Howards End
by E.M. Forster

To find information about E.M. Forster and his work, try some of the following sources:

Literature Resource Center

This online database includes an overview of Howards End as well as biographical information about E.M. Forster and literary criticism of Howards End. The information is drawn from standard reference books such as Contemporary Authors, Dictionary of Literary Biography and Contemporary Literary Criticism.

(Off campus access: Use the "Off campus" link for Literature Resource Center on the Library's Electronic Databases page. SRJC User Name and PIN required for off-campus access.)

InfoTrac Expanded Academic ASAP

InfoTrac Expanded Academic ASAP contains magazine and journal articles on many topics. A search on forster e m (not "e. m. forster") will locate numerous articles in online magazines as well as in print copies of magazines held in the SRJC libraries. You can also search InfoTrac for forster and howards end     or for other related topics.

(Off campus access: Use the "Off campus" link for InfoTrac Expanded Academic ASAP on the Library's Electronic Databases page. SRJC User Name and PIN required for off-campus access.)

Twayne's Authors Series

This online book about E.M. Forster contains detailed information about his life and its influence on his work, as well as chapters on several of his works, including one on Howard's End.

(Off campus access: Use the "Off campus" link for Twayne's Authors Series on the Library's Electronic Databases page. SRJC User Name and PIN required for off-campus access.)

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Books, Articles and Films on Library Reserve for the WOLM

A collection of books and journal articles about E.M. Forster and Howards End have been placed on reserve in the SRJC libraries for the WOLM project. In the Plover Library, ask for books and articles at the Reserve Books window; ask for films at the Media Services window. In the Mahoney Library, ask for books, articles or films at the Circulation Desk.

Webpages on E.M. Forster and His Work

Public Domain Modern English Text Collection: Howards End

Read the entire text of Howards End online. (Scroll down the page to get to the text.) You can also search for words within the text at this website.

Online Tours of King's College, Cambridge

Want a peek at E.M. Forster's world? Take an online tour of the college he attended.

E.M. Forster's Howards End: A Social, Economic and Political Context

In this article from the Book-It Repertory Theatre newsletter, Caitlin Moon describes the Britain in which Forster wrote his novel and in which the the characters of his novel lived their lives. "England rules 1/4 of the earth and its people" and it "produces more steel than the rest of the world put together." "The era of letters [is] being taken over by telegrams, and kerosene lanterns [are] giving way to electric street lamps." "A Londoner's life expectancy is 20 years." These and other facts provide a context in which to read Howards End.

Reviews of the 1992 film of Howards End.

Webpages on Related Topics

Manor House (PBS)

This television series, broadcast on the Public Broadcasting System, brought class and class issues to reality television. For three months, the household functioned as it would have in pre-First World War England. The nineteen participants in the experiment agreed not just to live with Edwardian technology, but to abide by Edwardian standards of behaviour and to adapt to a complicated set of rules that governed everything in their daily lives.

Edwardian Life.

Read about many aspects of Edwardian life, including royalty, empire and politics, sex and marriage, servants' wages, an hour-by-hour guide to a typical day in a country house, and house rules for the upstairs ("How to Treat Your Servants") and the downstairs ("Servants Rules for Mealtimes") inhabitants. See also You in 1905 to get a snapshot of your life as it might have been in 1905. Just enter your gender and your fathers profession, and the website for the British televsion series A Country House will tell you a bit about what your education, career prospects, marriage age, living conditions, position in society and leisure time might have been in Edwardian Britain.

Manderston, a Virtual Tour

To fully appreciate the luxury associated with the country house, take this virtual tour of Manderston, "the supreme country house of Edwardian Scotland; the swan-song of its era." The tour offers 360 degree views of this house and grounds where both the PBS and the British television series described above were filmed.

Domestic service in Victorian and Edwardian England

Domestic service was a major employer in Britain, and continued to employ large numbers until World War II. In 1901 over 1.5 million people were in domestic service. Their duties were arduous but essential. With few labour-saving appliances, everything was done by hand - from laying the grate in the morning, cleaning and cooking, to doing the laundry. These black and white slides show the types of duties and dress common among domestic servants of the period.

The British Empire (BBC)

Review how the British Empire assumed such global dominance, and read about the factors which led to its decline. This history website from the BBC offers timelines, articles and multimedia on related topics and historic figures, including Edward VII.

Modern English Literature: The 20th Century -The Edwardians (Encyclopaedia Britannica Online)

Get an overview of the themes Edwardian authors like Forster were writing about and how they reflected the society in which they lived.

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