Howards End is E.M. Forster's symbolic exploration of the social, economic, and philosophical forces at work in England during the early years of the twentieth century. Written in 1910, the novel offers an extraordinarily insightful look at the life of England in the years preceding World War I. Preoccupied with the vast social changes sweeping his nation, which was then at the height of its Imperial world influence, Forster set out to address the question critic Lionel Trilling expressed as, "Who shall inherit England?"--meaning, which class of people would come to define the nation? To answer the question, he explores the lives of three different groups of people, each of which represents a particular social class or class aspect: the literary, cultural Schlegel family, who represent the idealistic and intellectual aspect of the upper classes; the materialistic, pragmatic Wilcox family, who represent the "solid" English work ethic and conventional social morality; and the impoverished Bast family, headed by a lower-middle-class insurance clerk who desperately hopes books will save him from social and economic desolation.
Forster explores these three groups by setting them against one another in relief, gradually intertwining their stories until they are inextricably linked. Helen Schlegel has a brief romance with Paul Wilcox; Margaret Schlegel befriends Ruth Wilcox, then marries Henry Wilcox after Ruth's death; Jacky Bast is revealed as a former lover of Henry; Helen has an affair with Leonard Bast and ultimately bears his child. In the end, Mrs. Wilcox's estate of Howards End--a former farm now within distant sight of the outskirts of London--comes to represent England as a whole, and the question of "Who shall inherit England?" symbolically centers around each character's relationship to Howards End. At the end of the novel, Margaret, Helen, Helen and Leonard's son, and Henry all live at Howards End; Henry makes provision for Margaret to inherit the house, suggesting that, like the characters of the novel, the classes of England are mixing beyond recognition, and will be forced to adapt to an England that they can all share.
In addition to the thematic role played by houses in the novel (the Schlegel house on Wickham Place also becomes an important symbol of their class and family identity), Forster explores the symbolic value of other objects and ideas, including money. Continually contrasting the "seen" with the "unseen"--the physical, material world of the Wilcoxes with the imaginative, spiritual world of the Schlegels--Forster posits the possibility that, ultimately, the universe has no meaning, that all of life is simply a struggle for subsistence, represented by toil for money. This is the core of Helen's realization at the performance of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony in Chapter 5, when she imagines "goblins" marching across the universe, observing that there is nothing great in human beings. However, Helen eventually realizes that the idea of death forces people to confront the idea of the unseen and forces them to look for meaning in their lives. In this regard, life is not merely a quest for enough money; money is an important part of life, because it enables leisure and security, but it is not all of life. Then again, Helen realizes this largely because she has money: It does no good for the doomed Leonard Bast.
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After Helen Schlegel's brief romance with Paul Wilcox ends badly, the cultured, idealistic Schlegel family thinks it they will have nothing further to do with the materialistic, commerce-obsessed Wilcoxes. The Schlegels continue with their intellectual lives. At a performance of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, they meet an impoverished insurance clerk named Leonard Bast, who regards them with general suspicion when Helen accidentally steals his umbrella. The Schlegels are shocked when the Wilcoxes move from their country estate of Howards End to a London flat opposite their home on Wickham Place in London. But Paul has left to win his fortune in Nigeria, and Helen is vacationing with her cousin Frieda in Germany, so there is little danger of an unpleasant scene. Margaret, Helen's older sister and the head of the family, even befriends Mrs. Wilcox; they go Christmas shopping together, and Margaret throws a luncheon for the ethereal, selfless Mrs. Wilcox.
When Mrs. Wilcox dies not long afterward, she leaves a handwritten note behind asking that Howards End be given to Margaret. But her pragmatic husband, Henry, a prominent businessman, and her greedy son Charles, a struggling businessman, refuse to act on the matter and never mention it to Margaret. One night, Margaret and Helen run into Henry, and they discuss the case of Leonard Bast; Henry warns them that Leonard's insurance company is doomed to failure, and they advise him to find a new job. But poor Leonard, who associates the Schlegels with all things cultural and romantic--he reads constantly, hoping to better himself--resents this intrusion into his business life and accuses them of trying to profit from his knowledge of the insurance industry.
Margaret and Henry develop a halting, gradual friendship. When the lease expires at Wickham Place, the Schlegels begin looking for another house (their landlord wants to follow the general trend and replace their house with a more profitable apartment building). Henry offers to rent them a house he owns in London, and when he shows it to Margaret, he suddenly proposes to her. She is surprised by her happiness, and after considering the proposal, she accepts.
Shortly before Margaret and Henry are scheduled to be married, Henry's daughter Evie marries a man named Percy Cahill; the wedding is held at a Wilcox estate near Wales. After the party, which Margaret finds quite unpleasant, Helen arrives in a disheveled state, with the Basts in tow. She declares indignantly that Leonard has left his old company, found a new job, and been summarily fired; he is now without an income. Helen angrily blames Henry for his ill-considered advice. Margaret asks Henry to give Leonard a job, but when he sees Jacky Bast, he realizes that he had an affair with her 10 years ago, when she was a prostitute in Cyprus. Margaret forgives him for the indiscretion--it was before they even met--but she writes to Helen that there will be no job for Leonard.
Helen and the Basts have retired to a hotel in town, and after Jacky goes to sleep, Helen and Leonard stay up discussing Helen's philosophical observations about life. After Margaret's note arrives, a feeling of tragedy descends on their conversation, and they make love--an unwelcome development for both of them: Leonard is wracked with guilt, and Helen becomes pregnant. She leaves for Germany the following morning, and both she and Leonard recede from Margaret's life. Margaret and Henry are married, and plan to build a new home in Sussex.
After some time passes, however, Margaret begins to worry about her sister, and with Henry's help, she arranges a scheme to surprise her at Howards End, where Helen is going to collect some books. (The Schlegels' belongings are being stored at Howards End.) Here, Margaret sees Helen's advanced pregnancy, and is filled with love and tenderness for her sister. Helen asks to spend the night with Margaret at Howards End, but Henry refuses to let a "fallen woman" sleep in his home. When Margaret points out that Henry himself has committed a worse sexual indiscretion than Helen, Henry is outraged, and Margaret resolves to leave him, returning to Germany with Helen.
In the meantime, Leonard decides to confess to Margaret what happened, and he travels to Howards End the morning after Margaret and Helen sleep there. When he arrives, he is beaten by Charles Wilcox with the flat of a sword, and a bookcase falls on him. Leonard has a heart attack and dies. After the inquest, Charles is charged with manslaughter and sentenced to three years in prison. Henry is shattered, and comes to Margaret for help. Henry, Margaret, and Helen move into Howards End, where Helen and Henry learn to be friends and where Helen's son is born. Fourteen months later, they are still living there happily.
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