The wings of the dove

James, Henry 1843-19161969

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Summary

'The final splendid flowering of James's genius' - as Walter Allen has called it - is found in the three great novels he wrote at the start of this century. The Wings of the Dove was the first of these. In its story of an American princess exposed, on a visit to Europe, to the calculating duplicity of an older civilisation, the book both revives Henry James's 'international situation' and repeats to some extent the theme of The Portrait of a Lady. But his later literary manner greatly heightens the subtlety and intensity of effect. Moreover Milly Theale, the 'dove' of the title' knows herself from the outset to be the victim of an incurable disease, which lends pathos to her eager search for happiness and her innocent friendship with the dazzling Kate Croy.