An Analysis Of Howards End From The Perspective Of Alfred Adler's Individual Psychology

Edward Morgan Forster(1879-1970)is one of the prominent British novelists in the first half of the twentieth century.Not only have his works received high popularity in Britain,but also they have attracted readers around the world.He has completed six novels in total and Howards End is one of his masterpieces.The novel Howards End has gained wide attention since its publication.It proves to be longer and more socially inclusive than any of his earlier books.E.M.Forster has an ambition to speak to the condition of the entire England through Howards End,especially the psychological problems of the British people.There are four main characters in Howards End.This thesis will analyse the four main characters' psychological problems,especially their feelings of inferiority with the help of Alfred Adler's Individual Psychology.Through analysing the behaviours and causes of the four characters' feelings of inferiority,their different attitudes towards inferiority as well as consequences of their attitudes,this thesis attempts to reveal that as a humanistic intellectual,E.M.Forster cares about the mental conditions of British people and points out that an individual can fight against the feeling of inferiority by adopting the methods in Individual Psychology.By using Adler's Individual Psychology,the author of this thesis intends to interpret Howards End from a perspective that previous researchers have never adopted.The thesis is composed of five parts and there are three chapters except the Introduction and Conclusion.Introduction concentrates on the novel Howards End,a literature review on the novel,an introduction to the theory of Individual Psychology and the significance of the thesis.Chapter One presents the different inferiority behaviours of the four characters.Margaret Schlegel longs to live a life that she has never experienced;Helen Schlegel lacks the ability to love males in a proper way;Henry Wilcox does not know how to express his inner emotions;Leonard Bast is determined to get rid of his lower middle class identity.Chapter Two explores the different reasons of the four characters' feelings of inferiority.Each individual's family environment and life experiences are not the same,therefore,the reasons that they have feelings of inferiority are different.Chapter Three shows the fact that different attitudes towards the feeling of inferiority lead to different consequences.Margaret,Helen and Henry do not wallow in depression all the time.On the contrary,they adopt proper ways to compensate.Finally,they overcome their feelings of inferiority.Leonard Bast compensates his feeling of inferiority in wrong ways,and he loses his life at last.Through analysing the four main characters' psychological conditions with the theory of Individual Psychology,the thesis comes to a conclusion that the four characters' fates accord with Adler's theory.E.M.Forster not only concerns about British people's psychological problems,but also tries to find solutions for the British people,that is,individuals can overcome the feeling of inferiority if they accept the methods created by Alfred Adler and use them in practice.