Howards End depicts three English
families from three different classes whose lives were accidently intertwined.
There are the Wilcoxes—the wealthy and business-minded, the Schlegels—the cultured
rural middle classes, and the Basts—the poor and submissive working classes.
The story
began with Helen Schlegel's (the youngest of the girls) short love affair with
Paul Wilcox, which then continued in Margaret's (Helen's sister) friendship
with Ruth Wilcox, Paul's mother and mistress of a country house called Howards
End. Ruth is the only Wilcox who loves the house as a home, cares for its
lovely garden, trees, and all. She values the 'spirit' of the house; while the
others only value Howards End as property; they care more about motors,
business, money, and luxury. And that's why she connects well with Margaret
because they both believe in personal relations, in family ties, which 'build
the spirit'. Before Mrs. Wilcox's sudden death, she bequeathed Howards End to
Margaret. As business-minded family, of course the Wilcoxes cannot accept this,
and they decided not to follow her wish.
Leonard Bash
is a poor clerk of a bank who wishes to step up to middle class by way of
culture and learning. He met and got to know the Schlegels on an opera night.
The Schlegel girls heard from Henry Wilcox (husband of the late Ruth Wilcox),
that the bank where Leonard works is in financial trouble. They told Leonard
this, and advised—even encouraged—him to
resign.
Margaret and
Henry Wilcox then fell in love and soon got married (though opposed by Wilcox
children and Helen). Soon after this they learned that the Basts (Leonard and
Jacky—the woman who lives with him though unmarried) were financially ruined
because Leonard eventually left his proper job but never found another as good
as his previous job. Helen the 'ever-emotional' was enraged because Henry was
totally unperturbed with the Basts' misfortune. And when it's revealed that
Henry has apparently had an affair with Jacky in the past (which was the cause
of her ruin), Helen was mad with rage, even to Margaret, who of course forgave
and defended her husband, practical as she always is.
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| The country house which became the set of Howards End the movie |
This was my
first encounter with Forster. It may not be my favorite, but I enjoyed every
moment of the reading. Howards End is
either Forster's dream or prophecy of what kind of people who should or would
shape England as a nation in the turn-of-the-century (it was published in
1910); whether it'd be the business/industrial people like the Wilcoxes; or the
cultured Schlegels; or the working class Basts. Unlike most Victorian novels, I
felt that Forster did not judge; he merely gave us glimpses of each class'
character, for our own analysis and judgment. To me, Helen is overreacting
about the Basts business. Opinion is opinion; the Schlegels should not meddle
with Leonard's career. They are right to forward Henry's insight to him, but
they or Leonard should have never swallowed it wholly, but then blamed the
informer when it didn't happen as they wished. I couldn't blame Henry here. And
when Helen was mad at him for ruining Mrs. Bast, while she herself did the same
with a married man, well... I think she disliked him for the wrong reason.
In the end,
I believe Margaret represents the next ideal generation of England (at least
Forster's ideal). Cultured, can accept modernity and respect business culture,
but still maintains love of nature, and above all, personal relationship, which
makes houses to be homes, and where morality and integrity will keep
germinating in the next generation's homes. The mixture of these qualities is
the key of surviving the turn of the century, and preparing for the future.
Ruth Wilcox is too Victorian, while the other Wilcoxes are too business minded.
Both are in the extreme poles.
It has been
a tranquil read for me, but I guess it should be read when you are in certain
level of calmness in mood; otherwise you'd find it rather flat and dry.
4 to 5 is my
final verdict.
