The cross-class relationship between Carpenter and his working-class partner, George Merrill, presented a real-life model for that of Maurice and Alec Scudder.

Forster was an admirer of the poet, philosopher, socialist and early gay activist Edward Carpenter, and following a visit to Carpenter's home at Millthorpe, Derbyshire in 1913, was inspired to write Maurice. A tale of homosexual love in early 20th-century England, it follows Maurice Hall from his schooldays through university and beyond.