Written in the early twentieth century Howards End by EM Forster is set in 1910s England as it transitions out of the Victorian Age and into the Edwardian Age. Connection is the most important theme of the novel, as the epigraph "Just connect" states. Howards End examines English life a few years before the First World War. In the early 1900s England was in the midst of social change. In writing this novel, Forster was trying to answer critic Lionel Trilling's question: "Who will inherit England?" In Howards End the author presents the different classes of English society with Howards End, the house that represents England. Forster incorporates the concerns of the Edwardian period into his novel, such as the relentless urban sprawl that claims the Schlegels' home, Wickham Place, and the financial difficulties of Leonard Bast as he works hard as a clerk, trying to maintain his middle-class status. The novel is about people predestined to a rich life or lack thereof. The Schlegel family represents the intellectual, literary and cultured upper class, the Wilcox family represents the materialism of the upper class and the Basts represent the lower middle class of English society. The underlying theme concerns the development of human connections and the acceptance of differences. The novel also deals with gender roles, as the Schlegel sisters do not completely submit to the expectations of their society. The Schlegels and Wilcoxes are well educated having been born into a world full of privilege and wealth. The sisters have limited but respectable means, while the Wilcoxes are very wealthy thanks to the sale of property after Ruth's death. There is the inner life that is valued by the Schlegel sisters and there is the outer life that is prized... middle of paper... Avery, Ruth's childhood friend and housekeeper of Howards End, who undoes suitcases Schlegels' old furniture in full anticipation of their future residence there: "You think you won't live here again, Mrs. Wilcox, but you will." (Forster, p. 253) Fourteen months later, Margaret, Mr. Wilcox, Helen and her baby are still living in Howards End and have become a family. The novel ends with Margaret's revelation that Ruth Wilcox wanted her to have Howards End. Throughout the novel Forster suggests that all classes of English society must learn to coexist on an equal footing. Ultimately, these three social groups are permanently linked: "In the revised manuscripts of Howards End a pattern becomes evident: Forster inserts hundreds of personal pronouns, underlining in a grammatically concrete way a theme of the novel: the importance of personal relationships." (I pages. 237)