Daisy Miller: A Study of the Study

   James is one of the illustrious men of American letters.  His literary and critical writings contributed to the shape and identity of American literature at the turn of the twentieth century.  But I want to focus specifically on the text of "Daisy Miller: A Study," asking a few probing questions.  First, what is the effect of the subtitle, "A Study"?  Second, how does this story participate in literary realism?  Third, and finally, what historical connections exist in the text that might make it more accessible for students?  In other words, what framing questions can we ask up front to help structure reading and lead to a discussion that will produce understanding sufficient to answer our first two questions?

   Published in 1878, DM describes how a wealthy young American collides with the rigid social dictums of Old World Europe and her subsequent demise.  Told through a limited third person narrator seated near Winterbourne's consciousness, the narrative charts first Daisy's unwitting transgressions of polite society's rules, then her conscious disregard for them.

   But despite the title's apparent focus on Daisy Miller, we can soon discern that the story itself is not about Daisy at all.  In fact, recalling that this is a Realist text, we might even think of the subtitle - remember, titles are important, prompting spaces - as a cue for us.  The study in the subtitle links to Winterbourne's introduction and his conclusion in the narrative.  We're told early that he is in Geneva "studying" (328), and at the close of the story that he is "studying hard" (365).  This begs two corollary questions: if Winterbourne is studying, and Daisy Miller is herself "a study," what's the text really about?

   True, so much of the story appears to show Daisy in various states of blissful ignorance regarding the mores of polite European society.  But in almost every single case where the narrator asserts this ignorance, we witness a mental tug-of-war inside Winterbourne's head.  The first time is the most obvious example of a disjunction between their two realms of expectation:

      The young lady gave no heed to this announcement, but looked straight at her brother...It seemed to  
      Winderbourne that he had been in a manner presented...He wondered whether he had gone too
      far...He was ceasing to be embarrassed, for he had begun to perceive that sh was not in the least
      embarrassed herself.  (330-1)

   On first glance, the embarrassment would seem only to address the potential awkwardness of failing to observe superficial pleasantries - something like when we go to shake or hug someone who is totally unprepared for such a gesture.  Here, Winterbourne's styled manners ("in a tone of great respect" (330)) contrast sharply against Daisy's simplicity.  Winterbourne oscillates between thinking her an insipid, naif and imputing to her knowledge of scandalous behavior.  The narrator tells us further that Winterbourne becomes charmed with Daisy's behavior, conflating it with flirtatious indiscretion: "Poor Winterbourne was amused, perplexed, and decidedly charmed.  He had never yet heard a girl express herself in just this fashion; never, at least, save in cases where to say such things seemed a kind of demonstrative evidence of a certain laxity of deportment" (333).  In other words, he's enticed by the presumption of Daisy's loose social behavior, which is polite cipher for waywardly sexual conduct.  Basically, he's intrigued because he thinks she's a hussy, an "easy lay."

  We witness Daisy slowly becoming aware of her transgressions after she reaches Rome, when Mrs. Walker approaches Daisy in her carriage.  But here we witness a transformation in Winterbourne, at least in his demeanor towards her.  But this coincides with the advent of a second male figure, Giovanelli.  For Winterbourne, this represents the perfect pretext to intervene in Daisy's affairs.  He has grounds: as a fellow American, he is obligated to inform his countrywoman; as a self-styled "gentleman," he has a chivalric duty to maintain her virtue - both social and sexual.  But Daisy complicates things through her awareness of Winterbourne's interest and her own tendency to flirt.  (We should, perhaps, not whitewash Miss Miller in our attentions for Winterbourne: she's no saint, to be sure, but at least she's authentic, true to herself throughout the story.)

