Themes in "Howard's End"

Paper Summary:

E.M. Forster chose the epigraph "only connect" for his novel "Howards End", which suggests that it is as much his philosophy as it is that of his protagonist, Margaret Schlegel. The paper discusses how Forster explores the lives of three English families in "Howards End", each representing a different class or, perhaps more accurately, a different gradation of the middle class. The paper shows how his aim is to show the problems that face these families and individuals when they try to connect with each other in various ways. There are the upper-middle class Wilcoxes, with their solid work ethic and traditional social morality; the lower middle class Basts, struggling on "the extreme verge of gentility" and, somewhere in between, the cultural, intellectual Schlegels.

From the Paper:

"Literary critic Lionel Trilling suggests that the class struggle depicted in Howards End - specifically the conflict over who will inherit the iconic country home - raises a question that becomes central to the novel: "Who shall inherit England?" (Trilling, 102). This question implies that a victorious class will emerge from the struggle, just as one character or family will inevitably triumph by inheriting (or retaining possession of) Howards End."

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