Coming of Age as a Traveler

During our visit to the John Soane Museum we were able to observe his extravagant collection of artifacts from all over the world.  John Soane was inspired to collect artifacts after his Grand Tour.  It was not until after his Grand Tour where he became wealthy enough to purchase these items.  Instead, John drew pictures of his trip and visions.  Lucy had her own views of Italy.  Like John, Lucy Honeychurch was lucky enough to go on her own Grand Tour to Italy.  It was in Italy where she acquired a wealth of knowledge from her experiences.  Instead of artifacts, Lucy purchased postcards from her trip to remember the sights she saw.

At the National Gallery we critiqued different paintings and related these paintings back to Lucy's experiences in A Room With a View.  The painting above is titled Apollo and Daphne by Antonio del Pollaiuolo.  It shows Apollo pursuing Daphne.  When he touches her, she is forever changed into a tree.  With her being a tree, she is rooted in one place.  Lucy and Cecil's relationship can be represented by this painting.  Cecil does not want Lucy touched.  He wants her in one place, as if she were rooted to him and pure.  He can have experiences but does not see it acceptable for her to until he touches her. He believed she was innocent and pure until she states otherwise.

These two paintings are on display at the Tate Britain.  Both were done by the artist Turner and can relate to Lucy's travels and views throughout the novel.  The top painting is a more detailed scene of Venice.  This painting was done before the bottom one.  The top painting depicts Turner's first expectations of Italy.  This is what Lucy might have expected and viewed Italy to be like before her experience there.  As Turner's views changed, his artwork did as well.  The bottom painting is titled Venice With the Salute.  It remains unfinished, yet still on display to let its viewers use their imagination.  This painting represents how our visions of travel, our experiences as travelers, and our development as a person are never truly finished.  There is always more to explore.  We are continuously growing as a person.  As Lucy grew as a character, her views of the world changed.  Turner, like Lucy, found his own views of the places he traveled.  What most travelers expect to see and experience while abroad are the postcard visuals that are very picture-esc.  However; once we age and have our own experiences, we are not as narrow minded and create our own visions for our life.