   We can identify the text as realist in at least two ways.  First, it fits the "standard" checklist of traditional realist texts by invoking true-to-life characters, actual or realistically-described settings, behaviors in the range of experience an educated, upper-middle-class reader might share.  Second, and more interestingly, "Daisy Miller" advances the range of literary realism by developing a psychological drama, faithfully depicting the unattractive and self-centered attitudes of a social rake.   The central male figure experiences entirely believable paroxysms of self-doubt and self-assurance common to the hormone-animated high school adolescent of our own times.  The intricacy of the psychological maneuvering which Winterbourne performs becomes apparent when he tacitly compares himself to Giovanelli.  The latter, the narrator suggests is a "spurious gentleman" not "a real one" (351).  But the irony is that Winterbourne has been content to perform exactly the same indiscretions with Daisy when they were in Vevey: they both visited the Chateau du Chillon without any supervision, yet this same kind of behavior comes sharply under the criticism of Mrs. Walker as one of the things that's simply "not done here...[f]lirting with any  man she could pick up" (353).  In effect, Winterbourne is his own psychological mirror of the character he ascribes to Giovanelli.  The Italian doesn't hesitate to involve himself with a pretty young foreigner without regard to her social standing or the whispers their involvement will certainly arouse.  Giovanelli is, perhaps, doubly odious to Winterbourne because he receives privileged access to Daisy, where he, an American, remains outside her social affections.

  The significance of the story's subtitle becomes clear when we consider this, not as a simple tale invoking the tragedy that befalls naive Americans when they attempt to integrate with Old World culture, but as a psychoanalytical case study for the expatriate American.  For Winterbourne, estranged from his native land and people, finds himself doubly ostracized by the story's end.  In the story's ubiquitous present tense, he returns to Geneva to resume his "studies" of a mysterious foreign lady.  He is neither American nor European in his allegiance, and as a consequence he fails to establish any lasting social or sexual liaison between the various women who snare his interest.  Winterbourne, then, as a permanent expatriate, assumes the character of a bastard hybrid, belonging with no one and to nowhere.

Works Cited

James, Henry.  "Daisy Miller: A Study," 1878.  The Norton Anthology of American Literature. 8th ed. 

                         

                          Vol. 2. New York: WW. Norton, 2013. 327-65. Print.

   So with this brief investigation behind us, we can now turn to a list of prompts in brief that will prime the pump for similar discussions.  Below are a few which may prove useful for addressing issues raised above, but also for directing discussion along other avenues.

1. What does the subtitle ask us to consider as we read the story?  How does it structure our understanding of the characters?
2. Describe the story's realist conventions.  Consider also the way the narrative perspective informs the story.  How does this participate in/advance/modify our understanding of realism?
3. Consider Winterbourne's constant inability to "figure out" Daisy.  How does this tension animate the story?
4. What role does gender play in "Daisy Miller"?  What role does class play?  Use examples from the text to illustrate your answer.
5. Examine Daisy's behavior in any of her several interactions with Winterbourne.  What do we learn from those interactions about her character?
6. What contrasts or oppositions does James draw between European and American characters and ideals? What rules are implied here for the behavior of young girls and married women in each culture?
7. To what extent is Daisy responsible for her own fate, and to what extent is she an innocent crushed beneath a corrupt civilization? Discuss Daisy’s character in detail. Did you find her a sympathetic character or an irritating one? What points of European civilization does she fail to understand? 
8. James uses language carefully in this novella as in all his works; certain words (“pretty”) and images (flowers, for example) are repeated with variations throughout. Choose a few of the most important examples that you have seen in this work and present them to the class.
9. In what way might it be said that this is Winterbourne’s story rather than Daisy’s? What do we learn about him in the course of the story? Is he responsible for her death? Look closely at the ways in which he assesses her and interprets—or misinterprets—her language and behavior.
10. James uses places and place names carefully in this work. Discuss the significance of the various places alluded to here, such as the gardens, the Castle of Chillon, the Palace of the Caesars, the Colosseum, St. Peter’s, and so on. 
11. Two of the most crucial words in this story are “innocent” and “intimate,” especially because the characters define them in various ways and apply them to Daisy’s relations with others. Find the places in which these words are used and discuss the ways in which these loaded terms help to create tension (and misunderstandings) in the story.
12. Several of the secondary characters play an important role in “Daisy Miller,” among them Randolph, Mr. Giovanelli, and three American ladies: Mrs. Costello, Mrs. Miller, and Mrs. Walker. Explain the function of each character in the story.
13. The theme of illness is significant here; explain its function in the story. 
14. What does it mean to be an American in this story?