The story of Daisy Miller, by Henry James, is told by a male narrator. This male figure serves to reveal the deep seated stasis in much social interaction which existed in the Nineteenth Century. Winterbourne is the protagonist and 'filters' through his impressions of the heroine Daisy Miller so that we never see Daisy except through the qualifying prose of Winterbourne himself. Thus by the end of the tale, we feel we have not met Daisy at all. We have only caught glimpses of this transient
Daisy Miller is a story related by a young, American man named Winterborne, who lives mostly in Europe. Winterborne meets a lovely young lady named Daisy Miller at a Swiss resort in Vevey. He notices her naiveté, having no reservations about talking to strangers. He befriends this young girl very quickly. He would love to introduce her to his aunt, but she thinks that Daisy is common, vulgar, and refuses to meet her. Daisy and her family decide to leave the resort and visit Italy. Several months
Baylard, Dana Reece. "Daisy Miller." Masterplots, Fourth Edition (2010): 1-3. Literary Reference Center. Web. 23 Feb. 2014. This article analyzes the traditional social expectations implemented in an ancient European setting that conflicted with the more unorthodox ways of Americans who were traveling in Europe. Baylard depicts Daisy Miller’s behavior in the novella as innocent, yet ignorant to the customs of sophisticated Europe. Baylard describes Daisy Miller’s repeated misjudgment from Geneva’s
defiant, passionate, perfectly observant consciousness of the impression she produced. (43) The socialites in Daisy Miller's world aspire to a perfection, a nobility, and a superlative of character. But character is a misleading word; interiority is important only insofar as it reflects the assumed depths that come with an appearance of refinement, for the relationships in "Daisy Miller: A Study" are formed by observation, not by conversation. Winterbourne's penetrating gaze dissects and complicates
James create such a beguiling and bewildering character? Since the publication of James's novel in 1878, Daisy has worn several labels, among them "flirt," "innocent," and "American Girl." Daisy's representation of an American Girl of the late 19th century is evident. Her free-spiritedness and individuality reflect the social movement of the American middle-class. The “depths” of Daisy Miller that Kelley refers to could be read as “unsounded,” since the reader receives little insight to her feelings
In 1878, Henry James wrote, Daisy Miller, a novella about a young American girl and her travels in Europe. Daisy Miller is a complex short story with many underlying themes such as appearance versus reality, knowledge versus innocence, outward action versus inward meditation, and Nature versus urbanity. In this short story, one is left to judge whether Daisy Miller, the main character of the story, is “a pretty American flirt” or a misunderstood, modern young woman. By probing into the complexities
beauty; she had many chances to live the kind of life she dreamed of, but lost it all. Similarly, Henry James’ “Daisy Miller,” is a rich, young, American girl from New York, traveling around Europe with her mother and younger brother. Daisy is a complex combination of traits. She is feisty, independent, and well intentioned, yet she is also petty, ignorant, and unsophisticated. Daisy is also an irritating flirt. She has no public elegance or informal gifts, such as appeal, humor, and a talent for
The story of Daisy Miller starts off in Vevey, Switzerland with Winterbourne and Daisy meeting through Daisy's brother Randolph. Winterbourne is immediately attracted to her stating, "she was strikingly, admirably pretty" (James 470). The story continues with Winterbourne giving Daisy a tour of the Chateau de Chillon, and Winterbourne returning to Geneva, where he had an older women waiting for him. Daisy ends up meeting an Italian man, Giovanelli, which eventually leads to her death of malaria
Society continually places specific and often restrictive standards on the female gender. While modern women have overcome many unfair prejudices, late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century women were forced to deal with a less than understanding culture. Different people had various ways of voicing their opinions concerning gender inequalities, including expressing themselves through literature. By writing a fictional story, authors like Charlotte Perkins Gilman and Henry James were given the
essentially "kill" freedom and liberty in order to create a social purity that is virtually impossible for humans to achieve, I believe that Puritanism would only add to the degradation of society today. The books The Scarlet Letter, Bartleby, and Daisy Miller exemplify this theory. Puritanism's ultimate goal was to essentially establish a religiously pure and socialistic community in which everyone would work for the good of one another. However, Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter contradicts the
