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Book 5, 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
Milly goes to see Sir Luke Strett the next day with Kate. When Milly arrives for her appointment, Strett apologizes and says he only has 10 minutes to spare. He and Milly get acquainted, and Strett asks her to come back in a couple of days. When Milly leaves the doctor’s office, she finds Kate in the waiting room and tells her that everything seems to be okay. Kate is confused and doesn’t understand how the doctor could have made a diagnosis in under 10 minutes. Milly says that she’ll come back in a couple of days. In the meantime, she feels satisfied and happy.
This passage doesn’t definitively answer the question of what is ailing Milly. As Kate says, it doesn’t seem possible that the doctor could have made a diagnosis within 10 minutes. Milly’s happiness in response to the visit represents her shifting attitude toward her illness. One day, that illness alarmed her so much that she thought she couldn’t go on the trip to Europe, and it recently made her seek out Sir Strett. Today, though, Milly seems to be at peace with her illness on some level.
Themes
Milly goes back to see Strett two days later. She’s unaccompanied this time. Milly and Strett develop an easy rapport. Strett asks Milly about her family, and Milly says she has none. When she was 10, she had six people in her family. But they have all died over the years of various causes. Strett then talks about Milly’s condition. He says that Milly doesn’t have to do much, but he hopes she will follow his prescription.
Milly’s description of her lack of family further underlines the differences between her and Kate as characters. Both have experienced the tragic loss of family members, but now Milly is on her own while Kate is consumed by worry about the financial precarity of her father and sister.
Themes
Strett then details what he means by his prescription. He says that Milly should leave London as soon as possible. She can go wherever she likes, but leaving London is essential. Strett then says that he would also like to see Milly at her hotel once more before she leaves. Milly says that he will meet Mrs. Stringham then, an idea that no longer bothers Milly. At the end of the visit, Milly asks Strett if she is going to live. Strett tells her that that’s exactly what he’s trying to tell her: that she must live while she has time.
Strett again doesn’t name outright what illness Milly has. Instead, he tells Milly that she must leave London as soon as possible, suggesting that the illness may be serious. However, Milly seems to think that Strett’s directive that she must live her life while she has time is a relief, as she seems to have thought that she might have already been on the brink of death.
Themes
