Who is Maud Lowder from The Wings of the Dove and what is their importance? The_Wings_of_the_Dove English & Literature Maud Lowder | The Wings of the Dove

The wealthy member of Kate Croy's family, Aunt Maud is a controlling individual, who has a need to manipulate others in order to see that her goals are achieved. She has taken Kate into her home, perhaps in an effort to mold the daughter she never had. She has introduced Kate to the elite in London and rather openly pushes Kate toward marriage with Lord Mark, an older man of similar social standing. Kate is not interested. When Milly Theale arrives from America, Maud sees the opportunity to promote marriage between Milly and Merton Densher, the man with whom Kate is clearly in love and of whom Maud does not approve. She believes that she can manipulate Densher by the wealth he is to gain by marrying Milly. She is unaware that Kate has a plan of her own, including the ultimate intention to marry Densher after Milly dies. In the end, Maud achieves her goal, though through nothing she has done. It is Densher and Kate who end their own relationship.