Edward Carpenter and George Merrill. Edward Carpenter (1844 – 1929) was an English utopian socialist, poet, philosopher, anthologist, an early activist for gay rights. An early advocate of sexual liberation,...
Edward Carpenter and George Merrill. Edward Carpenter (1844 – 1929) was an English utopian socialist, poet, philosopher, anthologist, an early activist for gay rights. An early advocate of sexual liberation, he had an influence on both D. H. Lawrence and Sri Aurobindo, and inspired E. M. Forster's novel Maurice. He met George Merrill, a working-class man in 1891. Merill was 22 years his junior, and the two remained partners for the rest of their lives, cohabiting from 1898.