BARBARA ROSECRANCE
597
and Robert are the rul e-affirming exception , and love and friendship
are implacabl y a t odds.
T he mos t important rela tionship in
The Longest Journ ey
devel–
ops with Ricki e's acceptance o f Stephen Wonham as his brother. The
p rocess o f Ri ckie's educa tion ;s an alogous
to
Philip 's regenerating
awaren ess o f Gino's a ttraction and power. Initially Rickie shuns
Stephen 's earthiness and apparent lower-class background, and the
sudden informa tion tha t Stephen is his illeg itima te brother produces
shock and rejec tion ; but the knowl edge tha t Stephen is his loved
mo ther's, no t his h a ted fa ther 's son , is redemptive for Rickie. He saves
Stephen 's life a t the cos t o f his own. But uniquely cruel
to
the character
who mos t resembl ed himself, Forster has Rickie die in disillusion and
aliena tion . Ricki e's educa tion , never theless, has been a major mo tif; as
with Phili p, it is an educa ti on in fri er.dship, no t love.
T he third important personal rela ti onship fo llows the p a ttern o f
Philip 's and Rickie's a ttraction , as Stewart Ansell shifts his affection
from Ri cki e to Stephen . As the perceptive observer of this novel, Ansell
is a spokesman for Fors ter's values, and Stephen is the touchstone.
Ansell 's con versio n , in which he in ves ts Stephen with the attributes of
a G reek god , is fo ll owed by the novel's mos t opera tic moment, a
recognition scene in wh ich Ansell trumpets
to
the assembl ed th rong of
Dunwood H ouse Rickie's ca tas trophic error and Stephen 's true
identity. Ostensibl y this is all in Rickie's interes t. A stronger reed ,
Ansell represents one partner in the symbo lic marriage of Cambridge
and Wiltshire va lu es. T he covert energies o f personal rela tions in the
novel may be seen bo th in Ansell 's shock trea tment o f Rickie and in his
subsequent maneu vering for primacy with Stephen . With Rickie still
present in the no vel, Anse ll defends Stephen 's self-indulgences from
Rickie's cr iticisms. With Ricki e gone, Ansell and Stephen unite: Ansell
has become the s tar boarder, w itness of Stephen 's fin al triumph over
Sawston . T here is a lso an ange l in the house, for Stephen has married .
But here the p roper rela tionship between love and fri endship is
adumbra ted, as Forster announces Stephen 's formul a for marital
success, " keep her in line." T he p leasant wife presents no threat
to
the
ma in ten ance o f the important rela tionships.
But im portant as the fri endships are, personal rela tions yield place
to
the larger ques ti on of inheritance. Apparentl y the tragi-comedy of a
doomed marr iage,
T he L ongest Journey
is reall y an anxio us p rosp ec–
tu s for th e conserva tion o f preindustrial values, allegorized in Wilt–
shi re and its guardian , Stephen . T he inheritance theme effaces the
