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
