Theme Of Femininity In The Howards End

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Recommended: Female roles in early British literature

In the novel Howards End, femininity transcends gender, and becomes a spirit rather than a gender trait. The feminine spirit incorporates love for all of humanity, and encourages self-denial and detachment from material possessions. Ruth Wilcox is the embodiment of this spirit in that her self-denial not only allows her to transcend dimensional categorization, but the difference between the sexes; Ruth Wilcox is seen as a spirit ruling over the lives of the characters throughout the novel, even after she has passed on (McConkey 29). Femininity is found in both men and women, and can explain the femininity of the Schlegel household. Mr. Schlegel is assumed to have been an idealist who held contempt for materialism, and was interested in the personal relationships of the “inner” life rather than the masculine “outer” life. The Wilcox family, excluding Ruth Wilcox, provide the opposition to the femininity of the Schlegels. Although the Wilcoxes are “exceptionally fertile,” they are still incapable of intimacy. The Wilcoxes live the “outer” life, and are extremely materialistic. This life denies sexual fulfillment, and the only way to achieve sexual liberation is through the “natural” person, which is thought to be the person of the “inner” life guided by the feminine spirit (McConkey 30).
The feminine spirit of the novel triumphs when it is unhindered by issues of sexual nature, as with Margaret’s sexuality. Her sexuality decreases throughout the novel, through the guidance of Ruth Wilcox’s spirit and even the spirit of her home; Margaret then becomes aware of the unity between the “seen”and the “unseen.” Before this, Margaret was in touch with her femininity and was aware of a baffling division between the world and the spiritual ...

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... Margaret, and from her to Helen’s child. The “Eternal Feminine” has taken absolute control of the England muddled by the materialistic “outer” life (Trilling 134). The triumph lies in that Henry has finally accepted that he needs Margaret, and Helen confesses that she cannot love a man, while Margaret cannot love a child. Each of these characters refute their gender expectations, and ultimately live a life guided by the feminine spirit of Ruth Wilcox and her family home. Although the women do not ultimately inherit Howards End, the feminine spirit is what will rule England. The inheritor is a classless child who will be raised in a household ruled by the feminine spirit of the “inner” life. The new England will then be built upon the morals of the “inner” life that will value humanity as a whole, and end class divisions through the guidance of the feminine spirit.

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