We Are Not Concerned With The Very Poor, They Are Unthinkable by Edward Morgan Foster - Essay Example

We are not concerned with the very poor. They are unthinkable’ (Howards End, ch.6). How important is this ment for our understanding of Forster’s representation of class relations in Howards End? Edward Morgan Foster, the renowned British novelist and essayist was born in London and educated at King’s college, Cambridge University. In his novels, he dealt with different topics like- middle class materialism, Conflict of cultures, and marginalized sexuality. His personal life was with full of scandals related to his homosexuality. So, some publishers were not ready to publish his short stories in his lifetime. His attitude towards society was that of a rebel who wishes to revolt against rules and regulations which hinders individual freedom of thought and expression. This attitude invited much applause and criticism from readers and critics. In the novel Howards End, E.M. Forster deals with the theme of class- conflict in Victorian England. The work primarily deals with the upper class society and slightly touches the lower class society. Here, the attempt is to investigate into the class relation portrayed by Forster in his novel Howards End. Thesis statement: How much important is the statement-‘We are not concerned with the very poor. They are unthinkable’, for representing class relations in Howards End. Summary/theme As earlier pointed out, the novel deals with social issues related to upper classes in the society. For instance, the Schlegels and the Wilcoxs are upper class families but represent different aspects of the same class. The former family represents cultural, educational and rational aspects. But the latter family represents materialistic aspects of the upper class. Here, Foster introduces a character right from the lower middle class, namely Leonard Bast, who is working as a clerk at an insurance company. The different aspects of class relationship are revealed through the affair between Helen Schlegel and Paul Wilcox. But the affair creates much tension between two families. Here, it is apparent that love affair between two different family members is enough to create an atmosphere of tension and never ending quarrel and arguments. In this aspect, there is no difference in class but love affair without the consent of family members leads to enmity between families. The next class relationship portrayed by Foster is between Helen Schlegel and Leonard Bast. As Leonard is married to another women namely Jackie, the relation was brief. From the relation, Helen became pregnant. Foster does not mention about this relation in a direct way. Instead, he mentions that Helen slept with a person of a lower class. The next class relationship mentioned by Foster is between Margaret from the Schlegel family and Henry from the Wilcox family. Henry was a widower and he began to develop a relation with his wife’s friend, Margaret. Later, they got married but Margaret was forced to be under the dominance of Henry. She felt that she lost her identity. Eventually, Helen returns from Germany and Margaret decides to help her. But Henry was against this decision. Here, Margaret mentions about Henry’s affair with Jackie Bast, a woman from the lower class. This helped Henry to realize his mistake and he decided to help Helen. In the end, Helen and her child lives happily with Henry and Margaret. The happy ending of the novel reveals that rivalry among different classes in the society is not permanent but circumstances help different classes to mix up together. Evaluation of the statement- We are not concerned with the very poor. They are unthinkable’ The England in 18th century was a transitional period from Victorian idealistic society with strict social laws and restrictions on individual freedom to Romanticism, with liberal thought and action. Earlier, ample importance was given to religion and other factors related to it. But Romanticism diminished the importance of religion in personal and social life of individuals and helped them to look beyond the scope of religion. For instance, Schlegel sisters who possessed liberal thoughts and actions, craving for friendship and relation beyond class division, symbolize the upper class society. But their relation with the lower class is momentary and are little valued as passion for an adventurous life. When one goes through the novel for the first time, there is high chance to get wrong impression about class relations portrayed by Foster. For instance, one may misinterpret the novel as class relation between two upper class families and some problems related to the love affair between Margaret Schlegel and Henry Wilcox. By reading between lines, one can observe that the novel portrays social transformation from a rigid society to a more flexible one which accepts relationship beyond class divisions. The very words of the novelist, “We are not concerned with the very poor. They are unthinkable, and only to be approached by the statistician or the poet.” (Foster 1958, p. 34) reveals his aim, i.e. social change. Besides, the novelist points out that the story is about the life of gentlefolk or someone who are forced to pretend as elite class of the society. So, it is clear that aim of the novelist is not to portray life of poor people but to suggest a solution to the social problem of class division in the society. In the novel, Leonard Bast, a Porphyrion Insurance clerk represents the lower class of the society. But critics like Peter Widdowson criticize Foster on his disregard towards characters like Leonard Bast. He used to dwell in a three room urban apartment. But he did not like to be the part of lower class society and he wished to be the part of elite class. Besides, he used to self educate with the help of books and admired authors like Ruskin. Leonard Bast felt inferiority complex on his low status in the society and his unending longing to improve himself leads him to connect himself with Literature and Art. But his unhealthy living condition and poverty does not allow him to be successful in life. Foster describe Leonard Bast as a person inferior to rich people he was not intelligent, healthy or even lovable. “But he was inferior to most rich people; there is not the least doubt of it. He was not as courteous as the average rich man, nor as intelligent, nor as healthy, nor as lovable.” (Foster 1958, p. 42)The point to be noted here is that Foster does not attempt to compare Bast with a person of his own social class but with a rich person. But Foster attempted to do so because his aim was to compare rich and the poor, division in the society related to different classes. Again, Bast was able to connect with the elite class by developing a deep relation with Helen. But his end was so pathetic, because of some problem related to his weak heart. Foster make use of the death of Bast by pointing out that the class division in the society discriminate lower class people of by hindering them from entering the mainstream of the society. Even, they do not get the chance to have basic needs like food and shelter. For instance, Bast lives in an unhealthy condition and he was poor enough to ignore his illness. But Foster does not provide much attention to