Category: Daisy Miller

Written by two male authors, Daisy Miller and Where Angels Fear to Tread emphasize the lives of women and men who are sexualized differently due to European stereotypes. Daisy Miller, the main character in the novel Daisy Miller, is a woman seen as an “American flirt” who shows the morality and sexual challenges faced by foreign women abroad in Europe. Gino Cerella is the male protagonist in Where Angels Fear to Tread who shows the image of the stereotypical Italian man. While evaluating the themes of sexuality and stereotypes between Europeans (Italians in particularly) and foreigners of Europe, one can realize how crucial this is in the vision of Italy and how this negatively impacted the name of Italian culture. The interactions between characters in the novels feature a wide range of issues between sexuality and nationalism.

Daisy Miller is an American woman who travels abroad to Europe symbolizing the New Woman. Not only does Daisy face cultural challenges along her journey, but the gender differences between America and Europe were so obvious that there was always a distinct difference between her and Italian woman. Daisy meets two men during her stay in Italy, Winterbourne and Eugenio. Winterbourne tries to warp Daisy to be a more respectable woman who will fit into Italian society, while Eugenio respects her to be the women she wants to be. Her traveling to and around Italy alone makes her less desirable. For example, Winterbourne’s aunt says “She went with you alone?…. and this is the young person you wanted me to know?” (James 28). Winterbourne continues to chase her while his aunt tries to pull him back to the European reality. Winterbourne’s sexual desire to be with Daisy Miller shows that sex impacts his motives and actions. Gender norms are reversed as Daisy Miller manipulates him into yearning for her. Her uniqueness and Americanized attitude make her more desirable to him than an Italian woman who constrains themselves to act a certain way. Although woman’s independence is widely accepted in American and European society now, in the 1900’s it was not. Therefore, most women were never seen traveling alone. This is why Daisy traveling in this way was scrutinized by Winterbourne and his family. It shows Daisy to have this masculine trait, immortalizing her place in society. “In all countries, then, the ideal woman changes, chameleon-like, to suit the taste of men; and the great doctrine that her happiness does somewhat depend on his liking is part of the very foundation of her existence” (Linton 67). Daisy’s promiscuous and wild American image was socially unacceptable in Italy. “Some people had told him that all, after all, American girls were exceedingly innocent; and others had told him that, after all, they were not. He was inclined to think Miss Daisy Miller was a flirt–a pretty American flirt” (James ***) Breaking the gender and sexual values of Europe resulted in discrepancies between the norms that identified true individuality of Daisy and Winterbourne.

In Where Angels Seem to Tread, Lilia Herrinton is an opposite character of Daisy Miller, in the starting chapters of the novel. After her voyage to Italy, she marries an Italian man and becomes controlled by him. This stereotypical Italian character, Gino, is aggressive, has dirty fingers, and greasy hands is a terrible husband and cheats on Lilia multiple times. This novel shows how women in Italy are demoralized and become a woman of their husband, individuality is not seen to be too common. Although Gino is shown to be a mean, horrible husband, one would still picture this man to be handsome by the way he is described, “…very good looking. All his features are good, and he is well built- though I dare say English standards would find him too short” (Forster ***). To win him back and fix their marriage, Lilia realizes the only thing she could give him that he wants is a child, so she goes through with it and conceives a baby with him. This is sexualized action by Lilia. She has sex with him to hopefully regain love and kinship with her husband. He clearly has sexual desires for Lilia and gives into the thought of a child fixing their marriage. The theme of sexuality is apparent here by Gino’s looks and his will to have sex with Lilia to make a baby. **IDK**

All in all, Daisy Miller and Where Angels Fear to Tread symbolize the cultural stereotypes and theme of sexuality to convey the difference between America and Italy, and Italy and England. The emphasis on the way different people from different countries are sexualized shows the sexual challenges encountered by foreign women abroad. Gino Cerella and Daisy Miller are the two main characters in the two novels who show the extreme stereotypic actions by those from their countries. The biggest issue when analyzing these characters is how differently the world is now and how the characters who are out of place would not have these problems coming to a new country now. American women are still seen to be more sexualized and “flirty” than those in Europe, but it is more accepted now. Additionally, Italian men and English woman could marry without it being a huge issue due to the fact of the lighter line that one could pass through social classes. The characters in these novels portray the large themes of sexuality and use common stereotypes to show the large divide between social cultures in different countries.

