Forster’s Maurice’ when he was the professor at School of Foreign Languages, Osmaniye Korkut Ata University Karacaoglan Campus, B-Block, Osmaniye 80000, Turkey. In his research, he examined the homosexuality of the main character of E.M. Foster’s novel ‘Maurice’, when he was the student at Cambridge University.
He claimed about the three stages of his sexual identity when he realized that he has a great attraction in man than a woman. That’s why he goes to his family doctor and a hypnotist. In addition, he makes friends with his classmate Clive Durham and later on with Alce Scudder, a gamekeeper for the fulfillment of his sexual desires. In beginning, he refused to accept his weakness but later on, he accepts this reality.
Arnapal, M. (2015) did work on ‘The Politics of Sexuality in E.M. Forster’s Maurice’ when he was an assistant professor of Gargi College, University of Delhi. He emphasized the discourse of sexuality which is about same-sex love, it was considered a crime at that time. He examined the early twentieth century writings which accept homosexuality.
Dr. Barberà (2004) worked on ‘Was the Classical Tradition Betrayed by J. Ivory’s adaptation of E. M. Forster’s Maurice?’ when he was Ordinary Teacher in the Classical Greek Department at the University of Barcelona, Avinguda de Les Corts Catalanes 585, 08007 Barcelona. He analyzed screenwriters who present different aspects of any text in films than the real texts for the creation of humor such as writers James Ivory and Kit Hesketh-Harvey done in the adaptation of ‘Maurice’ film. He demonstrated that a text with the power of temptation to materialize his statement.
Speidel, S. E. (2014). Did work on ‘Scenes of Marvellous Variety’: the work-in-progress screenplays of Maurice, when he was present in Sheffield Hallam University. In his research paper, he focused on the scribble procedure which is not straightforward but having certain changes in form of mainstream chronology description, who’s the writer did not include in the film’s final cut. He asserted that these multiple interpretations were rewritten many times and comprehend in the film again in form of deleted scenes.
Norton, R. (2008). Worked on Class-based Erotics. He focused on homosexuality which is crowd-pleasing among English man. He also talked about heterosexuality; which is presented in the novel as well as in the film in form of Clive Durham character.
Research Methodology
This research is qualitative, descriptive and applied in nature. Qualitative research basically is a form of research in which we study something in depth. It usually consists of why questions instead of what. In qualitative research the researcher focus on three areas such as individuals, societies and cultures, and language and communication. In addition, qualitative research based on subjectivity rather than objectivity.
The concept of qualitative research is not too old. It generally starts at the beginning of early 19th century, before this, all the problems were sorted out with the help of Bible, the church, and from Greek philosophers theories including Plato and Aristotle who emphasized on the procedure of ‘knowing’ which was arbitrary, organized and analytical. The researcher is being used qualitative research for the analysis of the full text of Maurice as well as many journals and articles which the researcher collected from reliable resources.
Therefore, the researcher also uses ‘A Theory of Adaptation’ by Linda Hutcheon for the emulsification of adaptation course of action which the researcher has to adapt in this research. However, the main focus of the researcher is to find out the difference between the novel and the film which is used for the adaptation process. For that purpose, the researcher intended to collect data in its naturalistic settings.
Theoretical Framework
In this section, we will look at the qualitative, descriptive analysis of the title ‘Recreating a Homosexual Personae: Film Adaptation Study of E.M. Foster’s Novel Maurice’. Considering the word adaptation, we will take positive arguments to prove “A Theory of Adaptation” by Linda Hutcheon with different perspectives such as transcultural adaptation, pleasures of adaptation, intentionality in adaptation and Appeal of adaptation; explain them by analyzing the text from the novel ‘Maurice’ by E.M. Forster which is clearly elaborating this title. (Hutcheon, 2006)
