Aspects of the Novel

The early 20th century in England, which is often referred to as the Edwardian period, was a particularly important period for literature, and especially for the novel. In the Victorian period, which immediately predates the Edwardian period, literature largely focused on society. In contrast, Edwardian novels are generally more introspective, focusing on exploring the individual’s experience in relation to society rather than on society as a whole. Also, many British novels of this period began to question the morality of imperialism, including Forster’s own A Passage to India (1924).

The early 20th century was also a tumultuous period, especially in England, due to World War I and the devastation it caused across Europe. Many experimental novels of this period, especially those by Joseph Conrad and Virginia Woolf, explored the individual soldier’s experience. As a result of the trauma soldiers experienced during World War I, the field of psychology began to try and define what was then known as “shell shock”—the condition that has come to be understood as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. This focus on the human psyche was also reflected in experiments in literature, especially in the relatively new form of the novel.