Works Cited

1. Forster, E. M. Where Angels Fear to Tread. Arnold, 1971.
2. James, Henry. Daisy Miller. Macmillan Heinemann ELT, 2007.
3. Linton, E. Lynn. GIRL OF THE PERIOD: and Other Social Essays (Classic Reprint). FORGOTTEN Books, 2015.

Daisy Miller’ is a story of a young American lady, whose name is Daisy Miller, and her family members who are vacationing in Europe. Daisy is in a new world and is trying to find a way to learn and adapt to her new surroundings. She is trying to intergrate with the high class society but due to her lifestyle’s differences she is not accepted in their world. The passage tells about Daisy’s final decline from respect to death, as she becomes overly incautious and indiscreet. It tells also, with details, the events and feelings of love, confusion and disappointment experienced by Winterbourne towards Daisy.

The themes that were the most discussed in this passage are : innocence, as Winterbourne loves Daisy for her childlike qualities because he is still very much a child himself. Morover, adulthood in this novel is characterized by a capacity for manipulation, which proves that Daisy is hardly innocent. Then, respect and reputation as Daisy thought that she lived only one life, so she decided to do solely what she likes, regardless of what is said about her. However, that made her look disrespectful. Daisy Miller is written in a realistic style that includes the smallest details. Furthermore, It includes a plot of tragedy, especially the untimely death of the beautiful lady which lead to the end of the story.

The events in the present excerpt take place in EUROPE, more precisely, in Rome, Italy during spring and summer where Daisy Miller makes a scandal of herself in Rome by cavorting with a handsome Italian man, Mr. Giovanelli. She is snubbed by Mrs. Walker. Winterbourne, meanwhile, is torn between the disdain he shares with Mrs. Walker for Daisy’s impropriety, and a curiosity and longing for Daisy and all that she represents. Daisy contracts malaria while spending an evening alone with Giovanelli at the Colosseum. Winterbourne begins to realize that Daisy may have had eyes for him all along and was just using Mr. Giovanelli to occupy herself and make Winterbourne jealous. All of this knowledge comes too late: Daisy dies of malaria and Mr. Winterbourne goes back to his lackluster life in Geneva.

The main character focused is Winterborn, a 27 years old expatriate American bachelor considered to be fairly quiet but highly educated. However, Daisy sees him as being “stiff and lifeless” and this shows the two worlds that collided; Daisy the American and Winterbourne the European. The other major character is Daisy Miller, a native and flirtatious young American lady that has always wanted to live in a high society and enjoy every moment of her life in her own way, but without the restrictions of that society. Other minor characters were mentioned in this passage such as Mr.Giovanelli the charming Roman man, Mrs.Miller and Daisy’s mother, she is a model of America’s loosely controlling mother figure ; Mrs.Walker and Mrs.Costello, Winterbourne’s aunt, she is the typical older European woman of prestige.

The events of this excerpt are narrated from the third person point of view such when saying ‘He turned away towards the entrance of the place; but as he did so he heard Daisy speak again’. The author uses some figures of speach to make his story attractive and vivid. Example of these include : metaphor ‘they don’t really care a straw what I do’ as a description of whether or not they are interested in what Daisy does. A simile ‘I have noticed you. But I noticed you were as stiff as an umbrella the first time I saw you.’ As he compare Winterbourne’s rigidity and straightness to an umbrella. At last, one can easily notice Henry’s talent in the art of writing. Indeed, his writing is influential and exhorts the reader to follow the flow of the events due to suspense created within the story as a whole. One this basis, one can come up to the conclusion that Daisy’s innocence triumphs and the lasting message of the novella is Daisy’s innocence and the cruelty of the society which condemned her to death.

