Books with title Daisy Miller: A Study

While on a trip to Switzerland, Frederick Winterbourne is introduced to a young, beautiful American named Daisy Miller. Although Daisy has a reputation for being frivolous and flirtatious, Winterbourne is intrigued by her, so when the two meet again in Rome, he takes an interest in the rumours about her behaviour and, against wiser counsel, becomes involved once again with her. Despite being criticized for how Daisy’s character portrayed American values at the time, Daisy Miller was an immediate success and remains one of Henry James’ most popular works. In 1909, James adapted the story into a dramatic work of the same name with an alternate conclusion.

Full text.This novella by Henry James that first appeared in Cornhill Magazine in June–July 1878, portrays the courtship of the beautiful American girl Daisy Miller by Winterbourne, a sophisticated compatriot of hers. His pursuit of her is hampered by her own flirtatiousness, which is frowned upon by the other expatriates when they meet in Switzerland and Italy. In Daisy Miller James created his first great portrait of an enigmatic and independent American woman, a figure who would come to dominate his later masterpieces.

When pretty but unsophisticated Daisy Miller comes to Rome from her home in Schenectady, New York, the enclave of Europeanized Americans find her brash and daring. In this, one of Henry James's finest novels of manners and morals, he portrays with elegance and wit the clash between the different societies of Europe and America. The Europeans, so steeped in propriety and old world values, are inimical to the vibrant and often careless nature of the young American society. Daisy must not only discover these deep differences, but she must also learn to recognize the dangers of thwarting convention and tradition.

Daisy Miller is one of Henry James' shorter and earlier novels. It was written in 1878. It portrays the confused courtship of a headstrong American girl by Winterbourne, a compatriot of hers who is much more sophisticated. His pursuit of her is hampered by her own flirtatiousness, which is frowned upon by the other expatriates they meet in Switzerland and Italy. Her lack of understanding regarding social mores of the society she so desperately wishes to enter ultimately leads to a very unexpected ending. In addition to being a very good story, the novel serves as both a psychological description of the mind of a young woman and an analysis of the traditional views of a society to a clear outsider. This continues to be one of James's most popular works.

Daisy Miller is a novella by Henry James that first appeared in Cornhill Magazine in June–July 1878, and in book form the following year. It portrays the courtship of the beautiful American girl Daisy Miller by Winterbourne, a sophisticated compatriot of hers. His pursuit of her is hampered by her own flirtatiousness, which is frowned upon by the other expatriates when they meet in Switzerland and Italy.