A Room With A View

The passage that I focused on was the passage on the carriage when everyone is traveling to Fiesole. One of the themes that we talked about in class was social hierarchy and I felt that this passage established a clear division in classes. The way that Mr. Emerson defended the driver of the carriage, and his lover showed his boldness, and impulsiveness. However I found it surprising that Miss Lavish, despite feeling the same way about the situation on the carriage, made sure not to team up with Mr. Emerson. The passage reads "...Mr. Emerson whom the shock of stopping had awoke, declared that the lovers on no account be separated...And Miss Lavish, though unwilling to ally him, felt bound to support the cause of Bohemianism." I interpreted this as a person of one social class deciding not to acknowledge the ideas of a man from another lower class. This passage also showed me a lot about the older Emerson. Not only does he stand for what he believes is right, he is very strong willed and will not back down. The third person narrative helped me understand what was going on in the story mainly because there are a lot of characters in this book already, so first person would have limited my perspective, as I wouldn't be able to understand what was going on in each character's minds. This passage is symbolic of the customs of society in Italy during this time period.