A Study is a totally functioning and traditionally correct statement outlining nineteenth-century social hierarchies. James’s Daisy Miller is a piece on his society and also the international expertise of each Europeanized Americans and non-Europeanized Americans living overseas. While dealing with elements of interpretation and one’s response, it also focuses on societal customs associated with gender roles. By titling novella as Daisy Miller: A Study, James assigns the text the task of accurately depicting and presumably analyzing the nineteenth-century means of life on a sociological level. Daisy Miller, who is pretty typical of Henry James’s American in Europe, is little more than a western hero with a parasol and bank account. Not that she was modelled with the West in mind. Far from that! Nonetheless, James, trying to portray the subtleties that distinguish the American upper-class girl from her European counterparts, gave Daisy the very personality traits that we have for some time now recognized as those of the western hero. Daisy Miller oscillates between masculine and female identifications, she conjointly oscillates between American and alien, savage and national, and a natural leader. Set in Rome, ‘Daisy Miller’ chronicles the behaviour of Americans abroad. But it also depicts a displaced landscape of North American immigration and the anxiety about the American girl’s intimacy with a handsome Italian. Through this James also contributed indirectly to changing conceptions of education in the US by emphasizing both the role of the evolving body in the educational process and the volatile character of the adolescent experience. ‘Daisy Miller’ is, of course, better remembered for its contribution to the controversy surrounding the cultural practice of flirtation in a modern urban environment.

This is an American text, at this time Gender questions started raising in the late nineteenth century. Henry James is a major contributor to American literature, America was a consumerist society. However, Europe had imperialism and capitalism growing up. Daisy had been described as an ‘American Flirt’ by herself and by society. She was already judged even before one knowing her. As the author himself call her flirt a lot many times, her carefree attitude and her friendly nature made Winterbourne think she was a flirt as the writer says, – “He was inclined to think Miss Daisy Miller was a flirt—a pretty American flirt.” When she speaks herself out Winterbourne thinks she was not ashamed of that, the act of speaking openly to men was not socially acceptable. This is clarified when he speaks- ‘She is not ashamed, she likes the company of men, this was new something different, she talks of her desires openly.’ Something that creates a big problem in Winterbourne’s eyes is Daisy herself claiming she liked being in men’s company. The lines that reflect his response are: “Was she simply a pretty girl from New York State? Were they all like that, the pretty girls who had a good deal of gentlemen’s society?’ ‘He had known, here in Europe, two or three women—persons older than Miss Daisy ….who were great quettes- dangerous, terrible women, with who one’s relations were liable to take a serious turn. But this young girl was not a coquette in that sense; she was much unsophisticated; she was only a pretty American flirt.” Even though Winterbourne himself had affair with married women and that didn’t look like a problem to anyone but Daisy talking frankly with men was a great problem. Winterbourne likes Daisy but she represents threatening sexuality according to him and because of this, he doesn’t want to be committed to her.

Daisy was very much sure that if no one will believe her then also Winterbourne would. She was very much attached to him, but his way of looking at her was very much similar to others. Mrs. Walker also judged her like Mrs. Costello and the only reason why she is attracted to Giovanelli was he never judged her or stopped her from fulfilling her wishes she says- ‘Mr. Giovanelli, at least,’ she said, giving her interlocutor a single glance, ‘never says such very disagreeable things to me.’

Daisy an outspoken girl, she says whatever she thinks is right, ‘I have never allowed a gentleman to dictate to me, or to interfere with anything I do.’ ‘I’m a fearful, frightful flirt! Did you ever hear of a nice girl that was not? But I suppose you will tell me now that I am not a nice girl.’

Daisy’s death was an outcome of her being at Colosseum by catching Roman fever; she was hurt by the injustice done by Winterbourne as he also started disbelieving her in the end, when they talk- ‘Since you have mentioned it,’ she said, ‘I am engaged.’ Winterbourne looked at her; he had stopped laughing. ‘You don’t believe!’ she added. He was silent a moment; and then, ‘Yes, I believe it,’ he said.’Oh, no, you don’t!’ she answered. ‘Well, then—I am not!’ She believed so much in him, that she was broken when she heard this, she was loyal always but Winterbourne never believed that. When he got to know the last message given by Daisy for him he was struck and was in grief, the message said- ‘She told me to tell you that she never was engaged to that handsome Italian …’ Mind you tell Mr. Winterbourne.”

