Daisy Miller: A Comedy (1878)

Winterborne is a pompous ass, infuriatingly patriarchal and belittling. That said, he was extremely well written, as was the rest of the story, so it's not fair to write it off simply because one character, had they existed and been in my presence in real life, would have received a good swift kick in the shins. Such is the characterization of James' writing.

I am not sure if Henry James and I are meant to “get along”. I thought I would tread gently into his works by starting off with this short novella. On its surface, [Daisy Miller] is nothing more than a story about a flirtatious and rather uncontrollable young woman with her own views of what is acceptable behaviour for her to engage in, much to the chagrin of the pretentious American expatriate community residing in Rome. If one chooses to look for deeper meaning, the story could be held up as an examination of innocence, given that Winterbourne is preoccupied with the question of whether Daisy is “innocent” - is she truly naïve/ ignorant or actually culpable of her actions? On the surface, Daisy is a very unlikable character for me to relate to. She is allowed to roam free (her mother having no backbone to control her wilsome children), bristles at any attempts to reign her in and very much likes to be in control of the people around her. Winterbourne comes across as no better than a man somewhat bored with his life in Europe and believes himself to be smitten with Daisy – although one wonders if he is more smitten with Daisy’s representation of American beauty and poignant innocence than he is with Daisy.

Overall, while I found the characters to be dislikeable, I can appreciate James’s skill at using storytelling to examine moral implications of an artlessness or innocence that just does not hold its own against the worldliness and cynicism surrounding it. ( )

This novella is as much about 'stiff' Frederick Winterbourne as it is Daisy Miller, a privileged young American abroad in the late 19th century. The propriety issue may not be relevant today but the comparison of a life lived in repression to a life lived with spontaneity is. ( )

I tried to read this years ago, but couldn't bear to finish it. I tried it again, and it was just as terrible as I remembered. The main character is Mr. Winterbourne, a man so priggish that at 27 he still travels with his aunt and wonders with horror if the women he talks to are flirting with him. He is enchanted by Daisy Miller, a banal but pretty girl. However, when next they meet she is behaving all the more outrageously (walking in public places without a chaperone!) and he struggles to reconcile his disapproval with his like of her pretty ways. In the end, she dies of staying out too late at night. Literally.

It's a short read, and thus a good test sample of everything I hate about Henry James--the flat, emotionless tone, the eliptical conversations that say nothing, the stupid slang, the piles of adjectives, the prudish story. ( )

Daisy, her mother, and her younger brother are Americans traveling in Europe. The other Americans they meet regard them as unsophisticated, especially when Daisy repeatedly appears in public flirting with men. They meet a young man named Winterbourne who enjoys Daisy’s company and tries to warn her and her mother of the scandal they are creating, but Daisy refused to change her ways, and her mother is too clueless to listen to anyone. Since immoral behavior always has its consequences, the novella has to end under tragic circumstances.

I first read this in high school and remember not liking it. I liked it more this time, but I’m still not a big fan of Henry James. Still, Daisy Miller is short enough and the point is obvious enough to be a fairly easy read. ( )