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Chapters
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Chapters
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Howards End has 44 chapters.
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Chapters44 items
Chapter 1
The novel opens with Helen Schlegel writing to her sister Margaret about a visit to Howards End, the Wilcox family home.
Chapter 2
Margaret reacts to Helen's news with worry while the sisters' household is shown. The narrator introduces the Schlegels' intellectual, cultured London world.
Chapter 3
The Schlegels' background and daily life are filled in, including their dedication to art, ideas, and talk. Their world is open and argumentative, set against the Wilcoxes' busine…
Chapter 4
The Schlegels' social circle widens, and the Wilcoxes remain on the edge of it. Characters reflect on what the Paul episode meant for the families' future contact.
Chapter 5
The story moves into the Schlegels' concert-going life and the Beethoven Fifth Symphony. Helen responds to the music with vivid private images, while others around her react diffe…
Chapter 6
The Schlegels go to a Beethoven concert at Queen's Hall with Helen's friends, including the young clerk Leonard Bast.
Chapter 7
Helen's umbrella mix-up leads to Leonard's embarrassed first visit. Margaret reads the walk back to his poor flat as proof of his shaky social position.
Chapter 8
The Schlegels talk about their social duties and how far to go in helping others. Margaret argues with Helen about money, charity and the unseen economy that supports comfortable…
Chapter 9
Margaret meets Mrs. Wilcox again and their friendship deepens.
Chapter 10
Margaret and Mrs. Wilcox's friendship continues, and the Wilcoxes' attitudes come into sharper focus.
Chapter 11
Mrs. Wilcox's death changes the Wilcox household and, quietly, the Schlegels' lives.
Chapter 12
The Wilcoxes read Ruth's note leaving Howards End to Margaret. They decide that a dying, confused wish cannot bind them, and agree not to act on it.
Chapter 13
The scene shifts back to the Schlegels in London. Their lease on Wickham Place is nearing its end, and Margaret faces the loss of their home to developers.
Chapter 14
Margaret is drawn closer to Henry Wilcox as she looks for a house. He offers practical advice and she responds to his steadiness, though she sees his limits.
Chapter 15
Margaret's bond with Henry deepens as the Schlegels' departure from Wickham Place nears. Helen watches with suspicion, remembering the Paul Wilcox episode.
Chapter 16
Margaret and Helen deal with the fallout of the Wilcox engagement and the Schlegels' lease problem. Margaret, now thinking seriously about the Wilcoxes, goes along with Henry's pr…
Chapter 17
The Wilcox and Schlegel worlds keep pressing against each other, and Margaret tries to link them through conversation and tact.
Chapter 18
Margaret's bond with Henry deepens as she weighs a future with him despite his limits. Her sense of his character becomes more mixed, with admiration and doubt side by side.
Chapter 19
The Schlegels' circumstances shift further, and the question of Helen and Margaret's place in the world becomes pressing.
Chapter 20
Margaret's engagement to Henry comes into focus, and the question of how it will affect her principles and her bond with Helen becomes clear.
Chapter 21
Margaret, now engaged to Henry Wilcox, deals with the fallout of her choice. Helen and Tibby react with worry or distance, and Margaret tries to hold her new loyalty and her old f…
Chapter 22
The engagement settles into practical arrangements, and Henry's habits and assumptions about running a household and a life become clearer.
Chapter 23
Margaret's engagement moves toward its wider social consequences, including contact with the Wilcox family and Henry's circle.
Chapter 24
Helen's situation and Margaret's engagement start to pull against each other, as the sisters' bond is tested by Margaret's new loyalties.
Chapter 25
The plot moves toward the wedding and its complications, with Margaret managing family tension and Henry's assumptions.
Chapter 26
Margaret, now engaged to Henry, deals with the fallout of Helen's absence and the family's shifting money and class pressures.
Chapter 27
The marriage plans advance and Margaret sees more of how the Wilcox family operates. Henry's habits, his children's attitudes and the family's social code become clearer.
Chapter 28
Margaret's household and relationships adjust to the coming marriage, and the question of Helen's whereabouts and mood stays unresolved.
Chapter 29
Tensions around the marriage and the Schlegel household sharpen, and Margaret has to weigh what she is giving up as well as gaining.
Chapter 30
The wedding approaches and the strain between the two worlds grows more visible. Margaret keeps trying to bridge differences, but the gaps in understanding between her and the Wil…
Chapter 31
Margaret, now married to Henry, tries to settle the household question as Helen's whereabouts stay unknown. Helen has been avoiding her, and Margaret has to piece together news th…
Chapter 32
Margaret learns Helen is in London and avoiding her, and she hatches a plan to see her sister. She works out that Helen is hiding something serious.
Chapter 33
Margaret finds Helen and discovers she is pregnant by Leonard Bast. Helen wants no help from Henry and asks only for one night at Howards End.
Chapter 34
Margaret asks Henry to let Helen stay at Howards End for a night, but he refuses, offended by Helen's behavior. He cannot see that his own past affair with Jacky Bast makes his ju…
Chapter 35
Margaret confronts Henry with his own past, and she makes clear that she will stand by her sister. She takes Helen to Howards End herself.
Chapter 36
Margaret, now married to Henry, tries to manage Helen's absence and the family's growing worry. Helen has been avoiding her, and Margaret schemes to see her through a message abou…
Chapter 37
Margaret goes to Howards End and finds Helen there, visibly pregnant. Helen asks only for one night in the house, and Margaret learns the truth about the father, Leonard Bast.
Chapter 38
Margaret asks Henry to let Helen stay at Howards End for one night, and he refuses. Helen's situation looks to him like a scandal, and he cannot see past that.
Chapter 39
Margaret confronts Henry with his past and then spends the night with Helen at Howards End. She makes clear that she will stand by her sister, and she forgives Henry while refusin…
Chapter 40
The next morning Charles Wilcox arrives at Howards End, and Helen's story brings Leonard Bast to the house. Charles attacks Leonard with the flat of a sword he grabs from the wall…
Chapter 41
Margaret, Helen, and Henry's household face the fallout of Charles's trial and sentence. Henry is broken by his son's imprisonment for manslaughter, and Margaret takes charge.
Chapter 42
Margaret and Henry settle at Howards End, and Henry begins to recover in a quiet, humbled state. Helen, who has been living there with her child, is now part of the household.
Chapter 43
Henry, now weak and seeking peace, makes his decision about the future of Howards End. He agrees to leave the house to Margaret, and after her, to Helen's child, Leonard Bast's so…
Chapter 44
The final chapter takes place in summer at Howards End during haymaking. Helen's child plays in the meadow, and the sisters talk about the harvest and the future.
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