The Wings of the Dove: Introduction by Grey Gowrie Hardcover - 1997
by Henry James; Introduction by Grey Gowrie
About this book
Set in turn-of-the-century London, Henry James’ The Wings of the Dove tells the story of Mildred “Milly” Theale, an orphaned American heiress, and the mixed motives of those around her, namely Kate Croy. Kate is a scheming young woman in love with Merton Densher, a man too poor to offer her a “fashionable marriage.” Thus, she conspires to push Merton towards Milly, who has an unnamed fatal illness, with the hope of eventually enhancing her lover’s financial status.
Like much of James’ earlier works, The Wings of the Dove involves the universal themes of selfishness, greed, conspiracy, love, and betrayal. It also addresses the Victorian tradition and pitches American innocence against European cunning. However, the novel, written later in the author’s life, deals with deeper psychological aspects than his earlier works. While it does include social commentary, the central conflict of the novel regards moral character as opposed to cultural background.
There have been many adaptations of The Wings of the Dove. Perhaps most notable is director Iain Softley’s 1997 film version starring Alison Elliott as Milly Theale, Helena Bonham Carter as Kate Croy, and Linus Roache as Merton Densher. The film was a box office hit that won several prizes and award nominations, including Bonham Carter’s Academy Award nomination for Best Actress.
The Wings of the Dove is ranked 26th on Modern Library's list of the “100 Best” English-language novels of the 20th century.
Summary
From the rear cover
In 'The Wings of the Dove, ' the yearning for life and love is again contrasted with the lust for money and power, this time dramatized in terms of the eternal triangle.
From the jacket flap
Of the three late masterpieces that crown the extraordinary literary achievement of Henry James, The Wings of the Dove (1902) is at once the most personal and the most elemental. James drew on the memory of a beloved cousin who died young to create one of the three central characters, Milly Theale, an heiress with a short time to live and a passion for experiencing life to its fullest. To the creation of the other two, Merton Densher and the magnificent, predatory Kate Croy, who conspire in an act of deceit and betrayal, he brought a lifetime's distilled wisdom about the frailty of the human soul when it is trapped in the depths of need and desire. And he brought to the drama that unites these three characters, in the drawing rooms of London and on the storm-lit piazzas of Venice, a starkness and classical purity almost unprecedented in his work. Under its brilliant, coruscating surfaces, beyond the scrim of its marvelous rhetorical and psychological devices, The Wings of the Dove offers an unfettered vision of our civilization and its discontents. It represents a culmination of James's art and, as such, of the art of the novel itself.
First Edition Identification
New York City-based Charles Scribner’s Sons first published The Wings of the Dove in two volumes on 21 August 1902. Bound in brown leather, first editions have no additional printings listed on the copyright page. Volume one has 329 pages; volume two, 439.
Details
- Title The Wings of the Dove: Introduction by Grey Gowrie
- Author Henry James; Introduction by Grey Gowrie
- Binding Hardcover
- Edition Everyman's Libr
- Pages 544
- Volumes 1
- Language ENG
- Publisher Everyman's Library, New York
- Date 1997-11-04
- ISBN 9780679455127 / 0679455124
- Weight 1.28 lbs (0.58 kg)
- Dimensions 8.34 x 5.35 x 1.29 in (21.18 x 13.59 x 3.28 cm)
- Reading level 1190
- Library of Congress subjects London (England), Love stories
- Library of Congress Catalog Number 98116210
- Dewey Decimal Code FIC
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