Love Interest

Character Role Analysis

Milly Theale

One fascinating thing about Milly is that she both is and isn't Merton's love interest. She isn't his love interest because Merton really wants to marry Kate.

But she is his love interest because, as we find out later in the book, Merton might have genuinely fallen in love with Milly after she dies. When he realizes that Milly loved him enough to leave him her fortune despite being deceived by him, Merton finds that he might actually be in love with the woman's memory. Kate is quick to pick up on this, and when she asks him, Merton finds that he can't deny his love for the dead Milly.