In Daisy Miller, Henry James is presenting us the nature of Daisy’s character through her relations with other characters, especially Winterbourne, one of the mail characters. Daisy Miller is a wealthy, young, American girl from New York, traveling around Europe with her mother and younger brother. Daisy is spirited, independent, and well meaning, but she is also, ignorant, and provincial, almost laughably so. She offers the opinion that Europe is “perfectly sweet,” talks about the tiring details
What is the purpose of Daisy in the novel Daisy Miller by Henry James? Why did James create such a beguiling and bewildering character? Since the publication of James's novel in 1878, Daisy has worn several labels, among them "flirt," "innocent," and "American Girl." Daisy's representation of an American Girl of the late 19th century is evident. Her free-spiritedness and individuality reflect the social movement of the American middle-class. The question of Daisy's innocence, however, remains
Daisy Miller starts out in a hotel in Vevey, Switzerland when a gentleman named Winterbourne meets Daisy, a young, beautiful American girl traveling through Europe. Daisy, her younger brother Randolph and her mother, Mrs. Miller, are traveling all over Europe while her father is home in Schenectady, New York. While Daisy is in Europe, she does not accept European ideas to be her own. Winterbourne, to the contrary, has been living in Europe since he left America when he was younger. Winterbourne takes
To bring this into light, premature death is seen in works of literature, specifically American narratives. Concisely, the narratives that will be brought into analysis include: The Awakening by Kate Chopin, “Paul’s Case” by Willa Cather, and Daisy Miller by Henry James. Primarily, premature death is seen in the novella, The Awakening by Kate Chopin. In brief, this story revolves around Edna Pontellier, wife of a very wealthy Creole businessman, Léonce Pontellier. The novella focuses on the awakening
Henry James' Daisy Miller and "The Beast in the Jungle" are first and foremost powerful tragedies because they employ such universal themes as crushed ambitions and wasted lives. And the appeal of each does not lie solely in the darkening plot and atmosphere, but in those smallest details James gives us. Omit Daisy's strange little laughs, delete Marcher's "[flinging] himself, face down, on [May's] tomb," and what are we left with? Daisy Miller would be a mere character study
Individual vs. Society in Daisy Miller and Old Woman Henry James’ "Daisy Miller, A Study" and Mary Wilkins Freeman’s "Old Woman Magoun" contain morally ambiguous conflicts between individuals and society. Both of these short stories are tales in which strong, individual women directly conflict with their respective destructive male societies, attempting to uphold innocence while flouting societal rules and expectations. Freeman and James both construct strong female individuals in different guises
Eliminating God in Daisy Miller, Huckleberry Finn, and The Country of the Pointed Firs The evils of the Civil War and the rise of empiricism caused many to doubt in an omniscient, all-powerful God. Under empiricism, any statements about metaphysical entities (e.g. God, Unicorns, Love, and Beauty) would be meaningless terms because they cannot be proven by the scientific method. But with a loss of faith in God, what becomes of morality? This essay will examine how Emily Dickinson, Sarah Orne
Comparing the Role of the Narrator in Melville’s Benito Cereno, Henry James’ Daisy Miller and Hwang’s M. Butterfly Written stories differ in numerous ways, but most of them have one thing in common; they all have a narrator that, on either rare occasions or more regularly, help to tell the story. Sometimes, the narrator is a vital part of the story since without him or her, it would not be possible to tell the story in the same way, and sometimes, the narrator has a very small role in the story
reasons that Mrs. Costello is critical of Daisy? When Winterbourne approaches his aunt, Mrs. Costello, about presenting Daisy Miller to her, much of the heiress’s mind has already been made up about the young American’s character and value. Mrs. Costello comes from a world that prides itself on tradition and an assumed social hierarchy that predisposes many of the old woman’s criticisms before she has ever met Daisy. Many of the issues that make Miss Miller “unacceptable” revolve around her American
Eliot was inspired by a character depicted in the novella known as Daisy Miller, written by Henry James. This character, Winterbourne, was intertwined and considered when creating the timid character of Prufrock. It is evident that both men share similar personalities and characteristics that link them together, both being prime examples of emptiness and despair told through theses writings. The central concern in Daisy Miller is of the "analogies and differences" between people. In this story