Daisy Miller Character Analysis
Daisy Miller: Flirt For Life
In Daisy Miller, Henry James slowly reveals the character of Daisy through her actions, language, thoughts and ideas. Daisy, a flirtatious and stubborn young American girl, shows little to no agency throughout the novel. She does whatever she wants, when she wants, without taking into consideration the assumptions other people are making of her. Daisy is an amiable, fun, and spontaneous young woman, often verbose about her own life, "I have more friends in New York than in Schenectady-more gentleman friends; and more young lady friends too," she resumed in a moment. She paused again for an instant; she was looking at Winterbourne with all her prettiness in her lively eyes and in her light, slightly monotonous smile. 'I have always had,' she said, 'a great deal of gentleman's society” (James 10).
Throughout the entire novel, she listens to no one. The story is told from the point of view of Winterbourne, and the reader only sees the story through his eyes. However, Winterbourne tells Daisy over and over again to stay away from the Italian suitor, Giovanni. Daisy let her surroundings and environment get the better of her. She gets a romantic sense from being in Italy and she wants to socialize with as many men as possible. At one point in the book, Daisy and Mr. Giovanni are walking in the park by themselves--not a common sight at this time era--and Mrs. Walker and Winterbourne come up in a carriage and Mrs. Walker is sure to tell Daisy she is causing a scene and Daisy responds, “ 'I never heard anything so stiff! If this is improper, Mrs. Walker,' she pursued, 'then I am all improper, and you must give me up. Good-bye; I hope you'll have a lovely ride!" (James 34) Daisy refuses the offer from Mrs. Walker to join her in the carriage and she ignores Winterbourne's similar suggestion. This is the point in the novel where Daisy has gone way too far with not listening to anyone. She causes herself harm because of it.
In the end, Daisy did make something happen--she killed herself. She did not mean to and neither did Mr. Giovanelli, but he has some selfish reasons himself. Daisy has motivation to be a socialite in Europe. She wants to fit in with their social scene and be popular. This causes Daisy, the protagonist, to act the way she does. Her actions let the reader know her motivations, because ultimately she just wants to be accepted by different people.
The reader can get a really good sense of Daisy’s motivations when she goes to the Roman Coliseum with Mr. Giovanni, knowing she could get malaria. And shortly after their trip to Coliseum, she was plagued with Roman fever and died shortly after that. Mrs. Miller made sure to tell Winterbourne what had really been on Daisy’s mind all along, “She gave me a message: she told me to tell you. She told me to tell you that she never was engaged to that handsome Italian. I am sure I am very glad; Mr. Giovanelli hasn't been near us since she was taken ill. I thought he was so much of a gentleman; but I don't call that very polite! A lady told me that he was afraid I was angry with him for taking Daisy round at night. Well, so I am; but I suppose he knows I'm a lady. I would scorn to scold him. Any way, she says she's not engaged. I don't know why she wanted you to know; but she said to me three times - "Mind you tell Mr. Winterbourne." And then she told me to ask if you remembered the time you went to that castle, in Switzerland. But I said I wouldn't give any such messages as that. Only, if she is not engaged, I'm sure I'm glad to know it” (James 49). This part at the end of the novel threw me off because it did show all along that Daisy was somewhat thinking about what other people were telling her. She seemed sincere in the fact that she cared about Winterbourne, but her actions proved otherwise.
Daisy Miller was a flirtatious protagonist with one thing on her mind and that was to be accepted, to be liked and be a socialite. Through her actions, such as who she associated herself with, how she treated other people and how she communicated with them, Daisy Miller showed little to no agency. However, the death of her character left an impact on the reader, teaching people that other nations view one another differently. It is important to respect those views when traveling to another country so as to not create a bad reputation for oneself. Also, to become popular and have other people like you is not worth your life. In the end, James used Daisy’s surroundings, the people she associated herself with and her motivations to teach a lesson and point out the faults of communication between people.
In Daisy Miller, Henry James slowly reveals the character of Daisy through her actions, language, thoughts and ideas. Daisy, a flirtatious and stubborn young American girl, shows little to no agency throughout the novel. She does whatever she wants, when she wants, without taking into consideration the assumptions other people are making of her. Daisy is an amiable, fun, and spontaneous young woman, often verbose about her own life, "I have more friends in New York than in Schenectady-more gentleman friends; and more young lady friends too," she resumed in a moment. She paused again for an instant; she was looking at Winterbourne with all her prettiness in her lively eyes and in her light, slightly monotonous smile. 'I have always had,' she said, 'a great deal of gentleman's society” (James 10).
Throughout the entire novel, she listens to no one. The story is told from the point of view of Winterbourne, and the reader only sees the story through his eyes. However, Winterbourne tells Daisy over and over again to stay away from the Italian suitor, Giovanni. Daisy let her surroundings and environment get the better of her. She gets a romantic sense from being in Italy and she wants to socialize with as many men as possible. At one point in the book, Daisy and Mr. Giovanni are walking in the park by themselves--not a common sight at this time era--and Mrs. Walker and Winterbourne come up in a carriage and Mrs. Walker is sure to tell Daisy she is causing a scene and Daisy responds, “ 'I never heard anything so stiff! If this is improper, Mrs. Walker,' she pursued, 'then I am all improper, and you must give me up. Good-bye; I hope you'll have a lovely ride!" (James 34) Daisy refuses the offer from Mrs. Walker to join her in the carriage and she ignores Winterbourne's similar suggestion. This is the point in the novel where Daisy has gone way too far with not listening to anyone. She causes herself harm because of it.
In the end, Daisy did make something happen--she killed herself. She did not mean to and neither did Mr. Giovanelli, but he has some selfish reasons himself. Daisy has motivation to be a socialite in Europe. She wants to fit in with their social scene and be popular. This causes Daisy, the protagonist, to act the way she does. Her actions let the reader know her motivations, because ultimately she just wants to be accepted by different people.
The reader can get a really good sense of Daisy’s motivations when she goes to the Roman Coliseum with Mr. Giovanni, knowing she could get malaria. And shortly after their trip to Coliseum, she was plagued with Roman fever and died shortly after that. Mrs. Miller made sure to tell Winterbourne what had really been on Daisy’s mind all along, “She gave me a message: she told me to tell you. She told me to tell you that she never was engaged to that handsome Italian. I am sure I am very glad; Mr. Giovanelli hasn't been near us since she was taken ill. I thought he was so much of a gentleman; but I don't call that very polite! A lady told me that he was afraid I was angry with him for taking Daisy round at night. Well, so I am; but I suppose he knows I'm a lady. I would scorn to scold him. Any way, she says she's not engaged. I don't know why she wanted you to know; but she said to me three times - "Mind you tell Mr. Winterbourne." And then she told me to ask if you remembered the time you went to that castle, in Switzerland. But I said I wouldn't give any such messages as that. Only, if she is not engaged, I'm sure I'm glad to know it” (James 49). This part at the end of the novel threw me off because it did show all along that Daisy was somewhat thinking about what other people were telling her. She seemed sincere in the fact that she cared about Winterbourne, but her actions proved otherwise.
Daisy Miller was a flirtatious protagonist with one thing on her mind and that was to be accepted, to be liked and be a socialite. Through her actions, such as who she associated herself with, how she treated other people and how she communicated with them, Daisy Miller showed little to no agency. However, the death of her character left an impact on the reader, teaching people that other nations view one another differently. It is important to respect those views when traveling to another country so as to not create a bad reputation for oneself. Also, to become popular and have other people like you is not worth your life. In the end, James used Daisy’s surroundings, the people she associated herself with and her motivations to teach a lesson and point out the faults of communication between people.