Daisy Miller

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Daisy Miller is a novella written in 1878 by Henry James .

content

First chapter, Vevey . During a visit to his aunt in the Swiss spa town of Vevey, the American Frederick Winterbourne meets the American girl Daisy Miller, who is on a trip to Europe with her mother and brother Randolph. A conversation ensues between Winterbourne and the impartial, cheeky-naive-looking Daisy Miller, both of whom are planning a visit to Chillon Castle . Winterbourne's aunt speaks with Winterbourne disparagingly about the Millers' social status; Winterbourne still wants to go on the discussed excursion with Daisy Miller.

Second chapter, Vevey. Winterbourne runs into Daisy Miller by chance in the evening and takes her for a walk. In the process, they meet Daisy's seemingly uninvolved mother, with whom there is no fluent conversation, the Miller's companion, Eugenio, joins them. Two days later, Winterbourne and Daisy Miller visit Chillon Castle and she makes him promise that he will visit her in Rome.

Third chapter, Rome . Winterbourne lives with his aunt in Rome and meets Daisy Miller again while visiting his friend Mrs. Walker. Daisy wants to bring her Italian acquaintance Giovanelli to Mrs. Walker's next party. Winterbourne accompanies her to a meeting with him that evening. Mrs. Walker intercepts Winterbourne with the carriage and tries to convince him to dissuade Daisy from Giovanelli's company, which is damaging to her reputation. Daisy refuses to get into the carriage with Mrs. Walker and continues her walk with Giovanelli.

Fourth chapter, Rome. Daisy Miller is shunned by society because of her ongoing dealings with Giovanelli. Winterbourne is unsure of his feelings for Daisy, but also increasingly avoids contact. Daisy's mother appears alone at Mrs. Walker's party, Daisy and Giovanelli later follow and spends most of the evening with him away from the company. A few days later, Winterbourne discovered Daisy Miller with Giovanelli in the Coliseum while walking at night . The next day he learns that Daisy Miller suffers from "Roman fever"; she dies shortly afterwards. Winterbourne returns to Geneva.

background

The industrial boom made it possible for many wealthy Americans to travel, which was a symbol of social and financial success. Europe in particular was a travel destination for many Americans on their “ grand tour ”. Henry James himself observed the mentality differences between Europeans, American exiles and Americans, as well as their mutual prejudices, on his numerous trips and stays between the so-called Old World and the New World. These observations are reflected in Daisy Miller and his other works as an "international theme". Often the social rules were observed more strictly by the American exiles than by the Europeans themselves; and so Americans differed from Europeans and American exiles even within the same social class. Henry James, who was more sympathetic to the European way of life, saw his countrymen as boorish, illiterate and provincial. Still, he was fascinated by her thoughtlessness, innocence, and lack of artistry.

shape

  • The narrative tone is reminiscent of casual narration, gossip and gossip rather than tragic or comic narration, so that the novel contains traits of comedy and tragedy in equal measure.
  • The novella is presented from Winterbourne's perspective; an authorial narrator (impersonal narrator voice ) reports twice with a short narrator comment from the “I” perspective.
  • The narration is chronological and is divided into two parts (Vevey and Rome) and a total of four chapters.
  • Much of the action takes place in dialogue form, and the novella appears to have little action.

Intention of the text / task of the reader

Typical of Henry James' narrative style, Daisy Miller is portrayed with the help of a "focalizer". That is, the novella is told from the perspective of Winterbourne, who acts as an observer here (but not from him: the narrator is an anonymous authority). The reader experiences the plot and the other characters only through the eyes of Winterbourne. Due to the one-sided perspective, the reader is encouraged to form his own opinion about Daisy Miller, because there is no judgment about Daisy from a higher narrator. This “openness of the text” forces the reader to assess Daisy's character and Winterbournes prejudices and feelings on the basis of subjective indications of Winterbourne and to discover the different ethical / moral positions of the characters. Only towards the end of the text, after Daisy Miller's death and a conversation with Giovanelli, did Winterbourne admit to himself that he was wrong in convicting Daisy Millers.

Themes and motifs

  • The chosen locations each represent certain worldviews to which the text unobtrusively refers. Geneva , near which is Vevey , is considered the capital of Calvinism , while Rome is the home of Catholicism , sin and corruption; the Colosseum represents sacrifice and decay .
  • Winterbourne and the reader are left in uncertainty from the start about Daisy's actual behavior and intention. Winterbourne fails to classify her behavior into his existing categorization, and Daisy herself adds to the confusion when, within the same dialogue, she claims to be engaged to Giovanelli and immediately denies it again.
  • Daisy strives for social recognition, but makes precisely this impossible with her behavior.
  • Winterbourne stands between two cultures, on the one hand the " new world " from which he comes, on the other hand the " old world " in which he has lived for a long time. Daisy, who is about ten years younger than her representative of the “new world”, is quite alien to him in her behavior; it also irritates other Americans in Europe.
  • The second part in particular regularly addresses the topic of illness , especially the “Roman fever”, the meaning of which hovers in the text between “Roman flirtation” and the disease malaria .
  • “What the European man barely understands is that American girls are, by definition, innocent; innocent in a mythical sense; and that her purity does not depend on anything she says or does. ”( Leslie Fiedler ) Winterbourne doubts the stereotypical innocence of the American girl and is irritated by her behavior and the simultaneous innocent appearance.

Possible interpretation

Daisy Miller and Winterbourne do not get together because Winterbourne is too caught up in strict social norms. Initially fascinated by Daisy Miller's impartiality, after the incident in the Colosseum he no longer sees her as a respectable and marriageable woman. There is an insurmountable gap of social convention between the two. This is also a conflict between the old and the new world - based on different moral attitudes and mutual prejudices. The social conventions stand between Daisy and Winterbourne on the one hand and are the only medium through which they can communicate with one another on the other. While Winterbourne is serious, stiff, more experienced, more demanding and older, Daisy is rather clueless, playful and naive. She defines morality differently than he does. She is tolerant and easy going and doesn't care about social standards while he's firmly anchored in his moral beliefs. There is no real connection between the two, and after Daisy's death, there cannot be. Daisy Miller dies, excluded from society for disobeying social conventions and for rejecting the advice and assistance of society women like Mrs. Walker. Winterbourne is left alone, feeling guilty for having misjudged her. The failed communication between the two does not allow a relationship and possible marriage union, because both represent different moral positions. Both have different “codes” and are unable to interpret each other's “code”. Winterbourne does not understand Daisy and Daisy does not understand the social world of Winterbourne society. As a result, their romantic relationship is doomed to fail. The best example of this is that Winterbourne is unable to see through Daisy Miller's attempts to flirt. When Daisy Miller tells him about her alleged engagement to Giovanelli, she tries to make him jealous in order to find out his true feelings for her and to provoke him to a confession of love. Winterbourne, too preoccupied with putting Daisy Miller into categories like “whore” or “saint”, is unable to make this out. The failed relationship between Daisy Miller and Winterbourne could be B. be seen as an example of the tense relationship between the progressive New World and the old world , which is insistent on tradition .

Film adaptation

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