Representations of female protagonism in Howards End, by E. M. Forster

Abstract

E. M. Forster’s feminine characters are very important in his novels as they represent social, political and philosophical aspects of the 20^th century society, and through them the author describes his observations about the main events that define the society. In Howards Ends, the Schlegel sisters Margaret, Helen and aunt Juley represent the feminine emancipation and the cultural aspects of bourgeoisie. The sisters’ pathways cross with Ruth Wilcox’s one, Henry’s wife, who assists them in time of hardness when their rent expires deciding to give her house (Howards End) to them. Besides them, other important characters as Dolly, Madam Avery, Evie and Jacky Bast are responsible for developing certain activities and representations in the novel. The analysis of their personalities and characteristics provide an objective observation of what E. M. Forster really desires to describe in the 1910s. Then, by uniting these groups of women, we can delimit their specificities and attributions, observing each singularity they have. This approach of the feminine family nucleus provides a sociocultural analysis of the three social classes represented in the novel: economic elite (Wilcox), bourgeoisie (Schlegel) and proletariat (Bast) at the beginning of the 20^th Century.