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Howards End: Case Studies
This edition of Forster's classic novel reprints the authoritative text of the 1973 Abinger Edition together with five critical essays -- especially prepared for this volume -- that read "Howards End" from five contemporary critical perspectives. Each critical essay is accompanied by a succinct introduction to the history, principles, and practice of the critical perspective and by a bibliography that promotes further exploration of that approach.
512 pages, Hardcover
First published October 18, 1910
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About the author
E.M. Forster
698 books4,243 followersEdward Morgan Forster, generally published as E.M. Forster, was an English novelist, essayist, and short story writer. He is known best for his ironic and well-plotted novels examining class difference and hypocrisy in early 20th-century British society. His humanistic impulse toward understanding and sympathy may be aptly summed up in the epigraph to his 1910 novel Howards End: "Only connect".
He had five novels published in his lifetime, achieving his greatest success with A Passage to India (1924) which takes as its subject the relationship between East and West, seen through the lens of India in the later days of the British Raj.
Forster's views as a secular humanist are at the heart of his work, which often depicts the pursuit of personal connections in spite of the restrictions of contemporary society. He is noted for his use of symbolism as a technique in his novels, and he has been criticised for his attachment to mysticism. His other works include Where Angels Fear to Tread (1905), The Longest Journey (1907), A Room with a View (1908) and Maurice (1971), his posthumously published novel which tells of the coming of age of an explicitly gay male character.
He had five novels published in his lifetime, achieving his greatest success with A Passage to India (1924) which takes as its subject the relationship between East and West, seen through the lens of India in the later days of the British Raj.
Forster's views as a secular humanist are at the heart of his work, which often depicts the pursuit of personal connections in spite of the restrictions of contemporary society. He is noted for his use of symbolism as a technique in his novels, and he has been criticised for his attachment to mysticism. His other works include Where Angels Fear to Tread (1905), The Longest Journey (1907), A Room with a View (1908) and Maurice (1971), his posthumously published novel which tells of the coming of age of an explicitly gay male character.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
February 13, 2015
I re-read this novel after many years, having just finished Zadie Smith's On Beauty. I remembered Howards End only dimly and wanted to better appreciate Smith's parallels (and departures). I was surprised by how much I loved this novel the second time around, by how it spoke to me. It's always a funny thing, revisiting a classic, because you don't know how it will look to your post-high school eyes. I thought I might be annoyed by the moralizing narrator, by the emphasis on social conventions and codes; instead, I found myself underlining lines and thinking a great deal about human connection. For the record: I didn't read this edition; this was the only way I could get "credit" on Goodreads for having re-read it.
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December 10, 2012Another one in the Case Studies in Contemporary Criticism series.
May 2, 2012
It is definitely not my kind of book, but it was alright. It is a good book to read if you are interested in characters' relationships with one another, as well as for social class in 1910 England.
September 19, 2024
I would give Howards End alone a 3-star rating, but the literary criticism section at the end of this edition is phenomenal! (And the essays also let me see the novel in a few different, interesting lights!) I read all the way through the end of the Glossary on this edition.
March 14, 2011
I was really hoping to enjoy Howards End as I did A Passage to India, but alas, try as I might, I was either bored or annoyed while reading this E. M. Forster novel. The boredom crept in during the narrator’s various rants and the annoyance set upon me when female characters acquiesced to the whim of any available man. Yes, yes I realize it was published in 1910, however, to introduce a strong and cerebral female character only to have her become a submissive wife is, well, it is just wrong. Pish posh to me. Given all this criticism, I must acknowledge that the writing was quite good.
We have the wealthy Wilcox family, the intellectual Schlegel family and the piteous Mr. & Mrs. Bast as our cast of characters seemingly reflecting class struggles and the battle of the sexes. Unfortunately, we end up with strong women who become reticent in the presence of the opposite sex and the wealthy carrying on ignorant of any matters that do not directly effect them.
The eldest and caretaker to her siblings, Margaret Schlegel, was indeed, a most frustrating character. She befriends the wealthy Mrs. Wilcox whom she introduces to her intellectual friends who all dismiss her upon seeing that she is not a woman of opinions. After Mrs. Wilcox’s sudden death, it is found that she bequeathed her home at Howards End to Margaret, however, the remaining Wilcox family does not honor the request. Margaret remains in the dark about the bequest and marries the widowed Mr. Wilcox, not her equal in age nor intellect, and inexplicably begins yielding to her husband’s wishes.
Helen Schlegel has more depth than her sister. We meet her as a young impetuous woman and actually see her grow into a person who can accept others while still remaining true to her own beliefs. One can only hope that her return near the end of the book and her decision to live with Margaret, will allow her to influence her sister and reawaken her thinking.
Leonard Bast was the most likable and believable character in the book. He realizes early on, that although he can appreciate the arts and is stimulated by thoughtful conversations, he does not have the means, nor will he ever, to support such a life style. Not surprisingly, tragedy befalls this crestfallen chap.
There were several unexplained scenarios and underdeveloped characters that left this reader rather frustrated. Why Mrs. Wilcox never sought medical care was never made clear and the tryst between Helen and Leonard seemed far fetched. Jacky Bast and Miss Avery were two interesting characters that we never get to know and certainly should have.
Quotes:
It is the vice of a vulgar mind to be thrilled by bigness, to think that a thousand square miles are a thousand times more wonderful that one square mile, and that a million square miles are almost the same as heaven.
