nwee
Member
"Life's going to be melted down, all over the world." (Helen, upon observing the red dust beyond the meadows of Howards End, approaching slowly but steadily)
An absolute work of Art which focuses on the successful cosmopolitan types as represented by the Wilcoxs’ & the more humane & sentimental, but somewhat impractical Schlegels' in early 20th century England ( or is it late 19th century ?). For all the achievements at a personal level, & their contribution towards making England what it was, when the facade that covers the Wilcox types is removed it is bare! On top of that they are mostly characteristic of a ruthlessness & hypocrisy. Yet, the more humane Schlegels' cannot be expected to give entrepreneurship & business-leadership to Industrial & Empiric England. For all the beauty that characterize Schlegels' they cannot give the necessary leadership to the Country. Margaret represents a necessary ingredient that sustains the Wilcox types of the cosmopolitan world. More of a balanced nature than her emotional sister, Margaret ends up being a tower of strength to Henry Wilcox as his fortune takes a turn for the worse.
Forster is at his best when he analyses thus, as he looks at several type of people which make up England. He was successful in presenting the colonial society of India in “Passage to India”. Here he does a similar literary task more closer at home, resulting in a work of art nurtured with beautiful writing, almost painting rural lifestyle. Forster sees that the ethereal feel of rural England has it’s days numbered, but he wishes otherwise as he puts the following words into Margaret’s expressions - "This craze for motion has only set in during the last hundred years. It may be followed by a civilisation that won't be a movement, because it will rest on the earth. All the signs are against it now, but I can't help hoping, and very early in the morning in the garden I feel that our house is the future as well as the past."