OH Daisy

Daisy Miller is your average, run of the mill American teenager. I say this with the deepest regard for teenagers, but thus is she. Her manner and enthusiasm reminds me of many other supporting characters, from other works of literature. For instance, Lydia, from Jane Austen's 'Pride and Prejudice.' Both of these women love the opposite sex, and are willing to ignore what is best for them, and for everyone around them to fulfill their wants. Both ruin their reputations and those of their families, by running loose and flirting horribly, but also both characters end tragically. For Daisy it is death, and for Lydia it is an unhappy, loveless marriage.

Why is this? I ask myself, why do both authors chose to have tragic endings for both of these poor, 'innocent' girls? Is it to show that going against societies norms is bad? To show that these women are truly evil? Or something else? Do these girls, who, by today's standards aren't doing anything wrong, forward thinkers, or simply wild children that need restraint. I think that in Henry James case, he is using Daisy to show the bold difference of herself and Winterborne. Or, more specifically, the difference between a European and an American.

Winterborne, although born in America, has taken the views, and outlook on life of an European. He is polite, refined, conservative, and gentlemanly. Daisy is loud, flirtatious, uncouth, and liberal. Although she is a polar opposite to him, he still is taken by her. Why is this? Perhaps it is the American within that is calling him back to the land of his birth, or perhaps it is just that she is different and charming. Whatever his reasons for liking her, he feels it is his duty to protect her from the evils of the European society. And especially from the enchanting Italian: Mr. Giovanelli. Winterborne, even in the end, when she is rude and brash towards him, feels a strong need to protect her from the harm that she keeps throwing herself into. He feels that she is 'innocent' and doesn't know what she is doing to herself, and her family's reputations.

As an outsider looking in, however it is much easier to believe that she knows exactly what she is doing, and is only surprised by Mrs. Walker's reaction to her because she feels that because she is so charming, that everyone should like her.