Jacky was Henry Wilcox’s mistress in Cyprus. When he left her, she had no means to support herself far from home and she became a prostitute. She later met Leonard Bast, who began to provide for her and promised to marry her when he was of age. After Leonard dies at the end of the book, her fate is never mentioned, but presumably she would have no choice but to return to the streets.
Jacky Bast Quotes in Howards End
The Howards End quotes below are all either spoken by Jacky Bast or refer to Jacky Bast. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 38
Quotes
“You shall see the connection if it kills you, Henry! You have had a mistress—I forgave you. My sister has a lover—you drive her from the house. Do you see the connection? Stupid, hypocritical, cruel—oh, contemptible!—a man who insults his wife when she’s alive and cants with her memory when she’s dead. A man who ruins a woman for his pleasure, and casts her off to ruin other men. And gives bad financial advice, and then says he is not responsible. These men are you. You can’t recognise them, because you cannot connect… Only say to yourself, ‘What Helen has done, I’ve done.’”
Related Characters:
Margaret Schlegel (speaker), Helen Schlegel, Henry Wilcox, Leonard Bast, Ruth Wilcox, Jacky Bast
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Howards End LitChart as a printable PDF.
Jacky Bast Character Timeline in Howards End
The timeline below shows where the character Jacky Bast appears in Howards End. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 6
...the tram. He reenters the tiny basement apartment that he shares with a woman named Jacky. When he takes off his boots, he accidentally knocks her portrait off a little table...
(full context)
Leonard’s reading is interrupted when Jacky comes home. She is thirty-three years old, a former prostitute whom he has promised to...
(full context)
Chapter 14
...that Margaret gave him her card after Helen took his umbrella years ago. His wife, Jacky, later found the card, and when he was out on a call, she looked for...
(full context)
...Schlegels remains separate from his dull existence as a common clerk married to the coarse Jacky.
(full context)
Chapter 26
...goes off without a hitch until Helen arrives at the after party with Leonard and Jacky Bast in tow. She claims that the Basts are starving now that Leonard has lost...
(full context)
However, Margaret’s happiness is diminished when she and Henry find Jacky still in the garden, having a bit of cake and champagne and recovering from being...
(full context)
Chapter 27
Back at the hotel, Leonard has put Jacky to bed. Helen begins to second-guess her whole enterprise but believes that no harm has...
(full context)
Nonetheless, Leonard tries his best to accommodate “his benefactress.” Helen asks him about Jacky, and why his marriage is unhappy. He admits, “I needn’t have married her, but as...
(full context)
Chapter 28
...has no vacancy. She encloses this letter inside a note to Helen, telling her about Jacky getting herself drunk and writing, “The Basts are not at all the type we should...
(full context)
Chapter 29
...he declares the issue has been closed and makes her promise never to mention Leonard, Jacky, or the affair again. Margaret still feels responsible for the Basts’ plight, not wishing them...
(full context)
Chapter 30
...tears. She tells him about what happened at the wedding, and what she learned about Jacky and Henry. He is shocked when she asks him to transfer five thousand pounds of...
(full context)
Chapter 31
...to the theater and discussion societies. Her conscience still pains her somewhat about Leonard and Jacky Bast, but she ultimately feels that “being Henry’s wife, she preferred to help some one...
(full context)
Chapter 39
...she mentioned anybody the last time they spoke. Tibby admits that she mentioned Leonard and Jacky Bast, and Charles draws his own conclusions.
(full context)
Chapter 41
...by depending on them he will never fatally starve. He now feels more tenderly towards Jacky, having led his own affair, and he tries harder to beg for money for her...
(full context)
