Connection
The central theme of Howards End revolves around connection—linking personal and public lives, uniting individuals, and the difficulties in creating and sustaining these links. The story focuses on two families: the Schlegels, who represent intellectualism, imagination, and idealism—the inner life of the mind—and the Wilcoxes, who embody English practicality, expansionism, commercialism, and the external world of business and politics. For the Schlegels, personal relationships are more important than public ones, and the individual is more significant than any organization. In contrast, for the Wilcoxes, social etiquette and business norms are of utmost importance.
The marriage between Margaret Schlegel and Henry Wilcox serves as a bridge between these contrasting worlds. Unlike her highly idealistic sister Helen, Margaret comes to understand the Wilcoxes. Helen's initial encounter with the Wilcoxes ends in disaster, but Margaret recognizes that many of the values she holds dear, such as art and culture, depend on the economic and social stability provided by people like the Wilcoxes. "More and more," she reflects, "do I refuse to draw my income and sneer at those who guarantee it."
However, Margaret and Henry's marriage nearly disintegrates when Henry fails to connect his own sexual indiscretion with Jacky Bast to Helen's affair with Leonard Bast. Margaret and Helen wish to spend a night at Howards End before Helen returns to Germany to have her child. Yet, the hypocritical Henry cannot accept the presence of a "fallen woman" on his property and denies them permission to stay. As critic Malcolm Bradbury points out, Margaret upholds the "primacy of the standard of personal sympathy," while Henry focuses on "the standard of social propriety." Defying Henry, Margaret and Helen spend the night at Howards End, rekindling their bond. By the end of the novel, circumstances force Henry to reevaluate his values. He reconciles with Helen, and together with Margaret and Helen's illegitimate son, they establish a home at Howards End under Margaret's care.
Class Conflict
A prominent theme in Howards End is the internal struggle and conflict within the middle class. The novel does not feature the aristocracy or the very poor; the author clearly states, "[w]e are not concerned with the very poor," focusing instead on "gentlefolk, or with those who are obliged to pretend that they are gentlefolk." The three families in Howards End illustrate different segments of the middle class. The Schlegels are positioned in the middle, between the Basts, who are on the lower edge of the middle class, and the Wilcoxes, who belong to the upper-middle class. Leonard Bast, a clerk, lives precariously close to poverty, while the Schlegels enjoy a comfortable life from inherited wealth. Meanwhile, Henry Wilcox, a successful businessman, continuously amasses wealth, allowing him to afford "motors" and country estates.
Leonard Bast is preoccupied with class distinctions and aspires to elevate his status by becoming "cultured." He engages with works such as Ruskin's Stones of Venice and attends musical events. At a concert featuring Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, he meets the Schlegel sisters and becomes captivated by them, primarily because they seem to value his intellectual ambitions. The Schlegels, equally intrigued by Leonard and his situation, eventually find their involvement with him disastrous. When Margaret and Helen hear from Mr. Wilcox that Leonard's employer is nearing bankruptcy, they suggest he look for new work. Although this information proves false, Leonard acts on it, obtaining and then losing another job, leaving him and his wife Jacky nearly impoverished. In a dramatic scene where Leonard, Jacky, and Helen crash Evie's extravagant wedding, Forster dramatically illustrates the vast social and economic divide between the struggling Basts and the wealthy Wilcoxes....
(This entire section contains 409 words.)
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As critic Frederick P. W. McDowell observes, this scene "suggests that the impersonal forces by which the Wilcoxes prosper have operated at the expense of Leonard and his class."
Leonard's downfall results from the Wilcox family's indifference coupled with Helen's compassion. Helen tries to convince Henry that he has a responsibility to help Leonard since his advice contributed to Leonard's ruin. When her attempts fail, Helen's empathy for Leonard leads her to sleep with him. Upon learning that Leonard is Helen's "lover," the aggressive Charles Wilcox attacks Leonard with the flat side of the Schlegel family sword. Leonard does not succumb to the beating but to a weak heart. He collapses, bringing down a bookcase and being buried under a cascade of books, symbolizing his tragic pursuit of self-betterment.
Future of England
The theme of inheritance is intricately linked to the concepts of connection and class conflict in Howards End. The novel delves into the question of who will inherit England. At the time of its publication, England was undergoing significant social transformations. Issues such as women's emancipation, commercial and imperial growth, and the looming threat of war with Germany contributed to a pervasive sense of uncertainty regarding England's future.
Critic Lionel Trilling suggests that Howards End itself symbolizes England. Ruth Wilcox, originating from the yeoman class, represents England's past. Before her death, Ruth forms a friendship with Margaret Schlegel and, on her deathbed, writes a note leaving Howards End to Margaret. Ruth cannot entrust it to her family, who view it merely as property and fail to recognize its deeper spiritual importance, which she believes Margaret will understand. The Wilcoxes dismiss Ruth's note as impractical and ignore it, overlooking the true heir. However, Margaret's connection with Ruth Wilcox is profound. She not only becomes Ruth's spiritual successor but also inherits Howards End through her marriage to Henry, becoming Mrs. Wilcox.
Foster's perspective on who will inherit England seems to support the idea of a shared inheritance. By the conclusion of the novel, the intellectual Schlegels and the practical Wilcoxes are living together at Howards End. The immediate heir, Helen's illegitimate son, appears to symbolize a future without class divisions.