Previous
Book 1, Chapter 2
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Wings of the Dove, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Class Hierarchy in English Society
Illness and Mortality
Moral Ambiguity and Responsibility
Transactional Relationships
Secrecy, Deception, and Misunderstanding
Summary
Analysis
Merton Densher is a reporter who often works late into the night at the newspaper. He’s smart, though he tends to appear absent-minded as he focuses on the big picture rather than the immediate details close at hand. He and Kate are markedly different, which Merton appreciates, as he always imagined that he would marry someone significantly different from himself. To Kate, Merton represents the life of the mind that she has been craving her whole life but hasn’t been able to find.
Kate often thinks of the night she and Merton met. They had been attending a party at a gallery with a dancer and a fiddler. From across the room, Kate and Merton met eyes. A few days later, they coincidentally ran into each other on the Underground. Merton stayed on past his stop to talk to Kate. When they both stood up to leave, Merton asked Kate if he could call on her, and Kate said, “Yes,” without hesitating. Merton then began coming to visit Kate at Maud’s house. Maud allowed Merton’s visits because she was afraid that if she didn’t, she might drive Kate away. Merton and Kate quickly fell in love after that.
This passage depicts Kate and Merton’s relationship as straightforward and uncomplicated. They seem to genuinely love each other and look forward to being together romantically. The main impediment to them being together, though, is Maud, who serves to enforce the strict hierarchical rules of English society. Maud and that hierarchical society stipulate that Kate cannot marry someone like Merton because he comes from a relatively low socioeconomic status.
Themes
Kate and Merton’s relationship worries Maud, who thinks that Merton is not a good enough match for Kate because he’s not from a high-status family and isn’t wealthy. One day, Kate warns Merton that Maud is going to summon him soon. Merton guesses that when he talks to Maud, Maud will let him know, in one way or another, that she doesn’t consider him worthy of Kate.
This passage highlights the class dynamics that impede Kate and Merton’s relationship. Notably, the novel suggests that if class weren’t so important, then there wouldn’t be much standing in the way of Merton and Kate getting married and trying to be happy together. Love could conquer all, so to speak.
Themes
As Kate and Merton sit together, Merton begins to think about his relationship with Kate. He knows that Kate always says that everything will work out because they have each other. But to Merton, they don’t have each other—not yet. There are too many obstacles that block their path to being together. In addition, Merton isn’t sure if it’s right to ask Kate to marry him when he has no money or status to speak of. Would it be better for her to marry someone who could give her more?
This passage shows how central material concerns are when it comes to questions of marriage in the novel. Those material concerns are so central that Merton even considers giving up the person whom he loves because he is worried that his lack of financial means makes him a less valuable suitor and husband.
Themes
Get the entire The Wings of the Dove LitChart as a printable PDF.
Kate and Merton then talk about Kate’s father, Lionel. Merton knows that something momentous happened in Lionel’s past but doesn’t know what, so he asks Kate. Kate says that she doesn’t know exactly what happened either, but she knows that her father did something “wicked” when she was 15, and it caused a significant rift between Lionel and Kate’s mother. Kate says that her father’s dishonor defines her life on some level. She also says that Lionel had also been a member of several social clubs, and all of those clubs kicked him out because of what he did. She tells Merton that that’s why she went to her father and offered to stay with him. She wants to help make a home for him. He’s a charming and wonderful man, she insists.
The fact that Lionel has been cast out of society explains in part why the financial burdens of the family have fallen on Kate’s shoulders. The novel then suggests that because both Lionel and Marian have no way of making money, they are dependent on Kate to bring in money for the family. Notably, Kate hasn’t distanced herself from Lionel, even though he purportedly did something “wicked” in the past that caused the rest of the world to turn on him. Instead, Kate sticks up for Lionel, pointing to Kate’s sense of filial loyalty.
Themes
Kate says she feels an obligation toward Lionel and Marian. That obligation makes her wonder if she has any right to personal happiness or if her entire purpose in life is to become rich in order to help them. Merton says maybe Kate can have both—wealth and happiness—and asks her to marry him the next day. Kate says that he should talk to Maud first. Kate says she’s reluctant to give up on her family or cause a permanent rift by going against their wishes. Instead, she wants Maud to bless the marriage between her and Merton, and, if she does, perhaps she would also see to a pension for them. Kate says that when Merton talks to Maud, he’ll have to see if he can convince her of that plan or at least get on her good side.
This passage points to Kate’s tendency to try to appease all sides when confronting possible conflict. Kate doesn’t want to displease anyone, even though it’s unclear whether there’s a way to reconcile each person’s contradictory interests with regard to the question of whom she will marry. Notably, this passage also underlines Kate’s desire to amass wealth not necessarily for herself but for her family, reinforcing Kate’s selflessness and the moral obligation she feels to help others.
Themes
