Daisy Miller and The Gaze

Although modern women have somewhat overcome the unfair prejudice and the degradation of the female gender, women in the nineteenth century were forced to deal with a culture in which gender equality was much less understood and existed. The nineteenth century society often placed specific, stereotypical, and restrictive standards on how the female gender should behave. The gazes, which can be described as ¡°the viewing relationship characteristic of a particular set of social circumstances¡±(The Gaze), of various characters at the American woman in literature reflect such gender inequality in the old, conservative society. Especially, in the short story Daisy Miller by Henry James, the gazes of Winterbourne at Daisy during their first meeting, Mrs. Costello at Daisy when having a conversation with Winterbourne, and James at the Miller women and Mrs. Walker are the good examples to present the gender inequality in such conservative society. They are used to create the a...