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Since beginning On Beauty, I’ve gone through a cycle of different reactions.  At first I just thought, this is nice, well written, with some well-placed allusions to Howards End, and perhaps a similar structure.  As I kept reading, I admit I started to get a little ticked off at Zadie.  Is this what modern writing has come to, taking a classic and bending its plot, themes, and characters into a modern situation where the allusions to the previous work are all too obvious?  But then, I took a step back and reminded myself of the main themes of this course: evolution and storytelling. 

There is a definite evolution to be seen between these two works.  Smith has forced Howards End into the twenty-first century by telling her story through the eyes of a modern multicultural family that inhabits the world we live in today.  The main themes remain the same, but with a twist.  Class is addressed through the subtleties of changing economic status and racial backgrounds, rather than the clear distinction between rich and poor in 1910.  The clash of ideologies remains to some extent intellectual and practical, but with distinct overtones of liberal versus conservative.  In a sense, the story of Howards End has been adapted to fit its surroundings.  While the world of Forster’s original novel may seem alien to us now, Smith makes us see that the same issues are still relevant in modern society.  While I think her linkage of the two works would have been just as effective without the overt allusions to Howards End, at this stage I am content to view Smith’s work as an homage rather than an imitation.

Elise