What are the main themes in E. M. Forster's novel Howards End ?

The epigraph to Howards Ends ("Only
Connect") contains the major theme of the novel: the power and the difficulty of
sustaining connections among humans. Forster explores the themes of class conflict, of
human connections and relationships, of spiritual and material lives and of the future
of England in the twentieth century in the face of fast social changes. The novel
opposes the values of the Wilcoxes and the Schlegels and, because of this opposition,
the connections between the members of the two families prove difficult to maintain.
The Wilcoxes represent social conventions, materialism and a business-like attitude to
life while the Schlegels stand for idealism, humanism and the pursue of one's personal
realization in spite of social pressure and demands. In spite of the conflicts that
oppose the two families throughout the novel, at the end both the Wilcoxes and the
Schlegels live at Howards End. If we take Howards End to be a symbol for England, this
may hint to a reconciliation of the two sets of values and Forster's aspiration to a
society devoid of class conflicts.