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Theme • Jame’s fame generally rests upon his novels and stories with the international theme, these novels are always set against a large international background, usually between Europe and America, and centered on the confrontation of the two different cultures with two different groups of people representing two different value systems.
Theme • The concept of man’s approach to his own death has been the theme of many literary works throughout ages. In this work, James places this approach in the hands of a young woman, clearly in the prime of her life, who is facing an early death due to an illness that cannot be cured. Milly’s acceptance of her fate and her decision to live fully and to assist others to do the same in not necessarily unique. It is, however, her consistent unselfishness and her lack of sorrow that is. She takes under her wing Susan, Kate, and Maud, insisting that they accompany her to venice and risde in a beautiful castle she has rented. She entertains them and sees that they take in all of the sight.
Theme • At a time when female characters were created either to be virginal saints of sensual vixens, James is able to reconcile the two extremes into a more truthful approximation of womanhood by exploring the themes of identity and innocence in Wings of the Dove.
Theme • Henry James frees the women characters he creates in Wings of the Dove in a way that anticipates the sexual and women liberation movements that would come within a decade of his death. • They are not bound by the Victorian conventions in that they are free to think, and to theorize, and to act as individuals. In James’ world no one is tied down. His homosexual tendencies may be underlying his desire to see people break the Queen Victoria’s moral choke hold on society, but those ultimately led to the creation of characters that are synonymous with change in thought for women.
Characters Analysis Kate Croyis the counterpart to Milly. She is pretty, strong, and lead by strong convictions. Her essence also includes a manipulative tongue, which is seen very clearly in the novel. Her persuasive speech can convince “good people” to commit acts of deviance. Although Kate seems like a simple character, the psychoanalytical look into her life reveals that she is a rounded, complex character. Her outspokenness serves some useful purposes because she is the only one that is brutally honest. Kate sets goals for herself and recognizes that some people will get hurt and manipulated in the process of accomplishment. Perhaps she learned these techniques from her dysfunctional family. Her father is detached and uses vicious language to tear his daughter down, language that she quickly retorts back. She is eventually sent to live with her Aunt Maud – a greedy, self-absorbed, fortune hunting woman. Though not as consumed as her aunt, Kate still has a desire for money and devises an appalling plan to attain it.
Characters Analysis Kate Croy “The Wings of the Dove” has a very complicated series of relationships among the characters. But the difficult relationships are created by Kate. She is a talented but scheming young woman She is a manipulative and some what deceitful character who seems unsure of her decisions. Although she loves Merton, she places her value on money before a marriage with him
Characters Analysis - Densher Densheris a handsome young man of English style. When he first appears in the novel, he is walking aimlessly along the London streets. James says the reader's impression is: “Distinctly he was a man either with nothing at all to do or with ever so much to think about . . .” (I: 47). His father was a chaplain in many English settlements, and his mother a copyist at great museums. After their death he came back to England with his education of Swiss schools and a German university. His Cambridge years and his subsequent years as a London journalist have not converted him into a complete English man. Thus he is defined as a man of thought rather than of action, and a marginal man in his native country. And he is a born writer with no prospect of becoming rich by his pen. Merton Densherrelates more to Milly than to his lover, Kate. He is soft-spoken, unmotivated, and content with living a modest life. If it were not for Kate, Merton would be satisfied writing an occasional article for the newspaper with no ambitions of promotion or more pay. He does admire Kate’s decisiveness, but cannot make that a reality for himself until later in the novel. Merton is subjected to one of Kate’s devious plans and he initially cannot resist her. As time progresses, Merton begins to develop a stronger will to resist his beloved.
Characters Analysis • MillyThealeis a 24 year old New Yorker that moves to Europe for pleasure’s sake. She embodies the ideals of the American woman with her freshness, spontaneity, innocence, and a thirst for life. Though extremely wealthy, Milly remains unselfconscious about her wealth. She spends with no convictions, simply spending as she will. The novel focuses more on her state of mind rather than her physical appearance, but it does reveal that she is not that physically attractive. Her facial features are too big and she has very pale skin that makes her red hair even more definable. Her wardrobe generally consists of black clothing that make her look slightly eccentric. Her appearance is mentioned later in the novel when Milly goes to the palazzo in Venice. She is wearing a striking, white gown and white pearls. This contrast allows the reader to see the inner beauty of this young woman. Her family all passed away from an unknown illness that she eventually suffers from. Milly’s strong will to live can keep her disease restrained, alternately, her loss of will progresses her condition. Her physician tells her to: “live to the fullest, and not be bound or limited in any way by her condition.” Milly embraces this as she tries to live the rest of her life as normally as she can. James Henry’s cousin, Mary (“Minnie”) Temple died from tuberculosis and serves to be the model for Milly’s character.
Characters Analysis • Aunt Maud (Lowder):Kate’s aunt, who maintains her – at a price • Susan Stringham:a Vermont widow and companion to Milly • Lord Mark a fortune-hunting aristocrat who Maude ‘intends’ for Kate
Characters Analysis • Dynamic Character – a character that changes in some way – usually for the better – during the course of the story. • Almost all of James’s main characters represented in Wings of the Dove reveal some change, but Merton Densher exemplifies the most.
Style • In order for James to achieve his goals in the wings of the dove, it was obviously that he used a third person omniscient point of view. By allowing the reader to access behaviors, dialogue and the inner most thoughts of the major characters, the plot unfolds in much greater detail, and the reader is able to more fully understand the sequencing, rising actions, and ultimate climaxes throughout the work.
Style • A prime example of this understanding are the many portions during which Merton Densher contemplates his relationship with Kate, his reactions to Maud Lowder's judgments concerning him, his struggle with the part he must play in Kate's scheme, and his moral dilemma of courting Milly in a dishonest manner.
