Submitted by Angie Alejandra González Primiciero

“Daisy Miller”

Daisy Miller is a short novel written by Henry James, a great figure in the transatlantic

culture and his fundamental theme was the innocence and exuberance of the New World

with the corruption and wisdom of the Old. The novel takes us back to the nineteenth

century (Victorian era), an era characterized by the separation of male and female life into

two different "spheres." Men engaged in business and politics outside the home while

women were tasked with motherhood and managing the house and family.

Furthermore, here were rules established by society that especially upper-class women had

to follow, from modest and polite behavior to preserving their chastity before marriage. In

the event of any inappropriate behavior in society, her reputation and that of her family will

be affected. Thus, in Daisy Miller we will see beyond the innocence of the protagonist the

manifestation of American culture through prejudices and conventions on the part of some

characters that are governed by the rules of old Europe.

To start, the novel Daisy Miller presents some themes which are vital to understand the

society where the principal character lived; and how in this period the breakdown of moral

codes revealed great differences between American and European culture. Hence, as

mentioned above; in most of the literary work we can see dissimilarities between American

and European culture. In this case, we have some characters such as Mrs. Costello and Mrs.

Walker know the American way of life; however, they have been in Europe so long they

have adapted to different standards of behavior, and no longer they disagree with American

customs or mentality.
Moreover, these American customs include a greater individuality and uniqueness in

America, freedom in general and flexibility in moving from a lower social class to a higher

social class. Instead, these female characters accept the repressive social customs of

European culture and think themselves "better" than those, such as Daisy Miller, who are

too independent and disregard those customs. We can see this kind of events in the novel

especially with Mrs. Costello, when her nephew Winterbourne talked about Daisy Miller

and her beauty in the society. “He immediately perceived, from her tone, that Miss Daisy

Miller's place in the social scale was low. "I am afraid you don't approve of them," he said.

"They are very common," Mrs. Costello declared. "They are the sort of Americans that one

does one's duty by not—not accepting." "Ah, you don't accept them?" said the young man.

"I can't, my dear Frederick. I would if I could, but I can't." "The young girl is very pretty,"

said Winterbourne in a moment. "Of course she's pretty. But she is very common." (James,

1878, p.22).

On the other hand, it is important to mention that the author Henry James, an American

expatriate who lived in Europe was fascinated by the cultural differences on opposite sides

of the Atlantic. Therefore, in the novel he shows how a country someone is associated with,

dictates how that person is judge by others. For example, Randolph thinks America is better

that Europe; and his rude behavior reflects poorly on his fellow citizens. “My father's name

is Ezra B. Miller," he announced. "My father ain't in Europe; my father's in a better place

than Europe;"(James, 1878, p.14).

Another relevant theme in the novel was the innocence in contrast with immorality. The

status of Daisy’s innocence and virtue plagues Winterbourne throughout the novel. So, in

that point it raises some important questions about the nature of innocence, particularly in
women. In this case, Winterbourne questions the flirtatious and outgoing personality of

Daisy Miller; and perhaps what delves in his mind regarding innocence is her lack of

culture, her romantic and sexual experience with men which then becomes an indication of

her moral character. According to the Victorian- era, gentleman of certain class believes

that a woman who is not innocent in this way must be immoral and therefore she does not

deserve to be respected. “Daisy can earn this only if she upholds Victorian standards of

female decorum, which are built on the assumption that "nice" women are not sexual

creatures and, by extension, are also not free to be themselves or dictate their path in life in

other ways”. (Coursehero, 2016).

In addition, Daisy’s innocence goes beyond her chastity, it only centers behind her

behavior. The main character of the novel, who in this case is a woman; also relates the

concept of innocence to the concept of “not guilty” especially to purity, and the rules that

restrict certain behaviors of women in polite society. Thus, in different ways Daisy is

innocent and savvy; she knows on her own account many people in Rome. She seems

completely at ease in social interactions with both men and women, these interactions in

European culture fascinate Daisy and make her open seeing and experiencing new things

without an accompanying self-awareness about how to act in a society where women had to

follow certain rules of decorum, education, and culture.

For this kind of interactions, the novel shows us a character called Mr. Giovanelli, a good-

looking Italian who accompanies Daisy to any place in Rome, among those to parties with

the same men as always; and something not very well seen by society is that she was not

accompanied by her chaperone. Daisy spoke without being polite or docile, she did not

consider etiquette even for those suitors who spoke to her. “Mrs. Walker wished to speak to
her, retraced her steps with a perfect good grace and with Mr. Giovanelli at her side. She

declared that she was delighted to have a chance to present this gentleman to Mrs. Walker.

She immediately achieved the introduction and declared that she had never in her life seen

anything so lovely as Mrs. Walker's carriage rug. "I am glad you admire it," said this lady,

smiling sweetly… "Do get in and drive with me!" said Mrs. Walker. "That would be

charming, but it's so enchanting just as I am!" and Daisy gave a brilliant glance at the

gentlemen on either side of her.

"It may be enchanting, dear child, but it is not the custom here," urged Mrs. Walker,

leaning forward in her victoria, with her hands devoutly clasped. "Well, it ought to be,

then!" said Daisy. "If I didn't walk I should expire." (James, 1878, p. 55-56).

