Howards End Women and Femininity Quotes

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

Quote #7

He was annoyed with Miss Schlegel here. He would have preferred her to be prostrated by the blow, or even to rage. Against the tide of his sin flowed the feeling that she was not altogether womanly. Her eyes gazed too straight; they had read books that are suitable for men only. And though he had dreaded a scene, and though she had determined against one, there was a scene, all the same. It was somehow imperative. (29.5)

Henry expects Margaret to be upset, like any normal woman, by the news of his infidelity. However, Margaret is not a normal woman, which irritates him. For him, she's too much like a man to be properly feminine – too educated, too perceptive – and we can tell that she doesn't fit in with the image of womanhood that conservative men like Henry believe in.

Quote #8

Man is for war, woman for the recreation of the warrior, but he does not dislike it if she makes a show of fight. She cannot win in a real battle, having no muscles, only nerves. Nerves make her jump out of a moving motor-car, or refuse to be married fashionably. The warrior may well allow her to triumph on such occasions; they move not the imperishable plinth of things that touch his peace. (31.6)

Men and women, women and men…there's nothing but trouble between the sexes here. Henry, and men of his ilk, have a kind of warped idea of women. As the narrator comments here, men ("warriors") just humor women, who are nervous but entertaining creatures. We have to wonder how serious this commentary is.