It would be incorrect if we only say Daisy was killed by “injustice” from Winterbourne. Yes, she was very much confident that Winterbourne would never misjudge her even though everyone else did. Her death came as a result of her careless attitude; she shouldn’t have gone to the colosseum. She invited her death; a man not trusting her shouldn’t be a reason for giving her such pain. Her love and loyalty brings death to her, after all this Winterbourne was not in much grief but he thought himself to be a reason for her death and then moved on in his life. ‘One day he spoke of her to his aunt—said it was on his conscience that he had done her injustice … ‘She sent me a message before her death which I didn’t understand at the time, but I have understood it since. She would have appreciated one’s esteem.’

Tess and Daisy Miller both were bounded to death; it was predetermined as they were not following the societal norms. Tess and Daisy were similar in the way that they talked of their desires, the only difference was that Daisy openly did that and Tess did silently. Winterbourne’s “injustice” and her fate killed her in the end.

REFERENCES

1. Novella- Daisy Miller: A Study
2. Daisy Miller, Tradition and European Heroine
3. Daisy Miller: Western Heroine
4. Daisy Miller: A Study of changing intentions
5. Reassembling Daisy Miller

Daisy Miller, a stepping stone for modern feminism, is about a young American woman traveling in Europe with her mother, who encounters Frederick Winterbourne, an American living abroad. Through his novella, Henry James studies, in detail, his title character. What he discovers is Daisy Miller is unbothered by European preconceptions, whereas Frederick Winterbourne, the protagonist, is consumed by them. The broad distinction between the behaviors of Daisy and Winterbourne is that Winterbourne can act as he wishes and can encompass an independent lifestyle without objection, while Daisy can not. The novella implicitly reveals this unjust variation based solely on gender norms. While traditional critics emphasize patriarchal control, feminist readers draw out a counter-image of American womanhood, defined by freedom and breaking social constraints, which acts as an example of societies’ inability to recognize and understand feminism.

Set in the late 18th century, within high-class European society, Daisy Miller portrays a period where feminism was unpopular and undistinguished by society. Throughout the plot, Daisy is continuously rebuked for her defiant actions by those who neither understand nor try to recognize her progressiveness. One of the prime examples where Daisy is chastised would be her entire relationship with Mr. Giovanelli. Daisy and Giovanelli exhibit attributes that shock many of the European- accustomed Americans. They believe the acts Daisy commits are ‘reserved for the interiors of private homes’ (Wardley 15). Daisy erodes the distinctions between private and public spaces further when she elects to ‘walk about the streets of Rome’ or, rather, as she protests to Winterbourne, about the Pincio, which ”ain’t the streets” (James 70). To walk, or as the ironically named Mrs. Walker puts it, to ‘prowl’ unchaperoned will, in her opinion, ruin Daisy’s reputation (James 53). In so saying Mrs. Walker echoes a turn-of-the-century rule of thumb among members of her class that a ‘lady was simply not supposed to be seen aimlessly wandering the streets in the evening or eating alone,’ that such acts were in themselves potentially fatal forms of exposure (Vicinus 297, 218). Daisy Miller engages in what ‘American social critics called ‘public flirtation,” (Wardley 14). While such flirting constituted ‘innocent promiscuity’ (Wardley 14) by most US standards, many of the older women in the book found it shocking and nonconforming to society. This shows how the European society judges and in a sense, blames Daisy for not adhering to the social constraints placed on women. It explains how this society immediately tries to tarnish Daisy and put a scarlet letter on her chest as if she must not be spoken to. It shows how late 18th-century European societies didn’t acknowledge the feminity in Daisy’s character.

