A Room with a View

Lucy Honeychurch is the protagonist of A Room with a View. She is a young middle-class Englishwoman who travels to Florence, Italy, where she is forced to confront the inconsistencies and absurdities of the Edwardian social etiquette that seems to govern all aspects of her life.

In the Pension Bertolini, Lucy is surrounded by older people. The other middle-class guests are all invested in the manners, behavior, and social expectations that dictate how they act in any given situation. In particular, Lucy's older cousin Charlotte acts as her chaperone. Under Charlotte's watchful eye, Lucy is restricted. She is not allowed to do anything that might be considered unproper or unwomanly in any way.

Lucy begins to chafe against these restrictions, seeking to rebel against Charlotte and the Edwardian etiquette system in general. The trip to Italy is revelatory for a young woman who has spent most of her life inside the bubble of a small, rural, conservative community. Whether buying risqué postcards, talking to men alone, or even witnessing a murder, Lucy experiences a thrill of rebellion that lingers in her mind long after she leaves Italy. As a protagonist, Lucy seeks to escape from the confinement of social etiquette and break free from the restraints placed upon her by her society.