The Wings of the Dove Literary Elements

The Wings of the Dove Literary Elements

Genre

Fiction

Setting and Context

London and Venice, 1900s

Narrator and Point of View

The point of view is that of Milly, a terminally ill heiress.

Tone and Mood

The tone is hopeless, tragic, gloomy, social, and conspiratorial.

Protagonist and Antagonist

Milly is the protagonist, and Kate is the antagonist.

Major Conflict

There is conflict between Kate and Merton at the end of the novel regarding whether or not to accept the fortune that Milly has left.

Climax

Merton tells Kate he will only marry her if she turns the inheritance down.

Foreshadowing

Finding out that Milly is deathly ill foreshadows Kate's plot to inherit her fortune.

Understatement

Milly is described as being sick, but this understates the deadly disease and its effects.

Allusions

The novel alludes to the epidemic levels of tuberculosis in England at the time.

Imagery

n/a

Paradox

Milly loved Merton when they met in America and would likely have been happy to marry him before he pretended to be interested in marriage just to get her money.

Parallelism

There is a parallel between Milly finding out about the plot to inherit from her and the sudden negative progression of her illness.

Metonymy and Synecdoche

Society is used to encompass the heiress and her social peers as a group.

Personification

n/a

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