It’s important to note that Daisy Miller is told almost entirely through the perspective of Winterbourne. Although the novella mainly focuses is on Daisy, Winterbourne is the lens through which the audience perceives Daisy. Winterbourne having a ‘great relish for feminine beauty, … was addicted to observing and analyzing’ Daisy’s beauty (James 16). Winterbourne spends a lot of his time and energy, analyzing Daisy and her actions, yet he fails to comprehend her motives behind the behavior. He recognizes that Daisy does not fit the role of a ‘sophisticated Europen woman’ and assumes it is her own fault that has made her stick out. He believes her choices to be openly promiscuous are what make her an outcast. It is important to note that Daisy is only an outcast in Winterbourne’s mind and that she, herself, has not placed these tags on her. By suggesting that Daisy castaway, ‘Winterbourne has allowed himself only two possible views of Daisy, good or bad’ (Wilson and Westbrook 270). This further shows how the characters in this story are unable to recognize and identify feminism. Winterborne sees the way Daisy dresses and acts, but instead of attributing that to individuality and feminity, he assumes its because of these factors that she is unable to fit in with the rest of the women.

Winterbourne’s ignorance of Daisy’s true self becomes even brighter towards the end of the plotline. When Daisy dies, Winterbourne is sad, yet he is also relieved to be free of the confusion she has caused him. In a way, Winterborne was ‘angry with himself ‘ (James #). He spent most of the story preoccupied with ‘the right way of regarding Miss Daisy Miller’ (James #). After her death, Winterbourne finds himself returning to his daily routine. Mocking his return, the tale concludes Winterbourne has realized that perhaps he misjudged Daisy. Ohmann explains how, by staying abroad too long, Winterbourne ‘has become too rigid in his values’ (Ohmann 6). Winterbourne represents the assimilation to European customs, contradicting his slow realization that represents society’s failure to recognize and disregard of Daisy’s actions.

In the story ,” Daisy Miller” written by Henry James , he rarely shows readers a one sided character, but rather he shows well rounded characters to their fullest potential. The answer to the question is that James rarely shows the reader if Daisy is vulgarian or naive in the story but it is evoked in many different reactions from the readers and characters viewpoints.

Daisy is a girl in some ways who represents the United states in some ways, she is independent , spontaneous and an innocent young woman. She represents the United states because of her ignorance , self centered and at times is oblivious to the wants and needs of others.Some characters think she admirable because of her beauty and innocence but others think because of her lack of culture that she isn’t sensitive to beliefs and customs around her.Also, in some ways Daisy is materialistic for example when she talks about paris its mainly in terms of clothes and at the castle , Winterbourne “saw that she cared very little for feudal antiquities and that the dusky traditions of Chilon made but a slight impression upon her”.Winterbourne is another character in the story and he represents Europe, he lived most of his life in Geneve. Winterbourne was very strict and his manner of speaking was characterized by Daisy as “ stiff”.

Both characters were apart of different world and found one another in different places. Winterbourne attraction to Daisy was how less proper she was than Europeans girls were in his country. Unlike wintebounre many characters in the story distance themselves from Daisy because they fear she will make the europeans immigrants fleeing to the american cities. Both characters are American but Winterbourne is more cluttered because of life in Geneva. James is letting the readers see that both characters are uneven in their social Through thinteractions Winerbourne who is assimilated in european culture is not defiantly different from Daisy who is ignorant. Furthermore, the death of Daisy was the like death of innocence , independence and ignorance in the US, but James uses the death as a warning about the danger of the naiveness in the America and the judgmental attitude that Europeans have toward the American innocence has not escaped the readers viewpoint. Ultimately , James portrays the difference of social class and culture through these two characters and through his eyes.

Readers can’t really get a prejudge view on Daisy because James’s personal opinion over shadows everything else and Winterbourne you can really get a clear view around him. Since James opinion toward Daisy is crystal clear about her ignorance readers can draw there own conclusion many different ways about the characters. It is unclear if Daisy is one who is brainwashed or if she corrupts the society but in closing she could be brainwashed and it could be the reason she causes corruption.

