The Wings of the Dove Characters

The DaughterWe open the book with Kate in a room waiting (and waiting and waiting) for her dad to show up. We feel a bit bad for Kate because it seems like her father, Lionel, is a selfish jerk-o w...

The DoveAbout halfway through the novel, we find out that Milly is the "dove" that Henry James is talking about in the title. We know this because Kate Croy says to her face, "[Y]ou're a dove" (1.5...

The CharmerMerton Densher is an attractive and charming young man who's in love with Kate Croy. The problem is that Kate's rich aunt and benefactress, Maud Lowder, doesn't approve of him because he...

Susan Stringham is an aging woman who wants to bask in the reflected glory of the beautiful young Milly Theale. As the narrator tells us, "[she] had lost first her husband, and then her mother, wit...

Aunt Maud is a rich, snobbish old lady who likes to meddle in the affairs of the people around her. She takes a special interest in her pretty niece, Kate Croy. You could say that she has great exp...

At first Lord Mark seems like a pleasant enough guy. Aunt Maud wants him to be Kate's future husband, and knowing Aunt Maud's priority this means one main thing: he's a Richie rich. But because Mau...

Lionel Croy is without doubt the worst human in this book. Scratch that: he's the worst thing in the book. We like him less than we like Milly's tuberculosis. We hate him so much we are really temp...

If Lionel Croy is the most despicable man in this book, Sir Luke Strett is the most moral and upstanding. Merton is a pretty good dude, but he's way more indecisive than Sir Luke. Apart from the fa...

Ah, good old Eugenio, the all-star of European servants. Sure, there are tons of servants in this book, but Eugenio gets called from Paris to Italy just to be sure that Milly Theale has the very be...