Penguin Classics Daisy Miller [Paperback]

This novella in two parts is narrated by a pleasant and decent American youth who has been living and stuyding in Siwtzerland for some years. Instantly charmed by a very pretty American flirt, whose precocious little brother he's just met, the naive protagonist seeks every legitimate means to make her acquaintance and enjoy more of her company. Miss Daisy Miller certainly turns heads abroad, but she is playful and coy--enjoying the game of tormenting her beaus.

The plot progresses as the unnamed hero gradually realizes that his divine Daisy does not radiate a positive reputation, for hostesses in Switzerland and later in Rome begin to shun her. Adding insult to inury, they actually warn him about her. How can he compete with her latest conquest, a handsome and indolent Latin Lover? Daisy ignores all sincere attempts to deflect her from her headstrong course of social ruin. Her mother seems utterly indifferent to her daughter's fate--demonstrating ineffective parenting skills with her horrid son as well. All of which leaves readers wondering how naive, stupid or shallow this socialite truly is. Like the governess in James' TURN OF THE SCREW, Daisy projects conflicting opinions about her personality. What terrible price will she pay for toying with men's hearts and flaunting social customs abroad? This comes across as a serious cautionary tale.

This story emphasizes an upper-class expatriate's efforts to understand and deal with a charming, independent but uninformed heroine who posses a strong challenge to conservative manners. In the end the story's emphasis is not so much on social portraiture as on the tragic effects of class distinction. When Winterbourne learns that Daisy was after all completely "innocent", he understands his serious mistake in going along with the other Americans who blackball her. Like the ancient Roman spectators in the Colosseum, Winterbourne has participated in a human sacrifice. While Winterbourne worries over the morality of the young American woman, it is his own behaviour that constitutes immorality. He is committing an unpardonable sin in his overly intellectualized searching out of the moral fault of another.

As in other tales, James makes direct contact with the mythic materials of Judeo-Christian culture equally to gloss his sense of evil and measure its fate in the modern world. The narrative in "Daisy" can be understood as a commentary on a culture in which gossip has replaced the gospel. In a remarkable scene set in St Peter's, as scandalizing chatter ignores and disturbs the lovely music of Spirit, Winterbourne hears from a friend that Daisy and Giovanelli have been sighted viewing the portrait by Velazquez of Pope Innocent X, a rendering that reveals the ill-named Pope as a worldly cynic. By means of this juxtaposition, James extends the evil from Winterbourne to the gossipy Americans and then to the history of European religions.

The narrator is not an "unnamed hero", but has an eloquent name. Not only do Winterbourne's fate - utter stasis - and name link him to the wintry Satan of Dante; they become allegorically appropriate to his status, and emblematic of his punishment: the endless repetition, fixed in loneliness, of his self-love, which is encompassed -"bourne" - as it is "born" by winter. The only motion available to Winterbourne is the futile beating of wings that immures him and the more fixedly in an ice that represents his fear and hatred of others. The role of Evil in this tale is less that of pointing out at narcissism (though it is also clearly about that), and more about the terms for living in a modern world where all comforting authority has been lost. The freedom in this tale is a terror rather than a liberation for the characters who confront it, and leads them to an attempt to impose meaning on a recalcitrant world that leads in turn to the violation of others. Because Winterbourne will not live with the challenge of self-awareness required in a world where we are alone, he loses respect for Daisy and he learns nothing. His confusion between his parenting and courting roles, and his panic of the social "other", make him lose trust in her individual strengths. This story defines an evil fit for the century of Henry James and for our own. James' later story "The Beast in the Jungle" is a reworking of the same theme.

This novella in two parts is narrated by a pleasant and decent American youth who has been living/studying in Switzerland for some years. Instantly charmed by a very pretty American flirt, whose precocious little brother he's just met, the naive progtagonist seeks every legitmate means to make her
acquaintance and enjoy her company, before his schedule removes him from her delightful presence. Miss Daisy Miller certainly turns heads abroad, but she is playful and coy--happily aware of the game of having beaus. The plot progresses as the unnamed hero gradually realizes that his divine Daisy's behavior does not promote a positive reputation. Hostesses both in Switzerland and in Rome begin to shun her--and to warn him. How can he compete with a handsome and indolent Latin lover? Alas, Daisy ignores all well-meaning attempts to moderate the terrible talk behind her back. How can her sincere admirer prevent her from rushing headlong into social ruin? Which leaves readers wondering how naive or stupid or shallow the lady really is. As in James' TURN OF THE SCREW, this heroine projects a conflicting personality, producing two contrasting viewpoints about her attitude. What terrible price will Daisy pay for toying with men's hearts and rejecting her national code of morality?