The Wings of the Dove
by Henry James(1902)
Novelc. 500 pages
“She waited, Kate Croy, for her father to come in.”
One great work, every day
by Henry James(1902)
“She waited, Kate Croy, for her father to come in.”
Henry James(1902)
Kate Croy is clever and poor; Milly Theale is American and dying. Kate devises a scheme that will secure wealth for herself and damage everyone. Henry James wrote this in his late style, the syntax labyrinthine, the moral complications infinite. The sentences require patience; they reward it. The dove with her wings: Milly's image hovers over the novel's final devastating scenes. James called his own work difficult. He was not wrong. The difficulty is the meaning; the characters cannot say what they want, and neither can the prose. What does Kate want? What does anyone want? The dove spreads her wings.