Title?


Anyone know why its called Where Angels Fear to Tread?

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I wondered about the title too -- it was very familiar...so I googled it -- I should have remembered this from my English lit years, as I sure slogged through a lot of Pope. Bartelby.com quotes the The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition. 2002. Quote is from Alexander Pope's "An Essay on Criticism"

Fools rush in where angels fear to tread


(Foolish people are often reckless, attempting feats that the wise avoid.}

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I seem to remember reading somewhere that Forster hated the title, which had been insisted upon by his publisher. He wanted to call his book after the name of the Italian town in the story -- Monteriano.

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