In Daisy Miller, written by Henry James, he tells the story in the third person point of view from a limited perspective, he had many several opinions on each character, particularly the essential elements of the events, especially the main character called Daisy Miller. she concerns the contrast between the American and European societies in the second half of the nineteenth century, a simple clear picture of an innocent natural way of life, henry James lived in both societies and this novel helps us to explore how this experience could make him reach to create such characters.

Settings: the action of this Daisy Miller book’s chapter takes place in 1870s in the little town of Vevey in Switzerland, we can notice exactly that it’s happening in a particularly comfortable hotel, tourism was the main industry of that little town which rested on the lake Geneva, bordered by a myriad of fashionable hotels, all inferior to the Trois couronnes, and where winterbourne one of the main characters in this novels lived since he was a young boy. toward the end of June, so many American tourists used to descend upon the town that drew comparisons to many other famous places around the world. But no action in the novel really takes place there.

Characters: starting by the two main characters who I think they played a good part in proving the importance of their character in the literature’s field, who are supposed to be Daisy and Fredrick, and there were other secondary characters as Randolph, Mrs. Costello, and Eugenio the courier. And what follows is what exactly we could notice from the events of the first chapter:

Frederick winterbourne: as henry James writes, he’s a twenty-seven-year-old American who has lived in Europe for a considerable time, he’s in every scene of the novel, starting by listening to his friends saying that he continues to live in Geneva to pursue further studies, but he responds, he pursues a certain foreign woman who is older than him, he’s a young American who had grown up in Geneva, henry James put him as the novel’s central narrative and possibly we say that he’s the protagonist, not having any passions or interests other than appreciation of female beauty, bound more closely by restrictive European social customs but still, he is amazed by Daisy’s pretty face, not just in their first meeting but every time he sees her, he’s impressed, I mean, can we think of any human being that would for any reason not to care about Daisy Miller?

But, on the other side, he’s intrigued by Daisy because of her independence. Daisy Miller: what lies behind every controversy about Daisy Miller is her unequal distribution of her caring towards winterbourne, she’s an American innocent, a young very pretty independent-minded woman from USA exactly from Schenectady new York, enchanted with the European sights , greedy to see and experience whatever she can, with her cheerful and talkative personality , treating people in different ways as for an example the courier Eugenio, her attitude and the way she talked to him show more familiarity more than people treat their servants. the first chapter gives the reader a clear opportunity to explore her personality and her perspective, the way she decided to take such a decision as a trip with a stranger, and we can see that henry James made a deal with himself that it’s okay to show Daisy Miller’s qualities in the way he describes and as we all notice in the events of the book so he can create a character than can make his book worthy to be the face of a profession that would die commercially in that century if he didn’t create characters like Daisy Miller. Henry James admired as she is the real American girl he observed, he admired in his novel that Daisy Miller is independent, a freedom-loving creature despite all the lines she crossed, it was a clear affirmation of her important position in the literary world at large, and she would be understood best not as an isolated arrogant selfish creature with a desire for pleasure, but as a part of a literary tradition, even when we do not know enough about what influences conditioned her conception, she was revolutionary in her native Anglo-Saxon environment. We should notice that Daisy is moving in and being influenced by a new and different world, not necessarily the same as the world of the American dowagers who surrounded her.

Mrs. Costello: Winterbourne’s aunt, a shallow, self-important woman who seems genuinely fond of Winterbourne, a very proper and very wealthy character who sees manners and respect for their actual traditions as something they can’t pass by and forget, making a commitment to those traditions was something she can be proud of. She’s the voice of snobbish high society. She also fulfills the role of “confidante,” a frequent figure in Henry James’s novels.

Randolph Miller: who’s Daisy’s younger brother? We can notice from the first chapter that Randolph is a loud, ill-mannered, ungovernable little boy of about nine or ten years old.

