Howards End: A Text Of Testing Matthew Arnold's Theory Of Culture

E. M. Forster is one of the famous twentieth-century novelists and critics. In all his novels, he makes in-depth explorations of various political and economical issues in British society from the late Victorian era to the postwar period. In his life, he has altogether published six long novels, among which Howards End is generally regarded as one of his masterpieces.In Howards End, through contrasting the two families, the Schlegels and the Wilcoxes, Forster reveals the spiritual desert of the Wilcoxes who represent the businessmen, highlights the spiritual forces of culture the Schlegels represent and expresses his ideal of connecting the worlds of business and culture.In this thesis, the author intends to make a systematic analysis on Howards End from the perspective of Matthew Arnold's cultural theory so as to figure out culture's social function. This thesis begins with a brief introduction to Matthew Arnold's notion of culture. Here the author explains Arnold's cultural theory, and explores Forster's inheritance of Arnold in Howards End. To Arnold, culture is sweetness and light. It is the best that has been thought and said in the world, and is in an inward condition of the mind and spirit. It is a study of perfection and has a very important function to fulfill for mankind. Contrary to culture, civilization refers to the material life of human beings and is in an outward set of circumstances. It is mechanical and external. The contradiction between culture and civilization means the contradiction between the spiritual life and the material life.Then, the thesis discusses the division of "the unseen" and "the seen". Based on Arnold's division of culture and civilization, in Howards End Forster divides the world into two parts: "the unseen" and "the seen". As the embodiment of culture, the Schlegels are in pursuit of spiritual perfection. They stand for middle-class intellectuals with free conduct, more sympathetic inclinations and broader artistic interests. They concern themselves much more with feelings and personal relationships and hence the representatives of the inner life. As the embodiment of civilization, the Wilcoxes represent the upper middle-class in England with their affected genteelness and hypocritical "good taste".The thesis ends with the Schlegel sisters' connection with the outer life. Two connections are discussed here. The first is the connection between Margaret and Mr. Wilcox. The second is the connection between Helen and Leonard Bast. These two connections reflect Arnold's ideal of culture's role in ameliorating society, while due to the failure of the connections, Forster begins to query Arnold's notion of culture's social function.