The Alienation Of Leonard Bast In E.M.Forster's Howards End

The later years of the nineteenth century saw the decline of agriculture and rapid development of cities in England. Urbanization made the previously land-centered rural life gradually disappear and with it, the simple and sincere connection between man and nature, man and man. Understanding and sympathy among people was deprived by city life.and, instead, indifference, estrangement and isolation spread all over the country. That is "alienation", the root of many social diseases in Forster's mind. Hence the motto, "only connect" in Howards End.However, Forster's intention in the novel is not only to connect the capitalist bourgeoisie (Wilcox family) and liberal intelligentsia (Schlegel family), but also include the yeomen (Leonard Bast), who leave the countryside and swarm into London. The current paper mainly focuses on the alienation of Leonard Bast. The Wilcoxes and Schlegels are taken as the chief sinners in the first chapter, after a thorough discussion about the way in which Leonard Bast is alienated. Through exploring the cause of the alienation of Leonard Bast, the second chapter exposes the fact that alienation is a product of modernity. The final chapter attempts to make a comparison between Leonard Bast with George and Stephen, thus proving that Forster's humanism in Howards End becomes more rational by displaying the tragic alienation of Leonard Bast.