Name of the work: howards end Creation Year: 19 10 Literary genre: Novel Author: edward morgan forster Content Introduction, Creation Background, Character Introduction, Work Appreciation, Work Evaluation, Author Introduction, Content Introduction The story took place in Britain in 19 10. Schlegel's sisters Margaret and Helen and her brother Tibby live in London. On one occasion, Helen met a well-off willcocks family and soon went to their villa in howards end. There, Helen fell in love with willcocks's youngest son, Paul. She told her sister Margaret about it, which caused anxiety at home and was taken away by her family. A few months later, Helen met Leonard Baxter. At this moment, Mrs. willcocks happened to come across from schlegel's house. Margaret went to visit and won the favor of Mrs. willcocks. Soon after, Mrs willcocks passed away. Before she died, she wrote a will and presented howards end to Margaret. Mr willcocks and his children refused to acknowledge the will and destroyed it, and Margaret knew nothing about it. One day, buster's wife Mickey came to Margaret's house to make a scene. In the evening, buster came to apologize. The young man won the love of Margaret's sisters. Later, Margaret learned from Mr. willcocks that the insurance company where Buster worked was facing bankruptcy. So the two sisters suggested that Buster find another job, and Buster accepted their advice. The house rented by Margaret will be demolished. Mr willcocks helped her rent a house and proposed to her, and Margaret agreed. But the children in willcocks are against it. At this time, Buster had transferred to work in the bank, but he was soon laid off. Helen felt very guilty when she learned that. Meanwhile, willcocks and Margaret are discussing how to share some property with their children. One day, willcocks and Margaret attended his daughter Dolly's wedding together. At this moment, Helen came with poor Busters. Later, Margaret asked willcocks to help Buster. Willcocks reluctantly agreed. But at this time, Mickey recognized willcocks as her former "lover" and mocked him. Willcocks has left and wants to break off her engagement with Margaret. Later, calm willcocks asked Margaret to forgive, and was forgiven. Later, at willcocks's request, Margaret told Helen that she could not help the detectives. Helen, who felt guilty about buster, fell in love with him. Helen was not satisfied with her sister, so she went to Germany. Later, Margaret married willcocks. After the marriage, Helen refused to go back to London. Finally one day, Helen returned to London. When Margaret met Helen, she found herself pregnant. The baby belongs to buster. Later, Margaret asked willcocks to let Helen stay in howards end for one night, but was rejected. He told Margaret that Helen would stay and that his son Charlie was the heir to the manor. Margaret clashed with him again. At this time, Charlie learned that the father of Helen's child was buster. In his view, this is an insult to the willcocks family. When Buster visited Helen in howards end, he was killed by Charlie. Margaret was shocked by the death of buster. The following summer, in howards end, willcocks Sr. announced his disposal of his property: all the property will be given to his children, howards end will be given to Margaret, and after her death, it will be given to David, Helen's child. Finally, Margaret from howards end accompanied old willcocks to the outdoor lawn to see his children off. Under her questioning, willcocks Sr. admitted to her the will made by his wife. Creation background This novel was written in the transitional period of British society: from the infinitely prosperous Victorian era to the declining Edwardian era. The rapid development of economy and society calls for the emergence of a new family model that can meet the needs of the times, but the change of family often lags behind the development of economy, and it is difficult for traditional families to play a normal role in the society in transition. As a middle class in Britain, Foster is very concerned about his own class. He thought that the breakdown of the internal relations of the middle class would affect the development of the whole British society, so Howard Ender proposed to save the middle class. Character introduction willcocks family (merchant class) Henry willcocks: He pays attention to practical work and is a successful businessman, but his personality is arrogant, narrow and selfish, and he is keen on pursuing wealth and material enjoyment. Irresponsibly refused to help buster who lost his job because he followed his own advice and denied his responsibility. Treat his private life with tolerance and connivance, but can't tolerate others. After his son Charles was sentenced to prison, he began to need spiritual comfort. Ruth willcocks (Henry willcocks's first wife): gentle, peaceful and lacking in personality, howards end's real master (because howards end is her dowry) was sickly and made a will to give howards end to Margaret after his death. Charles willcocks (the eldest son of Henry willcocks): Simple, rude and overbearing, he is a person who is prone to make stupid mistakes; He was sentenced to prison for accidentally killing buster. Paul willcocks (youngest son of Henry willcocks): A competent colonial administrator, but a weak and stupid person who dare not take responsibility. Ivy willcocks (daughter of Henry willcocks): Beautiful, tight-lipped, but only feeding puppies, she is a boring and cruel person. Margaret schlegel, schlegel family (intellectual): Parents died young, leaving a large legacy, leading a carefree life, receiving a good education, being sensitive and kind, and paying attention to spiritual pursuit and inner life. After marrying Henry willcocks, she began to realize that it was not advisable to completely escape into the spiritual life, so she decided to combine the spirit and the material, hoping to make up for the shortcomings and defects of both parties through marriage and realize inner harmony. Helen schlegel (Margaret's sister): Smart, sensitive and impulsive, likes to talk about literature