Daisy Miller: A Study

Daisy Miller, written by Henry James in 1878, is about a young, naïve American girl who sacrifices her life for the society she wished to live in. When Henry James first wrote Daisy Miller, a friend told him that it was “an outrage on American girlhood” (Collins). Daisy Miller dresses elegantly, has the “tournure of a princess”, and yet is irredeemably vulgar in her talk and her conduct (Hayes 70).
Daisy's social awareness is so primitive that it scarcely exists. She believes that she is indestructible and that everyone is oblivious to the things she does. When she first met Winterbourne, she informed him of her many gentlemen friends: “Last winter I had seventeen dinners given me; and three of them were by gentlemen. I have always had a great deal of gentlemen’s society” (1500). As soon as Winterbourne arrives in Rome, he hears that Daisy has been seen around with many gentlemen friends. “The young lady is very intimate with some third-rate Italians, with whom ...