# Jacky Bast — Howards End character guide

> Jacky Bast in Howards End by E. M. Forster.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Jacky, Poor Jacky, Jack Robinson, John

**First appearance:** 0000-i

## Snapshot

Leonard Bast's faded, clinging wife, whose past and manner haunt her husband's precarious respectability and threaten to drag him back down.

## Who they are

Jacky is the woman Leonard married out of a muddled sense of duty, and she trails through his cramped lodgings as a living reminder of the class he is trying to escape. Her vulgarity and dependence gnaw at his self-image as a self-improving clerk, and her history with Henry Wilcox shadows the novel's moral reckoning. She matters because she is the human cost of the Basts' fragile foothold on gentility — and the hinge on which the plot's central scandal turns.

## Relationships

### [Leonard Bast](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/howards_end_se/characters/leonard_bast)

_family_

Unhappily married couple, with Jacky's dependence and infidelity contributing to Leonard's despair.

### [Leonard Bast](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/howards_end_se/characters/leonard_bast)

_family_

Unhappily married couple, with Jacky's dependence and infidelity contributing to Leonard's despair.

### [Leonard Bast](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/howards_end_se/characters/leonard_bast)

_family_

Unhappily married couple, with Jacky's dependence and infidelity contributing to Leonard's despair.

## In the story

### [VI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/howards_end_se/chapters/vi)

Leonard's mistress, described as past her prime and not respectable; wears cheap, flashy clothing; anxious and dependent on Leonard for reassurance; he has promised to marry her when he turns twenty-one.

### [XIV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/howards_end_se/chapters/xiv)

Mentioned as Leonard's wife; she found the card and came to Wickham Place, causing the confusion.

### [Chapter XXVI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/howards_end_se/chapters/xxvi)

Jacky drunkenly reveals her past affair with Henry, causing a crisis in Margaret and Henry's engagement.

### [XXVII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/howards_end_se/chapters/xxvii)

Leonard's wife, who is resting in her room after the journey; her past and her discovery about Mr. Wilcox are alluded to.

### [XXVIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/howards_end_se/chapters/xxviii)

Mentioned as the woman Henry found drunk on the lawn, and as a 'Mrs. Bast' in Margaret's thoughts.

### [XXIX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/howards_end_se/chapters/xxix)

Connected to Henry's past; Margaret fears she may gossip or blackmail Henry.

### [Chapter XXX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/howards_end_se/chapters/xxx)

Mentioned as having spoken to Mr. Wilcox at Evie's wedding.

### [XLI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/howards_end_se/chapters/xli)

Leonard's wife, who notices his change in behavior; Leonard pities her with nobility and tries to be less irritable.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/howards_end_se/characters/jacky_bast
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/howards_end_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/howards_end_se/characters