Lone Star College-Kingwood Library

Howards End

By E. M. Forster, 1879 - 1970

 
 
Forster won many awards and was given the Order of Merit by Queen Elizabeth II in 1969. His reputation was developed and strengthened during the Edwardian years. His greatest recognition came after WWII, when he had almost completely ceased writing fiction. His ability to create characters and situations of great human significance, his speculative power, and his qualities as a serious moralist with great ability as a perceptive realist in displaying the Edwardian and post war society are among the strengths of his writing style. A time which was important to his early life was his residence at Rooksnest, in Hertfordshire. He developed a love for the English countryside, and Rooksnest became a model for Howards End (1910). While at Cambridge, he became a member of a group called the Cambridge Conversazione Society. This group discussed moral, intellectual, and aesthetic issues. Many of the members later formed the Bloomsbury Group in London. Here, Forster was influenced by the writings of G. E. Moore who strongly felt that the most satisfying states were those coming from aesthetic experiences and personal relationships. Forster felt a strong affinity with many of the values of the Bloomsbury group, such as friendship, speculative discussion, persistent questioning of convention, agnosticism, and advocacy of social change, appreciation of the innovative in the arts, and a testing of moral values. These values are dramatized vividly in Howards End (the Schlegel sisters).

General Information:

Time: Early Twentieth Century

Locale: English countryside

Characters:

• Margaret Schlegel - Helen and Tibby Schlegel's older sister
• Helen Schlegel- Margaret's beautiful sister
• Tibby Schlegel- younger brother to Margaret and Helen
• Mrs. Munt- Margaret, Helen, and Tibby's aunt
• Henry Wilcox- the patriarch of the Wilcox family and British businessman
• Ruth Wilcox- Henry's first wife and owner of Howards End
• Charles, Paul, Evie- Henry's children
• Leonard and Jacky Bast- poor young clerk and his wife

Topics to consider:

• English society at the close of the Edwardian era
• Emotion versus pragmatism
• The strong bond between sisters
• Country houses as images of cultural unity
• Culture versus materialism
• The relationship between Germany and England at the time of the novel

 

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PLOT SUMMARY

Howards End depicts the life and manners of the upper middle class that Forster knew from his own life. He portrayed the shortcomings as well as the amenities of society along side the frequent trivialities he saw. He felt that people need not be static even when a society was. A sincere individual could still achieve a morality above what his surroundings might seem to permit. In Howards End, Forster is "preoccupied with the well-being of an entire society. He not only analyzed the various strata of the British upper class, he also showed that even a sincere individual would encounter great difficulty in acquiring wholeness in the fractured modern age". (DLB, v. 34, p. 131)

The primary character in Howards End is Margaret Schlegel. She and her sister, Helen, and brother Tibby, represent the middle level of middle class society, independent, but not wealthy. Henry Wilcox, whom Margaret eventually marries, and his family represent the upper level of the middle class. Two other characters of importance are Leonard and Jacky Bast, who live in genteel poverty.

Margaret tries to bridge the upper and lower levels of the middle class. Her practical abilities, inner strength and emotional perceptiveness enable her to appreciate the Wilcoxes and, at the same time, strive for a finer life, which she perceives can only be found from enjoying an emotionally whole life experience.

Howards End represents a fusion of social realism and poetic symbolism. Forster comments on the contradictions, complexities and paradoxes of human experience.

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BOOKS:

Librarian Talk . . .  About Books! Books offer helpful information about time periods, authors and the literary works. Use them to help begin your review of literature on Howards End . Apply online for a library card .Use your card to 1) Place a Hold on a book and have it sent to the library closest to you; 2) Access journal and reference databases from home; and 3) Access Online Book Database (NetLibrary). The catalog is online. Online books (database paid for by our libraries) are available at  NetLibrary.  Use your library card to log in.  Create a free account to save favorite titles or your own notes on the books you read. More about...Finding Books (31 sec.)

