Daisy Miller

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Daisy Miller

Written by:	Henry James
Central Theme:	The idiocy of ex-patriates' snobbery.
Synopsis:	A young, vivacious woman disturbs the social order of a community of American expatriates in Europe. Unfortunately, she doesn't manage to shake them enough.
First published:	1878
More Information
Source:	Read Daisy Miller here

Winterbourne: What has she been doing? Mrs. Walker: Everything that is not done here.

An 1878 novella (too long to be a short story, too short to be a novel) by Henry James -- half romantic comedy, half social commentary and mockery of rich, snobby Americans who tried to imitate rich, snobby Europeans. Available here.

Frederick Winterbourne, age 27, was just another average, mundane, young man, American by birth but raised in Europe since childhood, until he took a break from "studying" in Geneva to visit his aunt in Vevey, Switzerland. That's when he met her: 19-year-old Daisy Miller from Schenectady, New York, on a tour of Europe with her mother and little brother. From the moment she stumbles across his path as he's sitting in the hotel garden drinking coffee, Winterbourne is smitten by her. She's beautiful, graceful, friendly... and, he soons learns, the enemy of all respectable American snobs trying to fit in among European snobs. Her crimes are unforgiveable. She's a chatterbox! She treats her courier, Eugenio, like he's her friend and equal! She takes strolls in public alone or worse, with men she's not related to! She... flirts! In short, she's an independent, stubborn, lively young woman who's interested in everything, wants to be friends with everybody, and literally refuses to do as the Romans do when in Rome. No amount of mortification or warnings from her compatriots can convince her to live life by anything but her own rules and what makes her happy, propriety be damned!

Despite his aunt's warning to stay away from the eccentric, vulgar Miller girl and her equally vulgar family, Winterbourne is determined to get to know Daisy better, if only to try to figure out what makes her tick, even taking her on an excursion to Castle Chillon. Since Winterbourne has to return to Geneva afterwards, the two plan to meet again in Rome. Winterbourne's enthusiasm for the plan fades, however, once he arrives and hears the scandalous stories of Miss Miller flirting with every man in Italy. When she dares to stroll along the Pincio with Winterbourne on one arm and her friend Mr. Giovanelli on the other and later brings Giovanelli to Mrs. Walker's party, her fellow Americans decide she has gone too far and actively begin to give her the cold shoulder, lest their European companions believe they approve of her behavior.

Winterbourne must resolve a dilemma: Is Daisy simply an innocent American girl worth thinking well of? Or is she really as senseless and vulgar as everyone says she is and not worthy of all the anxiety he suffers trying to figure it out? He finally decides she does not deserve his efforts to think well of her when he finds her hanging out with Giovanelli in the Colosseum in the middle of the night, which everyone knows is the perfect time for contracting the deadly Roman fever (malaria, transmitted chiefly by the mosquitoes that came out after dark). He insists he doesn't even care if what she told him about being engaged was true or a joke.

With all the misunderstandings, bad judgment and Daisy's clever wit, the scandal plays out like a typical romantic comedy. And then Daisy dies of Roman fever, and Winterbourne realizes too late that he was wrong about her, so he goes back to his older mistress in Geneva since it's too late for him to change. He has lived too long in foreign parts.

James and his friend William Dean Howells spent many a night banging their heads against the wall over how many American readers thought Daisy was an insult to Americans when, clearly, James was trying to insult the Americans who ostracized her just for not being a snob! Sadly, they proved James' point all too well, rejecting the bold girl as if they, like their counterparts within the story, "desired to express to observant Europeans the great truth that, though Miss Daisy Miller was a young American lady, her behavior was not representative -- was regarded by her compatriots as abnormal." Sadly, some worlds just do not want to be saved and overloaded with fun.

Tropes used in Daisy Miller include:

Daisy herself is an example of:

• Blithe Spirit
• Deadpan Snarker

Winterbourne: If you won't flirt with me, do cease, at least, to flirt with your friend at the piano; they don't understand that sort of thing here. Not in young unmarried women. Daisy: It seems to me much more proper in young unmarried women than in old married ones.

• Genki Girl
• Good Bad Girl
• Hair of Gold
• Manic Pixie Dream Girl
• Spirited Young Lady
• Strange Girl
• Well, Excuse Me, Princess!

Daisy: It has never occurred to Mr. Winterbourne to offer me any tea. Winterbourne: I have offered you advice. Daisy: I prefer weak tea!

• You Go, Girl!, due to the Double Standards of gender relations.

Winterbourne: There shall be nothing scandalous in my attentions to her. Mrs. Walker: There certainly will be in the way she takes them.

The story provides examples of:

• Annoying Younger Sibling: Randolph Miller
• Completely Missing the Point: The story's initial detractors who were embarrassed by Daisy's behavior!
• Conflicting Loyalty
• Did Not Get the Girl
• Double Entendre

Daisy: I noticed you were as stiff as an umbrella the first time I saw you.

• Downer Ending
• Foreshadowing

Mrs. Costello: You have lived too long out of the country. You will be sure to make some great mistake. You are too innocent. Winterbourne: My dear aunt, I am not so innocent.

• The Film of the Book
• Green-Eyed Epiphany: Definitely a result of Daisy flirting with Giovanelli.
• Have a Gay Old Time

"He wondered what were the regular conditions and limitations of one's intercourse with a pretty American flirt. It presently became apparent that he was on the way to learn."

• Ironic Echo

Winterbourne: You were right in that remark that you made last summer. I was booked to make a mistake. I have lived too long in foreign parts.

• Love Hurts
• Master of the Mixed Message: Both Daisy (possibly intentionally) and Winterbourne (because he can't make up his mind).
• Meaningful Names: A relationship between a guy with winter in his name and a girl named after a flower is destined to be disastrous. The last name "Miller" also implies New Money -- Daisy's father earned his fortune from a trade (like a miller), instead of inheriting it. Oh, the shame!
• Never My Fault: Winterbourne at least partly blames Giovanelli for Daisy's death.

Winterbourne: Why the devil did you take her to that fatal place? Giovanelli: For myself I had no fear; and she wanted to go. Winterbourne: That was no reason!

• Nice to the Waiter: One of the reasons the Millers' compatriots scorn them is for how nice and friendly they are to their courier, Eugenio.
• No Hugging, No Kissing
• Operation: Jealousy: Possibly Daisy's flirting with Giovanelli.
• Pride
• Secondary Character Title
• Shaggy Dog Story
• Signature Style: James hadn't developed his signature paragraph-long-sentences style in 1878, but he applied this style to his revision of the story in 1909.
• Tempting Fate

Daisy: I don't care whether I have Roman fever or not!

• Together Umbrella: After Winterbourne returns to the Pincio to look for Daisy, the sight of Daisy and Giovanelli cuddling under her parasol makes him turn right around.

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