"The Wings of the Dove". A Socio-Historical Analysis of Henry James' Novel Through the Lenses of Edwardian Performance (PDF)

Exegesis from the year 2017 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, grade: A, University College London, language: English, abstract: This is a critical analysis of Henry James' novel "The Wings of the Dove" with a particular emphasis on a dichotomy of Michael Trask's and Slavoj Zizek's interpretations through the concept of an Edwardian performance. The entire paper is clearly written for experienced scholars with deep knowledge of James' life and even more profound knowledge of "The Wings of the Dove", since Trask's frequent referencing to particular parts of the book with either single words or short phrases presumably operates with the notion that the reader is a seasoned aficionado of Henry James, who is simply able to connect subtle references to whole parts of the book by heart. However, Trask's essay does not bring any ground-breaking ideas, and the content itself gives an impression of interesting, but not necessarily useful interpretation of the "Wings of the Dove".

Zizek presents set of interesting and well-elaborated arguments supporting his initial claim that the real ethical hero of the novel can be only Kate due to her behaviour and consequent choice during the last scene of the book. The ethical map sketched for Kate's decision is sketched by Zizek according to atheistic perspective, which denounces the possibility of Milly's Dove-like heroic "self-sacrificial goodness" with strong Biblical underpinning. Moreover, Zizek claims that the process of "losing the ethical substance" and thus opening up new space captures the ethical formula of James' book perfectly since the loss of ethical substance should be seen as a positive opening. It is no surprise then, that Zizek teases the reader with possible interpretations of the "dove" ranging from classical reference to the 55th Psalm to a reading of Densher's dove-like desires as an attempt to "escape from everything".