Maurice characters

Appears from the start

An English boy from a respectable middle-class family who grows into a physically confident but conventional young man. He senses early that the approved account of marriage and adulthood does not fit him, yet initially lacks the language or courage to understand his attraction to men.

Appears from the start

Maurice's schoolmaster, who tries to explain sex and marriage during a seaside walk before the boy leaves his preparatory school. His well-meant lesson assumes a conventional future that Maurice cannot imagine for himself.

Also known as Mrs Hall

First appears in chapter 2

Maurice's widowed mother, who expects her son to take his father's place as the respectable head of the suburban Hall household. She loves him but understands his life through the ordinary expectations of class, career, and marriage.

First appears in chapter 2

One of Maurice's younger sisters. Her family expects her to follow the conventional route into marriage, an expectation that also highlights the different future being prepared for Maurice.

First appears in chapter 2

Maurice's other younger sister, observant of his moods and part of the domestic world he is expected eventually to lead. Like the rest of the household, she does not initially know the central conflict he conceals.

First appears in chapter 4

An unconventional Cambridge student whose open conversation and disregard for respectable opinion unsettle and attract Maurice. He provides Maurice with an early glimpse of a life less governed by the rules he has inherited.

First appears in chapter 6

A thoughtful fellow student at Cambridge from a landowning family. More intellectually self-aware than Maurice, he questions the religious and social assumptions around them and develops an intimacy with Maurice that neither can discuss openly in their society.

Also known as Dr Barry

First appears in chapter 27

An old family doctor whom Maurice approaches in desperation for advice about his attraction to men. His conventional certainty prevents him from accepting what Maurice plainly tells him.

First appears in chapter 30

Clive Durham's wife, a suitable partner for his public position and country life. Maurice meets her after Clive has committed himself to the conventional marriage and career expected of him.

First appears in chapter 32

A hypnotist whom Maurice consults after medicine and social convention offer him no help. He treats Maurice without moral outrage and attempts to redirect his desires, while acknowledging that such treatment may fail.

Also known as Scudder

First appears in chapter 37

A young under-gamekeeper at the Durham estate, Penge. Alert, direct, and separated from Maurice by class as well as by the laws and conventions surrounding them, he notices Maurice during a visit to the house.