the problems of people like Blast who represent the lower class. In addition, Foster does not attempt to disclose identity of the person responsible for the pregnancy of Helen. Instead, he vaguely points out that Helen happened to sleep with a person who is from the lower class. But when one tries to understand the novel from a different angle/point of view, it is clear that Foster’s plan is not to portray the sufferings of the poor people. But his aim was to renovate the society to practicality i.e. connection among different classes in the society. Besides, Foster carefully portrays the social and class division of Edwardian London. In the beginning of the novel, Mrs. Munt is suspicious about Wilcoxes, who are of the same social class. She even asks Margaret that: “Margaret, if I may interfere, don’t be taken by surprise. What do you think of Wilcoxes? Are they our sort? Are they like people? Could they appreciate Helen; who is to my mind a special sort of person?” (Foster 1958, p. 6) She was not sure that Helen will be treated perfectly in another family. Here, the Schlegal family is related to modern civilization, Literature and Art. But the Wilcox family is entirely different and they did have imperialistic outlook of life. Foster very well knew that pointing out the sad plight of the lower class will not create any change in the rigid rules and regulations which prevailed in the society. But here, a practical solution is needed to fill/reduce the wide gap between different classes of the society. Through the character Margaret, Foster attempted to criticize the social restriction against amalgamation among different classes. The practical solution pointed out by Foster to reduce tension in class relations is to combine and coordinate different classes by relations. It may be mere friendship or marital relation but the aim is same, individual development through proper socialization. In this novel, class relation or class struggle is not between different classes of the society. But it is within the same class on the issue of relation beyond class restriction. Helen and Margaret are two important characters but with different outlook on personal life marriage, class relations and character. Both of them are sisters but with different nature and attitude towards class relationships. Helen is portrayed in the novel as an individual with human follies and she believes that relationships are beyond class divisions. Margaret, her sister is portrayed as a lady with immense wisdom and clear outlook on life. Helen, who was so kind towards poor people, was ready to help Leonard by offering herself and money. “I wanted to give him money, and feel finished.”(Foster 1958, p. 247) From her words, it is clear that she does not believe in class division and was ready to create a relation beyond the restrictions put forth by the society. Earlier, Margaret was ready to help Leonard and Helen but her basic instinct to stick on to materialistic pleasures hinders her from helping others beyond a limit. Foster makes clear that Margaret was with practical attitude towards her own life. “No doubt Leonard was worth helping, but being Henry’s wife, she preferred to help someone else.” (Foster 1958, p. 206) Margaret very well knew that Leonard wants her help but her status as Henry’s wife hindered her from helping Leonard. Her relationships with the members of lower class were temporary and can be considered as the passion towards adventure among the ladies who belong to the upper class. Besides, she was ready to give up her ideals on life and her own individuality for the sake of a peaceful family life with Henry. She was even ready to give up her individuality and surrendered herself under the dominance of her husband. “They attributed the change, to her marriage, and perhaps some deep instinct did warn her not to travel further her husband than was inevitable.” (Foster 1958, p. 206) For Margaret, connection beyond class division was temporary and her marriage with Henry proves this fact. But Foster never allows the readers to predict the hidden reason behind the irregular behavior of Margaret. At the end of the novel, Margaret gradually changes f her husband’s attitude and forces him to accept Helen and her child as the part of their family. Moreover, she very well knew that managing an imperialist (Henry) and changing his attitude towards other social classes is equal to change her and her sister’s life. Besides, she wanted to escape from the problem of knocking down old buildings in London to build suburban houses. By marrying Henry, she was able to have a house of her own which was her lifelong dream. But Henry is far behind his wife and shows sexual double standard because he did have sexual relation with a lady from lower class but at the same time was not ready to accept Helen’s affair with Leonard. Margaret criticizes Henry by pointing out his double standard on class relations. Margaret shows more realistic attitude towards life than her sister. Margaret says to Helen-“Then I can’t have you worrying about Leonard. Don’t drag in the personal when it will not come. Forget him.”(Foster 1958, p. 267) Here, Helen’s words prove that she like her sister to be independent and she advice her to forget her lover, Leonard. The novel can be evaluated as a contrast between Schlegel & Wilcox families. Moreover, Fosters ideas on Socialism, Feminism and Liberalism are clearly pointed out in the novel. Besides, Foster attempts to share/spread his unique ideas through his characters that are portrayed as independent and self reliant. Foster indirectly says that future is on characters like Helen, who was ready to give up her social and economical status for the sake of her love towards Leonard. Before summing up, the main findings about the treatment of class relation makes clear that Foster’s idea is a blow on the rigid social limitations on individuals. Besides, the discrimination related to class division badly affects the development of lower class individuals. The sad plight of Leonard Bast proves this fact. On the other side, relation beyond class is an adventure and temporary attraction to upper class members. The relationship of Henry and his wife Margaret with the lower class prove that they do not like to keep constant touch with them and they do not feel any particular sympathy towards them. Even Margaret wishes to help Helen because her husband is no more and she was trying hard to survive. Henry does not like to help Helen but his wife constantly argued with him and forced him to accept Helen and her child as the part of their family. So it is clear that Foster focuses upon future society not on past or present society. Besides, he very well knows that the future of English society is closely related to relationship beyond class restriction and the portrayal of characters like Henry, Helen, Margaret and Bast prove this fact. But from a broader point of view, the torch bearer of modernity, socialism and liberty will be Helen’s child who acts as a connection between higher and lower classes. So, it is clear that Forster’s representation of class relations in Howards End prove his commitment/ responsibility as a novelist towards the society. References Forster, E M 1958, Howards End, Forgotten Books. Read More