Howards End Characters

Margaret is twenty-nine years old and unmarried at the beginning of Howards End, unusual for a woman at the time. She has been watching over her younger siblings, Helen and Tibby, since the… read analysis of Margaret Schlegel

Helen is twenty-one at the beginning of Howards End, eight years younger than her sister Margaret. The two are very close, and very similar: both unmarried, highly intelligent, cultured, and liberal-thinking. However, Helen… read analysis of Helen Schlegel

Henry is in his fifties, and he has made a great fortune running the Imperial and West African Rubber Company. He opposes social reform and women’s rights, and believes whole-heartedly in the righteousness of capitalism… read analysis of Henry Wilcox

Leonard Bast is an idealistic young man who works as a low-paid clerk for an insurance company. He is estranged from his family because of their opposition to his relationship with Jacky, a former… read analysis of Leonard Bast

Tibby is sixteen years old at the beginning of Howards End. Like his sisters, Margaret and Helen, he has a great deal of intelligence and a taste for beautiful art, especially music. However… read analysis of Tibby Schlegel

Charles is the eldest child in the Wilcox family, and the most like his father, Henry. He represses emotion, disdains women, and feels entitled to wealth and modern material luxuries. He indulges his temper… read analysis of Charles Wilcox

The youngest child in the Wilcox family, Paul has a brief, failed romance with Helen Schlegel when she stays at Howards End. He goes to Nigeria to make his fortune off of England’s colony… read analysis of Paul Wilcox

The only daughter in the Wilcox family, Evie loves sports and breeding dogs. She marries Percy Cahill in a perfectly choreographed wedding. She shares the Wilcox family insensitivity and causes great offense to an old… read analysis of Evie Wilcox

Jacky was Henry Wilcox’s mistress in Cyprus. When he left her, she had no means to support herself far from home and she became a prostitute. She later met Leonard Bast, who began… read analysis of Jacky Bast

Juley Munt, the quintessential Englishwoman, is the maternal aunt of the Schlegel children. She wants to help her orphaned nieces and nephew, but the Schlegels take pride in being self-sufficient, and her well-meaning attempts to… read analysis of Juley Munt

Frieda Mosebach, or Fraulein Mosebach, a young German woman, is a cousin of the Schlegels on their father’s side. The Schlegels’ English aunt, Juley Munt, mildly disapproves of Frieda’s free spirit. She visits them… read analysis of Frieda Mosebach

An elderly spinster, Miss Avery lives next to Howards End and was an old friend of Ruth Wilcox. Like Ruth, she has a mystical, all-knowing air about her that is connected to Howards End… read analysis of Miss Avery