If only he could talk like this, he would have caught the world. Oh, to acquire culture! Oh, to pronounce foreign names correctly! Oh, to be well-informed, discoursing at ease on every subject that a lady started! But it would take one years. With an hour at lunch and a few shattered hours in the evening, how was it possible to catch up with leisured women, who had been reading steadily from childhood?
It is thus, if there is any rule, that we ought to die–neither as victim nor as fanatic, but as the seafarer who can greet with an equal eye the deep that he is entering, and the shore that he must leave.
Surely a chat with Mr. Forster would be refreshing, but I’d have to avoid discussing Howards End in too much detail, as its said to be his favorite and is obviously not mine. Perhaps I’d steer the conversation to his later years and works.
My rating for Howards End is a 7 out of 10.
We have the wealthy Wilcox family, the intellectual Schlegel family and the piteous Mr. & Mrs. Bast as our cast of characters seemingly reflecting class struggles and the battle of the sexes. Unfortunately, we end up with strong women who become reticent in the presence of the opposite sex and the wealthy carrying on ignorant of any matters that do not directly effect them.
The eldest and caretaker to her siblings, Margaret Schlegel, was indeed, a most frustrating character. She befriends the wealthy Mrs. Wilcox whom she introduces to her intellectual friends who all dismiss her upon seeing that she is not a woman of opinions. After Mrs. Wilcox’s sudden death, it is found that she bequeathed her home at Howards End to Margaret, however, the remaining Wilcox family does not honor the request. Margaret remains in the dark about the bequest and marries the widowed Mr. Wilcox, not her equal in age nor intellect, and inexplicably begins yielding to her husband’s wishes.
Helen Schlegel has more depth than her sister. We meet her as a young impetuous woman and actually see her grow into a person who can accept others while still remaining true to her own beliefs. One can only hope that her return near the end of the book and her decision to live with Margaret, will allow her to influence her sister and reawaken her thinking.
Leonard Bast was the most likable and believable character in the book. He realizes early on, that although he can appreciate the arts and is stimulated by thoughtful conversations, he does not have the means, nor will he ever, to support such a life style. Not surprisingly, tragedy befalls this crestfallen chap.
There were several unexplained scenarios and underdeveloped characters that left this reader rather frustrated. Why Mrs. Wilcox never sought medical care was never made clear and the tryst between Helen and Leonard seemed far fetched. Jacky Bast and Miss Avery were two interesting characters that we never get to know and certainly should have.
Quotes:
It is the vice of a vulgar mind to be thrilled by bigness, to think that a thousand square miles are a thousand times more wonderful that one square mile, and that a million square miles are almost the same as heaven.
If only he could talk like this, he would have caught the world. Oh, to acquire culture! Oh, to pronounce foreign names correctly! Oh, to be well-informed, discoursing at ease on every subject that a lady started! But it would take one years. With an hour at lunch and a few shattered hours in the evening, how was it possible to catch up with leisured women, who had been reading steadily from childhood?
It is thus, if there is any rule, that we ought to die–neither as victim nor as fanatic, but as the seafarer who can greet with an equal eye the deep that he is entering, and the shore that he must leave.
Surely a chat with Mr. Forster would be refreshing, but I’d have to avoid discussing Howards End in too much detail, as its said to be his favorite and is obviously not mine. Perhaps I’d steer the conversation to his later years and works.
My rating for Howards End is a 7 out of 10.
August 14, 2008
Rare is the book that one does not merely read, but rather lives. For the past week and a half, I've felt like a Forsterian heroine in my own life, and have spent hours dreamily ruminating on love and family and self-examination and art and class and money and the changing surface of the world, the city, the country. In short, I've been ruminating on life itself, eyes pricked by occasional tears, lips occasionally curving into a smile. "Only connect!" - the imperative around which the entire novel revolves - seems so important in this age where, as Forster no doubt feared, we live so separate from the origins of things, and must rely on love alone to sustain us as mediocrity seeps blindly outwards (a swathe of Applebee's in its wake). I suppose the highest compliment I can pay is that on closing this book, I knew that I was holding art, and that, as only the best art can, a philosophy of living and relating to my world had been illuminated for me. When I close a book such as this one, I am reminded that fiction provides what no amount of theory or fact can; fiction gives the maddening multiplicity of life its own voice, its own recognition and order. I do not even hesitate to say that fiction can change a life.
February 21, 2014
I honestly had a some difficulty with this book. While Forster is certainly an extremely talented writer, this type of story is not one I tend to read and at times I found it hard for me to relate to the characters in the book and the situations they faced. I think a part of my difficulty with this book is that at first it seems as if it is going to be a comedy of manners but it quickly takes a turn to focus more on the relationship between the two sisters, Helen and Margaret, and their quest to find a home and figure out their individual personal identities. Along with this intensely personal focus, Forster also brings into the story the conflicts between the English classes, anxiety over England's imperial power, and the clash between Victorian and modern values. I give this book 4 stars for the skill so evident in its crafting, though I'm certain that those who would find the characters relatable or tend to enjoy these type of stories would no doubt think it worthy of 5 stars.
August 26, 2012
I think this one will grow on me. Overall, not what I expected!
September 7, 2020
So highly readable, so hard to like any of the characters by the book's end.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews