Howards End Love Quotes

How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Chapter.Paragraph)

Quote #10

Perhaps it was Helen's way of falling in love--a curious way to Margaret, whose agony and whose contempt of Henry were yet imprinted with his image. Helen forgot people. They were husks that had enclosed her emotion. She could pity, or sacrifice herself, or have instincts, but had she ever loved in the noblest way, where man and woman, having lost themselves in sex, desire to lose sex itself in comradeship? (40.2)

Helen's way of treating other humans is purely theoretical – they can influence her own life, but they don't seem to be as real as she is, somehow. Everything seems to revolve around her, which limits her from truly attaining the depth of feeling that others, including Margaret, feel.

Quote #11

"Here they are at last!" exclaimed Henry, disengaging himself with a smile. Helen rushed into the gloom, holding Tom by one hand and carrying her baby on the other. There were shouts of infectious joy.

"The field's cut!" Helen cried excitedly--"the big meadow! We've seen to the very end, and it'll be such a crop of hay as never!" (44.49-50)

Finally, a reconciliation – something productive has emerged from the tragedy at Howards End, and we discover a new sense of optimism in this reconstructed family of Helen, Margaret, Henry, and the baby. There's the prospect of a fertile, healthy new world, made possible by love and forgiveness, and we can only hope that it will come true.