Mrs. Stanford
English 2130
15 April 2013
Subject: Written Project
The Wings of the Dove: Flown too soon The American novel that I chose is The Wings of the Dove. This novel was published in 1902 by Henry James. The film was produced in 1997 with Miramax productions and was directed by Ian Softley. This novel was very similar to film that was produced much later in the years and depicts the story of love vs. money and friendship.
The setting of this story takes place in London at Mrs. Maud Lowder’s mansion in 1910. Mrs. Maud is an extremely wealthy woman and is the aunt of Kate Croy. Kate’s mother passed away and she was sent to live with her aunt knowing that she would be well taken care of. The lifestyle of Mrs. Maud is very unfamiliar to Kate and takes some getting used to. In the beginning of the film, Mrs. Maud hosts a party at her house and Kate is introduced to a friend of her aunts, Lord Mark. Lord Mark tries to befriend Kate and soon falls for her. Mrs. Maud wants Kate to marry Lord Mark but Kate refuses because she is in love with another man, a writer named Merton Densher. Merton and Kate met while on the train to go live with her aunt and fell madly in love. When Mrs. Maud finds out through the grapevine that Kate is in love with someone who she believes isn’t up to par for Kate’s well-being. Mrs. Maud gives Kate an ultimatum and says she will either stop seeing Merton romantically or Mrs. Maud will disown Kate and her father. Kate agrees to stop seeing Merton, a few months go by and Mrs. Maud holds another party. Merton heard about the party and figured it was his only way to see Kate so he accompanies a date that was invited. There he and Kate meet and their romance is sparked all over again. Milly Theale, a wealthy young American girl that Kate went to school with as a child, had moved to London and attended the party too. There Milly spots Merton and asks Kate who he is, Kate replies that he is a just an old family friend.
Cited: Connotation Press. A Movie You Gotta See,with Robin Russin. The Wings of the Dove. 2013. Web.15. 2013 Cyclopedia of Literary Characters. The Wings of the Dove. Literary Reference Center. Web.15 Apr. 2013. Foster, Jan Kennedy. The Wings of the Dove. Masterplots, Fourth Edition(2010): 1-3. Literary Reference Center. Web 15. Apr. 2013 Raw, Laurence. "Making Meaning: Publicizing Iain Softley 's The Wings Of The Dove (1997)." Literature Film Quarterly 32.3 (2004): 175-180. Literary Reference Center. Web. 16 Apr. 2013. Softley, Ian. The Wings of the Dove. Adapted by Hossein Amini from the novel by Henry James. Miramax productions. 1997. Film