Eugenio: The Millers’ supercilious interpreter/guide, often referred to as “the courier. He has better judgment and a greater sense of propriety than either Daisy or Mrs. Miller and often treats them with thinly veiled contempt. the novelist henry James begins the story with a quick look to where Frederick winterbourne’s life took place, having a breakfast coffee in the garden of the trois couronnes in Vevey, this young twenty-seven-year-old American arrived the day before to see his aunt Mrs. Costello winterbourne, she decides to remain in her hotel room healing her headache, the story really becomes more than blurry expectations when a boy in knickers red stocking comes by and begs some sugar cubes from winterbourne’s table, and that was the moment he met the woman that fill all the blanks in this story, he didn’t know a nine year old will be his reason to meet with that boy’s sister, Daisy Miller, in a moment we see henry James traveling to the point when winterbourne now decide that American girls are the best as well, he knew he’s good enough introduction to present himself to the girl, they talked as he wanted to know more about her, after that she became quite sociable to tell him about her family and her travels, how she and her mother and the little Randolph who’s supposed to be her brother traveled to Rome for the winter, coming from new York, he figured out her real name was Annie P.miller but they called her Daisy, her good sense of humor, her name that represents the flower it mirrors, her manner thoughts made him know much about her, but still he couldn’t make sure if she’s innocent or designing, we notice how that conversation turned into an invitation for a trip to the old castle called “the chateau de chillon”, he twice refers to her as a ‘pretty American girl’ as he talks to her in a way that can be acceptable in Vevey but would not have been in Geneva as a symbol of their locale and winterbourne’s birth place as Eugenio comes to collect the Miller children but he ends up seeing Daisy illuminating his disapproval of her ‘want of finish’ and her tendency to throw the rituals of custom somewhere away from her independence. And for winterbourne? he only wants an excuse to spend time with her. he’s attracted to the pretty American girl as James writes ‘…she was strikingly, admirably pretty. ‘How pretty they are!’ thought Winterbourne, straightening himself in his seat, as if he were prepared to rise.’ the novelist describes winterbourne’s position and physical posture, as a metaphor for his sexual arousal at the sight of Daisy, his expectation was in need to be true in reality, his desire for her to be innocent and redesigning reflects not only on her personality but on his…something like lust for her, it is truly a lust, James writes his desire to consume all of her physical features, as winterbourne describes everything that took a place in his mind that moment, we find that it’s not just a simple description, he even chooses particular words for example such as (commas, semi-colons, and hyphens, relish, addicted), we could even feel how he was delicate from his words and notes, a complete observation that we take in his sentences and how it refers to his need to judge the young pretty American girl Daisy Miller.

We see in the last lines of the chapter how he continues his judge as he finds the lack of polish in her face as a sign of a young uncultivated and natural American face.

The present excerpt is taken from the realistic novella “Daisy Miller” which belongs to the Genteel Tradition of the American Realism, written by Henry James. It was published in Cornhill Magazine in 1878 and in book form in 1879. The story is about an American young lady called Daisy Miller who traveled with her family to Europe. She has a unique personality that got the attention of a Europeanised gentleman named Winterbourne. He was fascinated by her appearance and behavior which made him perplexed about his feelings towards her. In this dramatic story of innocent and audacity, the clash of cultures was portrayed saliently. This novella was directed particularly to the American girls and also to the other female readership by which the author sent a message that if you do like daisy, you will be socially dead.

The events of this excerpt took place in the Colosseum, Rome in winter. Rome is an ancient city, described as the center of European civilization, and the Colosseum was a place where the enemies were executed in the past. There Daisy catches her death in the form of malaria. Besides the place, Daisy as a flower flourishes in summer and dies in winter. Both the Colosseum and the season are symbols that represent the death of Daisy by society and history.

Since it is a novella, the plot is a unified one, provided through scenic episodes. This excerpt is the climax of the plot. In this scene, at night, Daisy and Giovanelli were sitting alone when Winterbourne saw them. She appears to him as a flirt, reckless girl, so she lost his respect and interest; ‘She was a young lady whom a gentleman need no longer be at pains to respect.’ Yet, he still cares about her health when he asked her to leave the Colosseum so that she will not be sick.

