Transformation from Social Unity to a Quest for the Self: “Only Connect” In Forster’s Howards End And Smith’s On Beauty

Authors

  • Tarik Ziyad Gulcu University of York, Department of English and Related Literature

Keywords:

E. M. Forster, Howards End, Zadie Smith, On Beauty, Connection, Identity

Abstract

As the epitome of his humanistic view of life, E. M. Forster’s motto “only connect” is best represented by Howards End. Henry Wilcox’s and Margaret’s indifference and distanced approach to Leonard’s demand for employment because of his lower status, Helen’s failed efforts for the appreciation of the lower strata in the case of the Bast family and Leonard Bast’s acceptance of his inferiority to the Wilcoxes embody Forster’s anxieties regarding the “connection” among different social classes. However, contemporary man’s quest for a new self within the dynamism of the contemporary world despite the realisation of Forster’s emphasis on “connection” in the contemporary context is epitomised in Zadie Smith’s On Beauty. In the novel, Howard’s efforts for a new self by his affair with Victoria and his failure in returning to his family bonds indicate that Forster’s emphasis on “connection” among people turns into a quest for a new self in contemporary circumstances.

Author Biography

Tarik Ziyad Gulcu , University of York, Department of English and Related Literature

Born in Istanbul in 1984, Dr Tarik Ziyad Gulcu received his doctoral degree from the Department of English Language and Literature at Ankara University in 2017 with his thesis on Rudyard Kipling, Edward Morgan Forster and Salman Rushdie’s views regarding the Oriental culture in relation to Indian lifestyle. He has been a member of International E. M. Forster Society since 2016. He has publications mainly on modern and contemporary British literature. He is affiliated as a lecturer at Ankara University. Currently, he is an academic visitor in the Department of English and Related Literature at the University of York.  

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Published

2020-07-28

Issue

Section

Research articles