A Room with a View Identity Quotes

How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Chapter.Paragraph)

Quote #7

In spite of the season, Mrs. Vyse managed to scrape together a dinner-party consisting entirely of the grandchildren of famous people. The food was poor, but the talk had a witty weariness that impressed the girl. One was tired of everything, it seemed. One launched into enthusiasms only to collapse gracefully, and pick oneself up amid sympathetic laughter. In this atmosphere the Pension Bertolini and Windy Corner appeared equally crude, and Lucy saw that her London career would estrange her a little from all that she had loved in the past (11.9).

During her visit to the Vyse’s pretentious London home, Lucy feels the foundations of her identity shaken – Cecil, his mother, and their snotty friends all make her question the things she knows and loves.

Quote #8

George served, and surprised her by his anxiety to win. She remembered how he had sighed among the tombs at Santa Croce because things wouldn't fit; how after the death of that obscure Italian he had leant over the parapet by the Arno and said to her: "I shall want to live, I tell you." He wanted to live now, to win at tennis, to stand for all he was worth in the sun—the sun which had begun to decline and was shining in her eyes; and he did win (15.27).

George demonstrates his intense sense of self and passion for life here, through a simple game of tennis. What Lucy doesn’t know is that his renewed love for her is what brought him to this understanding of himself.

Quote #9

She could not understand him; the words were indeed remote. Yet as he spoke the darkness was withdrawn, veil after veil, and she saw to the bottom of her soul (19.44).

In her emotional conversation with Mr. Emerson, the old man’s words finally make Lucy confront her true feelings. Basically what he’s saying is “Cut it out, Lucy, and face up to yourself!” Of course, he says it in a nicer and much more complicated way than we just did, but that’s the general picture. Go Mr. Emerson!