How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
The Piazza Signoria is too stony to be brilliant. It has no grass, no flowers, no frescoes, no glittering walls of marble or comforting patches of ruddy brick. By an odd chance—unless we believe in a presiding genius of places—the statues that relieve its severity suggest, not the innocence of childhood, nor the glorious bewilderment of youth, but the conscious achievements of maturity. Perseus and Judith, Hercules and Thusnelda, they have done or suffered something, and though they are immortal, immortality has come to them after experience, not before. Here, not only in the solitude of Nature, might a hero meet a goddess, or a heroine a god (5.40).
Experience is key here in differentiating maturity from youth. Forster reinforces the idea that in order to grow up and really find oneself, the questing young person must be open to a variety of experiences. It’s no coincidence that this is where Lucy and George have their first fateful experience together, their joint witness of the murder.
Quote #5
[…] at the end there was presented to the girl the complete picture of a cheerless, loveless world in which the young rush to destruction until they learn better—a shamefaced world of precautions and barriers which may avert evil, but which do not seem to bring good, if we may judge from those who have used them most (7.33).
This depressing image, seen by Lucy after she realizes that Charlotte has duped her, is a gloomy, threatening description of the death grip social conventions have upon the people in the world Forster describes. The rules and “barriers” of this society don’t seem to have any real positive effect – at best, they just prevent disaster – which is the most frightening part.
Quote #6
Then Freddy hurled one of the thunderbolts of youth. Perhaps he was shy, perhaps he was friendly, or perhaps he thought that George's face wanted washing. At all events he greeted him with, "How d'ye do? Come and have a bathe" (12.9).
Freddy is hilarious. Endlessly, endlessly hilarious. He is a terrific image of youth enjoying itself in the most outrageous, innocent, and often silly fashion, and is a great contrast to some of the stuffy other characters (especially Cecil!). The phrase “thunderbolts of youth” nicely expresses how Freddy goes about his life – as he likes it, with little inhibition.