A Sense of Character and Society in Forster's Room with a View Forster wastes no time in setting the scene and establishing the class boundaries of his characters. We already know from the first statement that Miss Bartlett is from the upper classes and is potentially a very nervous woman, which later turned out to be true. “The Lady had no right to do that” is so significant because we can imagine the word “Lady” spat out in disgust and the force of the “no” really imprints Charlotte's hysteria as a major character trait. The elitist attitude of Miss Lucy Honeychurch follows soon after. The way in which her opinion of the lady is expressed, "And a Cockney at that!", is very derogatory and so we may assume that, because she looks down on lower-class Londoners, she herself will actually be of the upper class. In the period in which the book was set, just after the turn of the century, it was common for the upper classes of Britain to undertake a "Grand Tour" which involved visiting all the major cities of continental Europe. From the word "Madam" we can infer that Miss Bartlett and Lucy are abroad (which is relatively rare to do) and that they have enough money to do so and are therefore of an upper class. (Though we later find out that Charlotte is actually penniless and is simply chaperoning Lucy). In the fourth paragraph, the fact that the Lady had "promised" them both rooms with a view is repeated from the first paragraph. This shows that Lucy is obviously used to having her own way and can allow herself to make a fuss and this is a reflection on the society she comes from, giving us more insight into her character and the standards she expects. Charlotte is very aware of how others see her and how she appears to be the person she is and the impression of herself she would like to impose on others are two different things. He would like to appear altruistic, as seen in the phrase "any corner suits me" and when he consequently offers his room to Lucy. When the room offer turns into a squabble, the reader can see that the manners imposed by their society prevent them from arguing "properly" and yet their society's upbringing prevents either of them from thinking logically or practically..