Clive Durham (Maurice 1987)

 I don't know if anyone has read or watched "Maurice," let alone if anyone reads my blogs.

(It gets all over the place.)

 I will not stand for Clive Durham hate. My Pinterest's been full of people bashing the poor guy; he's no cheery chap indeed. However,  you have to consider it's the 1910s and the guy's been born in a highly religious household. Whether or not his beliefs have differentiated doesn't change the ideals he's been surrounded by ever since childhood. The ending of the books is written to be happy, but by no means is it a utopia; the standards of the time still take place, and that is what creates the conflicts for the majority of the spotlighted characters. 

 Clive only married to ensure his spot in society, even more so considering he was raised wealthy. Beforehand, with his own eyes, he witnessed his old classmate get prosecuted with charges of homosexuality (if I'm not mistaken, the guy had called up Clive for help too), which later led to him fainting and falling ill. Take in mind that unwed men back in the day were suspected to be homosexual, therefore making Clive susceptible to these suspicions. Clive encouraging Maurice to get married is only to guarantee his safety, because, despite how Maurice treated Clive, Clive still cared for Maurice.

 On the topic of Maurice, Maurice gained the title of "the man of the house" quite early. This allowed him to be rather outlandish and careless; his mother and sisters had no say in anything anyway. It's the 1910s; what else you'd expect? Also, if they lost Maurice, they'd lose their status and else more. I'm sure Maurice had knowledge of that. 

 So take the reserved Clive and eccentric Maurice, who, before breaking off the relationship with Clive, was pretty egoistic, and see how'd that relationship work out. There's more evidence said by Clive himself that he'd felt unheard and treated unfairly by Maurice. For anyone who hasn't read the book, check out the deleted movie scenes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kztvkEAAv8o (23:21). Now I have to say, Clive acted irrationally and emotionally during that scene; it kind of sounds snubby I'd say, nevertheless, he wasn't wrong. 

 Clive wasn't an angel, yet out of the three, he had a greater understanding of where he stood socially for the time, Maurice was ready to give up his job and status for Alec, you could argue that Alec too had an understanding of his status, I won't argue on that, he's the one I personally favour out of the main cast, I'm not about to diss him. (Alec was of the lower class so I suppose losing his status wouldn't be as tragic, Maurice could've employed him as gardener for all I know.)

 I know people read and watch the movie because it was progressive for the time, the book is written with that in mind. E.M. Foster intended the book to have a happy ending for the main character. It's still the 1910s, and a man semi-publicly changing his mind on his sexuality, especially going into adulthood, isn't meant to be a big "Andrew Tate said No Homo, so I un-homoed." moment. In the case of the story, Clive only did it for his safety. We're viewing from Maurice's perspective, so it'd make sense to antagonise Clive. We know what Maurice knows; Clive doesn't outright state his reasonings for this change, leaving Maurice and the reader in the dark.