The Story
by E.M. Forster
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An excerpt from E.M. Forster's Aspects of the Novel, examining 'the story' as the most fundamental and yet the lowest aspect of the novel. Forster defines a story as 'a narrative of events arranged in their time sequence', its only merit is making the audience want to know 'what happens next', and its only fault is making them not want to know. The story is the ancient, primitive backbone of the novel, going back to the tales told to Stone Age listeners and to Scheherazade in the Arabian Nights, who saved her life by always keeping the king in suspense about what would happen next. Forster distinguishes a 'story' (events in time sequence, 'the king died and then the queen died') from a 'plot' (events linked by causality, 'the king died, and then the queen died of grief'). Though he admits the story is the lowest and simplest of literary organisms, Forster acknowledges that it is the essential foundation without which a novel cannot exist, the fundamental aspect on which all the higher elements of the novel depend.
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Forster's essay analyses 'the story' as the basic, indispensable element of the novel. Though he regards it as the lowest and most primitive aspect, he shows that it is the foundation on which the whole art of the novel rests.
What a story is
Forster defines a story as 'a narrative of events arranged in their time sequence'. Its sole and essential merit is that it makes the audience want to know 'what happens next'; its only fault is failing to make them want to know. The story appeals to our primitive curiosity about what comes next in time.
The ancient roots of storytelling
The story is the oldest and most primitive of literary forms, reaching back to the tales told to Neolithic and Stone Age listeners round the fire, whose interest was held only by suspense. Forster recalls Scheherazade in the Arabian Nights, who saved her life night after night by always breaking off her tale at an exciting point, keeping the king desperate to know what would happen next.
Story versus plot
Forster distinguishes 'story' from 'plot'. A story is events in their time sequence, 'the king died and then the queen died'. A plot links events by causality, 'the king died, and then the queen died of grief'. The story asks only 'and then?'; the plot asks 'why?'. The plot is the higher, more intellectual development, but it grows out of the story.
The lowest yet essential aspect
Forster concedes that the story is 'the lowest and simplest of literary organisms', appealing to mere curiosity rather than intelligence or imagination. Yet he insists it is the fundamental aspect of the novel, the common factor without which no novel can exist, the essential backbone that supports all the higher artistic elements.