and art, and pays more attention to interpersonal feelings. At first, I fell in love with Paul willcocks. Later, out of sympathy for Leopoldo Baxter, I entrusted myself to him and became pregnant with Baxter's child. After all kinds of setbacks, I realized that my previous understanding of love was wrong. Tibby schlegel (the younger brother of Margaret and Helen): He studied at Oxford University in England. Leopoldo family (middle and lower class) Leolado Bast: a small employee of an insurance company, a member of the new middle class in the new urban employee class. He yearns for culture, but culture, like schlegel sisters who sympathize with him, is only the object of his admiration, but it can never strengthen his social status. Helen entrusted herself to him out of sympathy and became pregnant with his child. Guilty, he was killed by Charles when he longed for forgiveness. Jackie Buster (Leopoldo Buster's wife): I used to be Henry willcocks's mistress, eager for material things. Appreciation of the Works howards end is a humanistic ideological work with women as the leading role to explore the themes of connection and freedom, and discusses the politics, economy, class, gender and culture of British society in the early 20th century. It has its own specific characterization, which not only pays attention to the feelings of Schlaege sisters, but also pays more attention to family and money interests, revealing the huge social inequality brought about by the widening gap between the rich and the poor. This novel describes the relationship and entanglements between three families from different social levels, and shows the class struggle in Britain at that time. There are many characters in the works and the structure is complex. The schlegel sisters who represent the spirit and culture of the upper class of the British middle class, the practical, unimaginative and arrogant willcocks family in the same class, and the complex relationship between the upper class and the lower class of the British middle class. However, whether it is a meticulous psychological narrative of the main characters or a few strokes of the minor characters, the author Foster vividly depicts the mentality of all kinds of characters in the social situation at that time. The Wilkes family from the upper class is full of indifference and hypocrisy; Buster family from the lower class, struggling for a living, can not pursue their own ideals; Although the schlegel sisters from the middle class were spoiled, they were deeply influenced by the ideas of democracy and freedom at that time. Among them, the older Margaret hopes that understanding and tolerance can bring people from all walks of life together, while her sister Helen is full of sympathy for the lower class and makes no secret of her contempt for the upper class. Howards end is the country house of Henry Wilkes, the hero of the novel. Henry's ex-wife Ruth often talks about her beloved home to Margaret schlegel, who is a casual friend. She even wrote a note and gave it to Margaret before she died. The Henry family felt incredibly hurt at the same time, so they tore up this note. Margaret missed howards end several times. Helen had an affair with Leonard Baxter. Children born to men and women from different classes but despised by the upper class inherited howards end, representing the new force in Britain. In howards end, the protagonist Margaret reflects the social ideal of the author Foster. In view of the increasingly sharp conflicts between British society, economy and culture, rich and poor, and men and women, this paper discusses the methods of establishing "connection" relations. Through symbolism, the author puts forward that spiritual things and material things should be "interlinked"; "Only by connecting" can howards end, a symbol of Britain, be saved. Howards end is a symbol of home, and Margaret's trip to howards end is actually a journey of cultural roots. Howards end showed people all kinds of social contradictions faced by British society under the impact of industrialization and mechanical civilization in the early 20th century. The novel revolves around the intricate relationship between howards end and three characters of different classes, realizing the unity of material ecology and spiritual ecology. In his novels, Foster praised nature, thought about the relationship between man and nature, and expressed his survival thoughts of blending into nature, returning to nature and returning to nature. This reflects the author's creative and forward-looking green thinking, humanistic spirit and modernist spirit, and also has certain enlightenment significance to the goal of building a harmonious society. The narrative mode and techniques used in the novel also influenced modernist novels and inspired modernist novelists to continue their pursuit and exploration of artistic truth. Through howards end, Foster aroused the British people's thinking about modern civilization and traditional culture, and urged them to re-examine the conflict and integration of different cultural identities and different classes. Comment on lionel trilling, a contemporary American writer: howards end is Foster's masterpiece. This is a book full of responsibility and a book about the fate of England. " It not only gives full play to the themes and attitudes in Foster's early works, but also adds a lot of color to it. F Ray Levy, a British literary critic, said: "Buster's image-building is a failure behind closed doors, and Margaret's marriage is unconvincing." David Lodge, a contemporary British writer, said, "howards end is a classic of 20th century literature". Critics S.P. rosenbaum: "howards end is the most feminist of all Foster's novels". Fred Leavis, a British literary critic, said, "The combination of Margaret and Wilkes is untrue and a betrayal of intellectuals". Author's brief introduction edward morgan forster (1879- 1970): English novelist, short story writer and critic. His representative works include: Where Angels Dare Not Tread, The Longest Journey, A Room with a View, A Scenery House, A Journey to India, etc.