Howards End - Connection and Essay

Ruth represents the past but she understands that Howards End (very much like England itself) needs to look towards the future. It is interesting to note here that although Ruth's dying wish is dismissed by her family, the strong bond that she and Margaret had shared is not dissolved upon her death. In the end, ironically, Margaret -- now Mrs. Wilcox -- rightfully inherits Howards End. More importantly, it is in the countryside, at Howards End, that Margaret truly grasps the importance of a classless English society where all men could connect: "In these English farms, if anywhere, one might see life steadily and see it whole, group in one vision its transitoriness and its eternal youth, connect -- connect without bitterness until all men are brothers" (Chapter 33). From this point-of-view, if we are to consider Howards End a symbol of England, we could argue that Foster supports the idea of a shared inheritance.Very much like Howards End that belongs to both Margaret and the remaining Wilcoxes, i.e. To both intellectualism and practicality, England is also a shared inheritance that belongs to all Englishmen irrespective of social class. Moreover, the image of Helen's illegitimate son playing in the hay at Howards End symbolizes a more flexible future English society where all classes live together and accept one another.

Forster,….....