From the above, in the process of the novel the concept of innocence in Daisy Miller is

questioned and we can see this in the thoughts of Winterbourne, who from the beginning

was interested in Daisy even doubting if she was just a flirtatious American girl who did

not know what was right in the society; thanks to the fact that her family especially her

mother who did not instilled in her the correct way to act in a polite society. And this is

achieved when Daisy attends the party that is hosted by Mrs. Walker and she does not react

in the best way when Daisy says goodbye. “When Daisy came to take leave of Mrs.

Walker, this lady conscientiously repaired the weakness of which she had been guilty at the

moment of the young girl's arrival. She turned her back straight upon Miss Miller and left

her to depart with what grace she might. Winterbourne was standing near the door; he saw

it all. Daisy turned very pale and looked at her mother, but Mrs. Miller was humbly

unconscious of any violation of the usual social forms”. (James, 1878, p.66). In the end the

“speculations” about Daisy’s innocence are determined when she dies due to the Roman
fever and Mr. Giovanelli says that she was an innocent girl without a doubt as

Winterbourne put it. Daysi made her own rules and decisions in a society that did not allow

women to step out of the “line”, perhaps her lack of culture or the simple fact of breaking

with the traditions expected by the high line made her see like that “new woman” of the

nineteenth century.

Apart from this, “Daisy Miller” tells us about how Daisy Miller characterizes the new

woman of nineteenth century. The 19th century was totally different in everything

compared to our modern lives, traditions, cultures, and rules, especially concerning women.

In that era, American people, particularly these people who belongs to high society were

very strict with women in terms of etiquette, controlling their lives, and speaking on behalf

of them. Due to these facts, some women change their lives, and their revolution is

illustrated in many stories that represented female characters breaking rules. For instance,

Daisy Miller, protagonist in Henry James's "Daisy Miller", is an example of the New

Woman of the nineteenth century as she does not follow old traditions but makes her own

rules.

In addition, the features of Daisy Miller’s character are completely different from other

European women around her. She is a woman who builds different relationship with men.

She does not speak considering the etiquette and she does not follow the customs and the

rules of her time. Consequently, she leads an independent life, regardless of the

environment where she lives; especially in Rome where she being an American girl

spending the time with foreign people. Daisy always wanted to make everybody notice that

she has many people around her, but she is still independent " 'I have more friends in New

York than in Schenectady-more gentleman friends; and more young lady friends too," she
resumed in a moment. Her way of thinking makes her a strong woman, facing the

expatriate and demonstrate her genuine self; not least she ignores Winterbourne’s

community to follow her goals. Although life is a quick evolving procedure, she keeps on

developing while staying consistent with herself as argued by Copland.

Copland argues that Daisy is an independent woman while she has opportunities to marry

her male friend, Giovanelli. So, she has a nature to inspire men. She could face different

people with courage. She has not disappointment like other people, yet more than anything

she fears of spending her life without her freedom. Her “I can do anything" identity will

show her observations about how she may be carrying on with her own particular life. So,

she inspires others to accomplish their fantasies (Copland, 2013).

As the women of the nineteenth century were living in restricted environment, especially in

relationships with men it was not very common in society. In this case, Daisy is an example

of thinking freely towards what can be considered forbidden or improper in a woman and

although they make her known both during her stay in Switzerland and in Rome. Therefore,

she is indifferent to what they may think of her because she does not consider that her

behavior or way of thinking is an obstacle to her performance in Europe. Finally, Daisy

Miller is a freedom young lady, her personality shows that she has thoughts of what it is

like to be a new woman. She is also depicted in changing levels of adjusted, autonomous

female characters, and lights up the ethical and mental difficulties they confront as

American ladies abroad in Europe, particularly in that restrictive era.

In conclusion, “Daisy Miller” is a novel that take us back to the nineteenth century

(Victorian era) an era characterized by the separation of male and female life into two

different "spheres." Men engaged in business and politics outside the home while women
were tasked with motherhood and managing the house and family. Furthermore, we can see

beyond the theme of innocence, the contrast between American and European culture

considering that the author was fascinated with the differences between these two. And in

the novel Henry James shows us these differences with the characters of Mrs. Costello and

Mrs. Walker, people who belongs to high society and prefer that women being pure, polite,

and refined, since they do not like the behavior and the mentality of common and vulgar

American people such as Daisy and her family.

On the other hand, innocence is a relevant theme in the novel; since it not only refers to the

purity, romantic or sexual experience of this female character but also to the lack of culture

or knowledge of how the world works especially when it comes to social norms. And

considering the literary criticism in the novel, “Daisy Miller” tells us about how the author

presents the female character like the new woman in the 19th century. Daisy is characterized

by representing the opposite of what society expects based on rules of etiquette, decorum,

and proper behaviors that a woman should follow. She follows her own ideals and goals,

interacts with both men and women at parties, and speak without hesitation about how

society should behave. Because of this, Daisy is rejected in certain places in Rome and

people of high society. However, prejudices do not prevent her from being an example of

the new woman of the 19th century.

Bibliography
Copland, Rachelann. L. “Daisy Miller’s Elimination: A Post-Colonial Social Darwinist
Theory.” Journal of Artistic Creation & Literary Research. 2.1. (2013). 28-38.
Graham Warder, K. S. (2015). Women in Nineteenth-Century America. VCU Libraries
Social Welfare .
James, H. (1878). Daisy Miller . United Kingdom: Harper & Brothers.
UKESSAYS. (November de 2018).