Journal #13 James

Liana Laskin

English 48B

"Daisy Miller, A Study" by Henry James

February 18, 2009

"James's invalidism . . . was itself the symptom of some fear of or scruple against sexual love on his part." (F.W. Dupree's theory on why James did not marry, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_James)

Summary:

Taking place at a hotel in Vevey, a young American named Frederick Winterbourne first meets a little boy, Randolph and then his older sister, pretty sister Daisy Miller (both Americans traveling with their mother around Europe). Winterbourne, having grown up in Geneva, is intrigued by Daisy, who is not as proper and considered "common" by his aunt, Mrs. Costello. Although Winterbourne's aunt refuses to be introduced to Daisy, he still wants to be around the young woman, going so far as to take her to Chillon Castle (without a chaperone). After not seeing each other for a while, Winterbourne heads to Rome, knowing that Daisy is there, and learns she has become close to lower class men and is now the topic of gossip. She is intimate with one handsome man, the Italian Mr. Giovanelli, who pretends to be upper class. Not only is Winterbourne amazed by Daisy's behavior, but Mrs. Walker, who is a part of Rome's upper class society, is not amused. Although they try to get Daisy to stop this way of living to save her reputation, she will not have any of it. Winterbourne is now unsure of her behavior and relationship with Giovanelli. Sometimes she says she's engaged to him, but then takes it back. On his way home one night, he decides to see what the Coliseum looks like by moonlight, and comes across Daisy and Giovanelli. Even though he thinks she lacks enough self-respect to take care of herself, Winterbourne urges Giovanelli to get her home. A few days later, Daisy comes down with malaria and passes away. Her mother gives Winterbourne a message from before Daisy died, saying that she was not engaged after all. A year later he realizes that he has lived in Europe too long but still goes back to his old ways in Geneva.

Response:

Even though James was only writing about the rich and extravagant in this story, I thought it made a lot of sense to have Daisy Miller die. Not only is it appropriate because in nineteenth century literature a woman who does not act as she should seems to always die, but it almost seems to be the right thing to do for the story since everything is so perfect. This story would become less interesting if Daisy had a happy ending since the life that she lives, just like Winterbourne, is considered excessive. It would just become an observation of rich people doing over the top things and having lavish vacations, which is more entertaining to watch on MTV than read in a book. I also liked how James is never clear about whether or not Daisy died a virgin (much like Crane is ambiguous about how Maggie died). Giovanelli saying “she was also the most innocent” could be read one of two ways: either she did die a virgin or that is how she was in the bedroom. Living this up in the air makes the story appeal to more people because different readers can have different theories about her character. As a writer myself, I do not really like how James writes because it feels like he goes on and on about describing a place. Personally I like to be descriptive in my writing, but the beginning of the story just lagged a bit too much for my taste.