life. Simultaneously, she hears a recurring motif symbolizing life's heroism, magnificence, and triumph. These intertwined aspects of life mirror the peaks and valleys of Helen's own journey. Helen's brief romance with Paul at the novel's outset exemplifies her pattern of behavior—initial exhilaration followed by disenchantment. Driven by emotion, she rarely contemplates the reality of a situation until it is too late. Initially, she is quite fond of the Wilcoxes, but her ill-fated relationship with Paul taints her perception, leading to disappointment when Margaret and Henry Wilcox announce their engagement. Helen's involvement with Leonard Bast stems from her compassion for him and her resentment towards Henry, who refuses to assist Leonard. This anger towards Henry also causes a rift between her and Margaret. Ultimately, Helen reconciles with Margaret and Henry, who welcome her and her illegitimate child (fathered by Leonard Bast) into Howards End.

Margaret stands as the cultured, intelligent, and empathetic protagonist of the novel. While she shares her sister Helen's idealism, she is also remarkably sensible and grounded. Forster describes her as "Not beautiful, not supremely brilliant, but filled with something that took the place of both qualities—something best described as a profound vivacity, a continual and sincere response to all that she encountered in her path through life." Some critics struggle to understand why Margaret would marry Henry Wilcox, a man who is decidedly her opposite. However, Margaret perceives things in their entirety. Although she is aware of Henry's faults, she also sees his noble qualities. By the novel's conclusion, Margaret has influenced Henry to some extent. While Helen attempts to aid Leonard, Margaret similarly supports Henry. Indeed, Margaret serves as the bridge between the Schlegels and the Wilcoxes. By the story's end, Henry appears less "muddled," and Helen seems less impulsive. This transformation, however, only occurs after Margaret nearly leaves Henry due to his refusal to let Helen stay the night at Howards End with her. In her famous speech, she urges him to connect his own infidelity with Helen's perceived transgression: "You shall see the connection if it kills you, Henry! You have had a mistress—I forgave you. My sister has a lover—you drive her from the house. Do you see the connection? Stupid, hypocritical, cruel—oh, contemptible!—a man who insults his wife when she's alive and cants with her memory when she's dead. A man who ruins a woman for his pleasure, and casts her off to ruin other men. And gives bad financial advice, and then says he is not responsible. These, man, are you. You cannot recognize them, because you cannot connect."

Henry, the patriarch of the Wilcox family, marries Margaret Schlegel following the passing of his first wife, Ruth. Critic Rose Macaulay characterizes him as: "He has the business mind; he is efficient, competent, unimaginative, practically clear-headed, intellectually and spiritually muddled, uncivilized, a manly man, with firm theories about women, politics, the Empire, the social fabric." He lacks self-reflection, a shortcoming that nearly jeopardizes his marriage to Margaret.

Margaret demands that he recognize the link between his affair with Jacky Bast and Helen's relationship with Leonard Bast. However, Henry's major fault is his inability to see how his actions might inflict pain on others, leading to his indifference towards Leonard's job loss. Additionally, he struggles to relate his own mistakes to those of others, which makes it difficult for him to empathize with Helen. He fails to "connect the prose with the passion." By the novel's conclusion, Henry is shattered by his son Charles's imprisonment, compelling him to reassess his life.

Miss Avery
Miss Avery, a longtime friend of Ruth Wilcox, serves as the caretaker of Howards End. She takes it upon herself to unpack and arrange the Schlegels' furniture there, even though it is only meant to be stored.

Jacky Bast
Jacky, Leonard's unremarkable and uneducated wife, was once Henry Wilcox's mistress.

Frieda Mosebach
Frieda Mosebach, the Schlegels' German cousin, joins them to attend a performance of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony.

Juley Munt
Juley Munt, the well-meaning but meddlesome aunt of the Schlegels, has a famously humorous scene in the novel. She travels to Howards End to persuade Helen to break off her engagement to Paul Wilcox.

Tibby Schlegel
Tibby, the younger brother of Margaret and Helen, is an Oxford undergraduate. Although he shares his sisters' intellectual traits, he lacks their interest in personal relationships. His calm demeanor contrasts comically with their more passionate personalities, especially when Helen visits him at Oxford to inform him of her plans to go to Germany.

Charles Wilcox
Charles, the elder son of Henry Wilcox, is a philistine who disdains the Schlegels and their "artistic beastliness." He absurdly suspects Margaret of scheming to acquire Howards End. His strong sense of class superiority leads him to assault Leonard upon discovering he is the father of Helen's child. Charles is ultimately convicted of manslaughter for Leonard's death.

Dolly Fussel Wilcox
Dolly, the talkative and kind-hearted wife of Charles Wilcox, shares her husband's foolish belief that Margaret is plotting to obtain Howards End.

Evie Wilcox
Evie, the daughter of Henry Wilcox, is a somewhat frivolous and shallow woman. Although she dislikes Margaret, she tolerates her father's interest in her.

Paul Wilcox
Paul, the younger son of the Wilcox family, has a brief romantic involvement with Helen, setting the stage for the ongoing conflict between the Wilcoxes and the Schlegels.

Ruth Wilcox
Ruth, Henry's first wife, is a kind and selfless woman beloved by her family. She surprises them by bequeathing Howards End to Margaret, sensing that Margaret will truly appreciate its "personality" and significance. Critic Lionel Trilling has interpreted Howards End as a symbol of England and its agrarian past, suggesting that Ruth, though not intellectual, possesses an ancestral wisdom to be passed on to Margaret. Ruth serves as a spiritual guide, or as critic Rose Macaulay describes, a bridge between the unseen and the seen. Margaret believes that she and others "are only fragments of that woman's mind."