Conference Presentation Daisy Miller A story by: Henry James English 170W Presented by: Arlene Pan

Summary - Switzerland The story begins with Daisy Miller and Winterbourne being introduced by Daisy's younger brother, Randolph, in Switzerland. Randolph thinks that New York is much better than Europe but Daisy thinks that Europe is absolutely wonderful. Winterbourne thinks Daisy is beautiful, but he finds her demeanor confusing; he believes that she is a flirtatious young lady. Winterbourne is infatuated with Daisy even though his aunt, Mrs. Costello, and the society, disapproves; Daisy's family has a close relationship to their courier, which is scandalous. Mrs. Costello believes Daisy to be shameless for going off with Winterbourne, who was a stranger to her only a half hour before. Winterbourne then tells Daisy that he has to go to Geneva the next day. Daisy is disappointed and berates him, but asks him to visit her in Rome later that year.

Summary – Rome Winterbourne and Daisy meet in Mrs. Walker's parlor; she is an American expatriate who's moral values have become adapted to those of Italian society. Rumors about Daisy meeting with young Italian gentlemen make her a social pariah. Winterbourne learns of Daisy's intimacy with a young Italian, Giovanelli. Daisy doesn't care about the open disapproval of the other Americans, and her mother doesn't seem to notice the underlying tensions. Winterbourne and Mrs. Walker attempt to persuade Daisy to separate from Giovanelli, but she refuses. Winterbourne takes a walk through the Colosseum and sees Giovanelli and Daisy. Winterbourne is upset with Giovanelli and asks him how he could dare to take Daisy to a place where she runs the risk of "Roman Fever." Daisy says she does not care and Winterbourne leaves them. Daisy falls ill, and dies a few days later. Winterbourne receives Daisy's last letter before her death telling him she cared about his perceptions of her. Winterbourne then thinks he's spent too long in European society and goes back to Geneva.

The Quote “Though he was impatient to see her, he hardly knew what he should say to her about his aunt’s refusal to become acquainted with her; but he discovered, promptly enough, that with Miss Daisy Miller there was no great need of walking on tiptoe. He found her that evening in the garden, wandering about in the warm starlight like an indolent sylph, and swinging to and fro the largest fan he had ever beheld. It was ten o’clock. He had dined with his aunt, had been sitting with her since dinner, and had just taken leave of her till the morrow. Miss Daisy Miller seemed very glad to see him; she declared it was the longest evening she had ever passed.”

The Interpretation Preparing to see Daisy, Winterbourne's excitement is obvious, but his excitement is muddled, also, by his aunt's disagreement of his associating with her; Winterbourne was unable to decide how to tackle this predicament. This tells us that Winterbourne likes Daisy, or is infatuated with her beauty, but doesn't know what to think of her, due to outside influence. Reading further, we are given more insight on Daisy Miller’s character by the insinuation that there was no need to for subtlety when it came to Daisy. We are presented with Daisy in the garden almost surrounded by a halo of light and then compares her to an “indolent sylph;” a lazy, slothful, but graceful girl. This presents a differing view with negative connotations. The contrasting oxymoron shows Winterbourne's indecision. The last line shows us that Daisy is interested in Winterbourne giving way to belief that this is not just what Winterbourne feels, but Daisy's interest as well. In a New Critics view, Winterbourne is indecisive and relies heavily on other opinions, while Daisy can be innocent in her gestures while having ulterior motives.

Questionable? One of the many questions of Henry James's story of “Daisy Miller” is that while Daisy is represented as an innocent young girl who was too ignorant of her surroundings:  Was Daisy as innocent as she was portrayed?  Was Daisy a deviant? Or... were those ploys perhaps to validate her actions?  Was the objective to portray a society that had distinct ideas of gender roles?

Gender Roles? In Louise Barnett's “Jamesian Feminism: Women in 'Daisy Miller',” she states “While those women who accept their circumscribed existence pay varying prices of neurotic illness, ineffectuality, and hypocrisy, the women who ignore social prescription is punished by ostracism and death,” which is exactly what occurs in the book with both Daisy and her mother. Daisy's mother is ostracized for her daughter's behavior and Daisy eventually dies. Society expected not only women, but everyone to abide to a certain code of conduct. Morality was a bigger issue for women, so this became a more gender-specific concern or condemnation. Women could not be in a specific circumstance, or they became a social pariah, subject to sanction by the masses.

Validation? In Joanne Vicker's, “Woolson's Response To James: The Vindication Of The American Heroine,” she states that “James allows Daisy to die from the Roman fever in order to play on the ambiguity of her morality and her interest in Giovanelli and Winterbourne” (291). Vicker points out that Henry James wrote the book with the intention of allowing Daisy to die so we would never find out if the portrayal of Daisy was ignorance, innocence, or deviant. In this way, the readers would never discover the intentions and the story would still continue in mystique. I believe that Henry James did portray Daisy as a character who's fault was both ignorance and deviance. She was a mixture of both, but did not understand the consequences of the actions. She was a child who only understood happiness.

Ignorant or Deviant? In Carol Ohmann's “DAISY MILLER: A Study Of Changing Intentions,” she questions if Daisy was ignorant or deviant. Daisy strayed from the social path and then led a life of being the social pariah. Ohmann also speaks about how “Henry James faces his writing as poetic and then changes the metaphysical figure of Daisy to be less critical of her character and creates her to be more in tune with nature” (10). Many of these aspects portray Daisy as a child with no ill intentions who was unfortunate to be unable to adapt to the changes surrounding her. I believe that Daisy Miller was a child who did what she wanted with no thought to the consequences. She was ignorant and her only blame lies in her carefree nature and the restricting society that she became infatuated with.