Wings of the Dove (Barnes & Noble Classi - Henry James [266]
7 (p. 72) he asked himself what was to be expected of a person who could treat one like that: This passage and the several long paragraphs that follow are good examples of how James enters into the minds of his protagonists and reveals to us what they are thinking. Nothing much is actually happening here. Densher is waiting and is pacing the room. But his mind wanders as he ponders his situation. James summarizes and paraphrases Densher’s thoughts, a literary device that critics refer to as “the first person attached” point of view. James does this more with Densher, who is a reflective and intellectual type, and with Milly Theale, whose consciousness is more important to us than her frail body, than he does with Kate Croy. We get to know Kate more by what she says and does or by a look or gesture, a shake of the head, than by James telling us what she is thinking. Kate is a less cerebral and a more forceful person than Densher, so the device of exploring her thoughts is less necessary.
8 (p. 100) we shall really ourselves scarce otherwise come closer to her than by feeling their impression and sharing, if need be, their confusion : James’s use of this expression and his reference a few sentences later to “our young woman” illustrate the way in which he departs occasionally from the use of the unseen omniscient author and appears to inject himself into the narrative. He “shares” the confusion of the characters and “feels” their impressions.
9 (p. 105) I hasten to add: Although James’s narrator uses the personal pronoun “I” here, he never becomes an actual character in the story. Joseph Conrad in his short story The Nigger of the “Narcissus” (1897) employs a similar device. The omniscient narrator knows all; he is, in fact, on board the Narcissus when it capsizes. But the narrator never actually appears in the story. His apparently invisible presence on-board becomes known to us only when he tells us at the end of the story that he was so frightened he will never again go to sea.
10 (p. 138) of Thackerayan character: Kate presumably reminds Mrs. Stringham a little of Becky Sharp, the captivating but unscrupulous heroine of William Makepeace Thackeray’s Vanity Fair (1848).
11 (p. 150) but it was clear Mrs. Condrip was ... in quite another geography: This is a good illustration of Milly’s increasing sophistication and awareness of the complexities she is encountering in London. Book fourth in its entirety is an example of the growth of Milly’s consciousness. She understands that she is in a “labyrinth,” that she teeters on the edge of an “abyss.” She revels in it, however, even though she is frightened, because this is what she understands as being more fully aware and more truly alive. She is not interested in tourism but in people and in the complexity of social circumstance.
12 (p. 169) “but mine’s several shades greener”: This scene is one of a number of memorable passages in the very rich and complex fifth book. Milly is here trying to make light of the emotional experience she has just undergone in viewing the Bronzino portrait that resembles her. She has had intimations of mortality; she feels that she will be, like the lady in the portrait, “dead, dead, dead.” Critics and literary scholars have seen Milly’s reaction as a critical turning point, a sign that she can no longer keep up a brave front.
13 (p. 177) “I shan’t trouble you again”: Milly makes a critical decision here. She adores Kate, values her friendship, and enjoys her company. But she is bothered by the fact that Kate has avoided mentioning Densher, which, to Milly, seems to suggest a degree of dissembling on Kate