Subjects:
The central relationship in the novel is between Henry Wilcox, who has made his fortune through the rubber industry, and the elder Schlegel sister, Margaret. The novel follows their courtship and consequent marriage through a journey of obstacles and revelations. Henry Wilcox is driven by money and power with little time for culture and intellectual thought. He is obtuse but also kindly. Margaret is an intellectual who cares for the troubles of the world but cares most for the welfare of her siblings and her husband.
The other characters in the novel represent more extreme types. Helen, Margaret’s much loved younger sister, is a bohemian idealist who responds passionately to situations. Charles Wilcox is the most prosaic character. The clerk, Leonard Bast, is tormented by a glimpse of society’s privileged – he is at ‘the ex
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Where Margaret theorises, her sister Helen acts upon her ideal that all men are created equal – including Mr Bast and Mr Wilcox.
She impresses Henry with her direct division of how he should spend his income in Chapter 20 – not requesting any for herself, “…give away all you can, bearing in mind I’ve a clear six hundred.
Margaret, the eldest sibling and surrogate mother to Helen and Tibby, is intelligent and idealistic but more pragmatic than her younger sister. After Evie’s wedding Helen and Leonard discuss his future and Jacky’s past. Helen is emotional in her expression of ideals, no more so that when she sleeps with Leonard after the disastrous encounter with Henry Wilcox at Evie’s wedding. Leonard has become resigned to the ways of the world at the end of Edwardian England. Mr Wilcox also believes there will also be rich and poor but that comes from the theory that the fittest will survive.
In the end, Forster suggests none of these stances are correct. What a mercy it is to have all this money about one!” (page 182). He sees clearly where he stands after the bailiffs fingered his Ruskins and Stevenson’s; ‘…I see one must have money’ (page 235). Aunt Juley agitates over their decision to invest in ‘foreign things’ and encourages them to have an ‘old, safe’ investment in Home Rail which does not do as well (due, possibly, to increasing use of the motorcar).
The Schlegels have money, and a constant flow of it as they invest wisely. When it comes to money Margaret is shrewd but not obsessive. Leonard Bast tries to improve himself through ‘Art and Literature’.
Essay's Topics
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