Throughout the novel Howards End, EM Forster presents readers with a multitude of extremes, ranging from femininity to masculinity, from passion to practicality and from maturity to immaturity. These extremes seem completely irreconcilable. However, upon closer inspection, it becomes clear that Forster's main purpose in describing these extremes is to work to bring them together, to unite them into common ground, or to find balance and proportion. This is accomplished through the behavior and attitudes of three essential characters: Helen Schlegel, Margaret Wilcox née Schlegel, and Henry Wilcox. Helen is a character who embodies immaturity and passion. Throughout the novel, she is portrayed as a flighty and unrealistic young woman. She is quick to find trouble, but she is even quicker to run away from it. From the beginning, Helen's passion and immaturity are present in the letter she sends to Margaret in which she states: "I don't know what you will say: Paul and I are lovers, the youngest son who only came here on Wednesday. » (5). Helen believes she is in love with a man after only knowing him for a few days. She is too immature and naive to have ever felt an emotion like love. So, when confronted with a man she finds attractive, she lets herself believe that they share a strong affection for each other, because, for her, this is the only explanation for the emotions that she felt at that moment. Helen's immaturity and passion are further proven by her becoming pregnant with Leonard's child. Instead of asking her sister for help, or even informing her sister, Hélène decides to hide this fact from her family. However, as the novel continues, Forster creates a balance in the middle of the paper with what she could with him” (285), which was to take her to Howards End. Without this proportion in his life, Henry would have lost not only his son in prison, but also his wife, Margaret, who could not live with a man so extreme in his views. Essentially, proportion and balance in life lead to one's happiness. Finding balance is a key point of this novel, Howards End. Without balance, the characters find themselves in a world of extremes leading to their ultimate downfall. Forster wanted to make readers understand that extremes are dangerous and that in order for a person to live, they must find balance and proportion in life. Forster ensures that his three characters, Helen, Margaret and Henry, find this balance in order to have a good life at Howards End.Work CitedForster, EM Howards End. 1910. New York: Penguin Group, 2000. N. pag. Print.