In this passage, there are three characters. First, Frederick Winterbourne – born in winter, a symbol of his cold feelings, is a major character and the ‘central consciousness’ of the novella. He is an American, about 27 years old, who has lived in Geneva, Switzerland for a long time. He is an amiable, wealthy and handsome gentleman. He was passionate to observe and study Daisy which made him puzzled in his opinions about her. He could not decide whether she is innocent or guilty, but after the Colosseum scene, he took his last decision about her. Second, Daisy Miller, also a name of a common flower, is the protagonist, presented through Winterbourne’s description as a mixture of innocence and audacity. She is a young beautiful lady coming from a town called Schenectady in America. Though Daisy found herself in a totally different society that values the customs and norms, she refused to follow those rules and does whatever she wants. She attracts attention wherever she goes. Third, Mr. Giovanelli, means a young man in Itallian, is a flat character. He is a fortune hunter. For Daisy, he is a gentleman and her best companion, but for Winterbourne, he is not a gentleman, only an imitation of one.

He went with Daisy to the Colosseum without thinking about her health. His only object was to enjoy his time. This passage was written in the third person unintrusive point of view with the use of “central consciousness”. The author is actually presenting winterbourne’s thoughts to us, making the reader experience the story from a subjective standpoint. In this passage, there are some literary devices used by the author for an artistic effect. The Register is formal with use of the French language since the settings of the work are in Europe – for the present passage, it is in Rome, and it has an international theme. The Diction or the words are of Latin origin, in addition to Spanish words such as perniciosa, and signorina. For the figures of speech, there are: “a waning moon in the sky, and her radiance was not brilliant, but she was veiled in a thin cloud curtain” is a personification where the moon is given a human quality and is described with the third person pronoun “she”. Another personification and hyperbole is in “One-half of the gigantic circus were in deep shade, the other was sleeping in the luminous dusk”. There is an analogy by referring to a famous poem called “Manfred” by Byron. In Daisy’s statement, “Well, he looks at us as one of the old lions or tigers may have looked at the Christian martyrs!” there is a simile because Winterbourne’s eyes were like the eyes of a lion, criticizing her, and they are his prey as the Christian martyrs. Also, we have irony in the expression, “responded the ingenious Giovanelli” followed by a satire in “Neither am I–for you!”, which demonstrates the dislike of Winterborne towards Giovanelli. In addition, the author used symbolic hints when he mentioned a famous dramatic poem, “Manfred”. Its hero at the end dies, defying religious attractions of freeing from sin. Throughout the poem, he challenged all the powers and chooses to die rather than surrender to those spirits. His story resembles one of Daisy in her rebellious conduct against social norms. It can be considered as a symbol and foreshadowing to what will happen to Daisy later.

The structure of the sentences and the paragraphs in this excerpt are well organized and balanced. Moreover, the tone that is reflected in this passage is a surprise, frustration and ironic. Besides, the atmosphere is serious and dark. This moment totally breaks the lovely expectations because here Daisy lost Winterbourne’s affection and was labeled as a guilty, reckless girl. Daisy Miller is therefore a conflict between the individual and society. On the other hand, this passage is clearly exemplifying the famous motto “when in Rome, do as the Romans do”. Daisy refused to adapt to this ancient principle.

Even winterbourne, at the end, turns against her and judges her as the others did. She could save herself and her reputation if she obeyed the rules of European society; this shows also the contrast between the mindset of people from different cultures, mainly America and Europe.

At last, “Daisy Miller”, as a novella, is so ambiguous concerning the end and the characters as well. It was considered an outrage to American girlhood, but in my opinion, the death of Daisy is more than a punishment. I think James was trying to stop the feminist movement in the 19 th century since Daisy is a portrayal of women who do as they want and not as what society dictates. Perhaps, if James wanted this story to be perceived as a punishment, why he confirmed her innocence at the end? And by doing that what is the reason behind her death if she is innocent? Many questions arise about this novella; nevertheless, the international subjects that were treated give it the perfect qualities for work to last forever. In fact, the author’s choice of each location, especially the coliseum, made every scene in the novella realistic and meaningful.