Howards End as a "realistic no

A detailed Summary of Howards End as a "realistic no

Howards End by E.M. Forster was written in 1910. It is considered to be a "realistic" novel presenting the English society during the early twentieth century in many aspects including social, economical, philosophical forces and mood reflecting the English people. "Forster uses Howards End as a symbol of England, with its rural past and its more urban future, its quintessential English-ness, and its role in the lives of most of the main characters."(Sparknotes) The story reveals the plausible relationship and actions of people in different classes of the society who explore the changes taken place in Edwardian Era. The use of symbolism can be found throughout the book for the purpose of expressing the society in certain aspects. To one extent, the novel also gives clues to the future of England in the sense that which class of people would come to define the nation.

To begin with the characters presented in the novel. Forster makes all the characters as realistic as possible. All the characters in Howards End portray the different social classes of England in the early years of twentieth century. There are three major families representing three different classes and ideologies: the Schlegels, the Wilcoxes and the Basts.

In the final part of the story, the death of Leonard is also a symbolism. Before he actually died, he suffers from pulling over the bookcase, which falls on top of him. It is symbolizing his feeling terrible from his education. Even though he is well educated, but he still an not get off his social rank. He could not lift himself up from being poor and died poor.

Inequality between men and women can be found in the novel. Mr. Wilcox had an affair with Jacky when he was already married to Mrs. Ruth. Also, Helen is found pregnant outside marriage. They both made the immoral acts but probably Mr. Wilcox's is worse The inequity is that Mr.Wilcox is forgiven while Helen is not. It is a symbol of inequality between two sexes in the society. When men do the same mistake, but they always get out of trouble and be forgiven.

The Schlegels are the major focus of the book. Historically, they represent the liberal social attitudes of the Edwardian era then emerging in England after the death of Queen Victoria. The Schlegels consist of mainly three characters: Margaret Schlegel, Helen Schlegel and Tibby Schlegel. Margaret is a twenty-nine years old woman who plays as the chief protagonist of the story. She is the oldest sister of the family, having a younger sister Helen and the youngest brother Tibby. The Schlegels are the mixture of English and German heritage, representing the "liberal, idealistic and intellectual" upper class living in London in the early years of the twentieth century. Being "liberal, idealistic and intellectual", they enjoy human relations above everything. They are highly educated and having no need to work for a living. They love cultures and interested in arts, music, literature and socialism. They enjoy having meetings with different kinds of people and exchange their ideas as the "intellectuals" In addition, Forster presents the Schlegels as people in the same class in which he belongs to.

Jacky Bast is Leonard's wife and used to be Mr. Wilcox 's mistress when he was in Cyprus. Jacky in this novel represents as the guilt in the past of Mr. Wilcox. At this point, it could be said that this book reveals the reality in life that even a wealthy man can not hide his dirty past. Jacky also combines the class and sex in the society. She is oppressed by both, for she belongs to the class society called "lower" and sex is considered inferior. She functions as a connection between other characters. A lower-class woman used by an upper-middle-class man, resulting in a sad situation. Jacky's belief that marriage will make everything all right stresses the fact that for the poor, marriage is an economic, not a spiritual state. A problem for the Schlegels, marriage is considered the ultimate good by poor Jacky. Women like Jacky is the price society has to pay for its double standard and view of women; she is used to show the unfair treatment for any human being.(Sparknotes)

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Some common words found in the essay are:
Wickham London, Cyprus Jacky, Bast Forster, SparkNotes MrsRuth, Finally Margaret, Edwardian Era, Leonard Bast, English German, Charles Wilcox, Wilcoxes Wilcoxes, english society, twentieth century, novel howards, leonard bast, gentry's class, business class, social classes, people classes, people business class, wilcoxes wilcoxes, edwardian era, liberal idealistic intellectual, society leonard bast, england twentieth century,

Approximate Word count = 1964
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Novels