What happens in Chapter 6 of Howards End?
Chapter 6 brings us back to the Schlegel sisters, Margaret and Helen, as they reflect on the fallout from Helen's brief but intense relationship with Paul Wilcox. What once felt charged has now faded into awkwardness for both of them. The chapter begins with Aunt Juley returning from Howards End, looking flustered after her attempt to intervene turned out to be unnecessary and a bit silly. Mrs. Munt fills Margaret in on the encounter, and the sisters share a gentle, amused analysis of her well-meaning meddling. However, their conversation takes a deeper turn when Helen expresses her sudden disillusionment with the Wilcox family as a whole — their practicality, emotional distance, and bold ambition. Margaret counters this broad judgment, advocating for a more nuanced perspective. The chapter concludes with the sisters somewhat at an impasse, highlighting the contrasting natures of Helen's passionate absolutism and Margaret's thoughtful openness, which quietly underscores the central tension of the novel.
Analysis
Forster uses Chapter 6 to shift the tone after the melodrama of the telegram and Aunt Juley's humorous escapade. The writing style changes from farce to philosophical debate, and this transition is skillfully done: comedy isn't dismissed but transformed into something deeper. Mrs. Munt's clumsiness is portrayed with warmth rather than disdain, which helps maintain a generous moral atmosphere in the novel.
The chapter's primary focus is the sisters' discussion, which Forster frames as a clash of worldviews instead of just a character interaction. Helen's critique of the Wilcoxes — "they have their hands on all the ropes" — foreshadows the novel's ongoing examination of Edwardian capitalism and masculine practicality. Margaret's response, her refusal to issue a blanket condemnation, positions her as the moral compass of the story: open-minded, ironic, and reluctant to sacrifice complexity for the ease of a simple judgment.
Forster's writing in this chapter is particularly aphoristic; his sentences carry the significance of essays. The theme of "connection" — the novel's central idea, later encapsulated in the epigraph "Only connect" — emerges subtly in Margaret's insistence on viewing the Wilcoxes in their entirety. The tonal balance is exact: warmth and irony coexist without negating each other. The domestic setting of Wickham Place serves as a contrasting space to Howards End, emphasizing discussion and ideas instead of earth and memory, allowing Forster to anchor the novel's intellectual vigor before the plot takes its more consequential turns.
Key quotes from Chapter 6
“They are the backbone of England. They have their hands on all the ropes.”
Helen delivers this assessment of the Wilcox type to Margaret, framing her disillusionment in terms of class power rather than personal hurt.
“To Margaret, the crisis was a thing to be passed through as quickly as possible, and then forgotten.”
Forster's narrator characterises Margaret's pragmatic emotional intelligence, distinguishing her from Helen's tendency toward lasting intensity.
“Aunt Juley had been a failure as a diplomatist, but had succeeded as a human being.”
The narrator's wry verdict on Mrs. Munt's Howards End mission, balancing gentle mockery with genuine warmth.
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Create an accountSign inVocabulary in Chapter 6
- backbone
- The essential supporting strength of something; here used to mean the class of people who provide the practical, reliable foundation that keeps the country functioning.
- hands on all the ropes
- In control of every important mechanism of power and influence in society; the image is of sailors who manage the lines that steer a ship.
- diplomatist
- A person skilled at handling delicate or difficult situations between people with tact and careful negotiation; an older spelling of 'diplomat' used in early twentieth-century British English.