Library Catalog - To find circulating books - Go to the Library Catalog and search under subject keywords such as Howards End, E. M Forster, Bloomsbury Group

Analysis in Reference Books:

REF PN 771.C59, vol.s   - Contemporary Literary Criticism - CLC contains excerpts from critical essays in books and journals.  Use these volumes to 1) select a topic or theme 2) find the full articles or essay in the library, and 3) locate other articles and books from the "Further Reading" section.  (part of Literature Resource Center - A current library card is required for login 
Get Card )

REF PR 106.S7 - Reference Guide to English Literature - Critical and biographical information with excellent bibliographies. Includes a separate discussion of Howards End in vol. 3. Events of the time Edwardian period: A time of great change, sometimes depicted as an idealistic period of English history - a time of order and harmony, but in reality it was a time of social and political strife. The Irish nationalists, the labor unions, and the suffragettes were all demanding that their problems and agendas be addressed. The Boer War (1899 - 1902) in South Africa divided the country much like the Vietnam War did in a later time in the United States. England was becoming increasingly urbanized and the poverty in the cities was appalling. As the need for such social reforms as old age pensions, workmen's compensation, the vote for women, and unemployment and health insurance became the focus of government policy, the resultant increase in taxes on the wealthy brought conflict between the old wealthy, privileged classes and the poorer, working class.

REF PN 164.A85 The Atlas of Literature - Beautifully illustrated, this book has an excellent discussion of the Bloomsbury group which consisted of such artists as E. M. Forster, Vanessa and Clive Bell, Virginia Woolf, Lytton Strachey, Roger Fry, Duncan Grant, and many others at various times.

DA 550.T53 - The Rise of Respectable Society: A Social History of Victorian Britain 1830 -1900 (Circulating book.)

HQ 1593.J34 - Women, Marriage and Politics 1860 - 1914 (Circulating book.)

MEDIA:

PR6011.O58 H69  - Howard's End [sound recording]  8 sound cassettes (circulating audio)

PR6011.O58 H69  - Howard's End [video recording]  (circulating video) Movie based on the novel.

FINDING JOURNAL ARTICLES

Librarian Talk about Finding Journal and Newspaper Articles! Electronic databases are purchased by the libraries for your research use. Use them to find articles in newspapers and journals, letters, reference books, illustrations, photographs and more. Home access to article databases is available with your updated library card barcode. If you need assistance finding an article contact the Reference Librarians and they will see that you get the article. They will need full bibliographic information - and your name and address. Send your phone number as well, so they can contact you if necessary. Use your library card to login to these online journal databases. More about searching databases (25 sec.)

Academic Search Complete - This multi-subject database is not exclusively a literary database, but a number of literary journals are indexed and some are available full text.  Use the Advanced Search screen and check the box marked Scholarly Journals.  You will also find some of the article available on microfiche in the library.

MLA International Bibliography (Modern Language Association) - This is the most important database for your research.  Use it to find articles in journals and essays.  This is not a full-text database, but many of the journals will be available in the Lone Star College-Kingwood Library.

Proquest Research Library - This huge database is not exclusively a literary database, but a number of literary journals are indexed and some are available full text.  Many articles will be available on microfiche at the library.  Check the box marked "Peer reviewed articles" to find results from scholarly journals.

Literaure Resource Center - This database includes most of the information in TCLC, World Literature Criticism, and Dictionary of Literary Biography. It also has a few scholarly journal articles. You'll also find links to appropriate Internet sites.

JSTOR Arts & Sciences - Search or browse the complete back issues for over 117 journals in literature, economics, history, social sciences, science and mathematics. The most current issue available is determined by publisher agreements and varies. Because this database is entirely scholarly, articles are of the appropriate academic level.

Project MUSE - Search and browse the full text of nearly 250 journals from 40 scholarly publishers in the arts, humanities and social sciences. Because this database is entirely scholarly, articles are of the appropriate academic level.

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INTERNET

Aspects of  E.M. Forester | You will find criticism, summaries ,and photographs at this site. Only Connect | The unofficial Forster site.

Howard's End, the movie | Yes, it was made into a movie.

 

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GETTING HELP WITH YOUR ASSIGNMENT

Librarian Talk about getting help! Support for a successful paper is more than finding the right resources. Putting it all together takes time and effort. Sometimes it takes additional help from the librarians or tutors. Please consider the following resources if you need additional help. Remember, the expert on the assignment is your professor; use the eCollege VISTA in-class email to contact her. More about getting help (25 sec.)