Simon Matthews
Prof DeCicco Eng. II
Rough/Peer Draft
6/18/13 Paper 2a
Feminism and Prejudice in
“Daisy Miller, A Study” – Henry James
Daisy Miller is a story about the nature of “woman’, the idea and the ideal. Written in
1878 Henry James was exploring the feminist ideal while also presenting prejudices faced by
everyone in society. This amalgam of humanist and feminist ideas is what ranks him as one of
the top authors of his day, comparable to Kate Chopin, C.P Gilman, V.Woolf and H.Ibsen. The
basis of the story is Daisy Miller, a character full of life who is introduced to European society,
her interactions with the characters throughout the story are the vehicle that James uses so the
reader can explore the position of ‘women’ in his societal structure. The entire story is an
allegorical representation of the conflict that arises when there is a culture clash between old and
new money, something that still happens today. In addition to the culture clash, which will be
argued is not only part of prejudice but also part of the feminist ideal, James also asks the reader
to question conformity and social pressures. These aspects of life in 1899 are fully understood
today but James explores them with a force which reveals the humanist within him.
At the beginning of the novella, in the first paragraph, James establishes not only the
scene but also the tone for the story: “Vevey, however, is famous, even classical, being
distinguished from many of its upstart neighbours by an air both of luxury and of maturity”.
(James, 3) With these words James sets the tone for the story but also a setting in which the
story can flourish. In essence James’ use of linguistics carries the remainder of the story.
Vevey is introduced as famous and classical, an allusion to the old world, while the use of
luxury and maturity set the stage for Daisy Miller’s downfall as she is an innocent, youthful
woman exploring the world around her: “And in whatever fashion the American looked at
things, they must have seemed to him charming” (James, 3). While James is directly talking
about Mr. Winterbourne here he is in fact setting the stage for Daisy Miller as the young
American being amazed at the world around her and her introduction to society.
Her
introduction to society is explained by Coffin when he introduces the idea of Daisy Miller as a
western hero: “the cowboy formula began to develop in the cattle boom of the seventies and
eighties and was crystalized in Owen Wisters the Virginian in 1902. This was the era of Teddy
Roosevelt, Jack London, and the glorification of the outlaw” (Coffin, 274) Coffin is addressing
American pioneering spirit, a desire to take on the west, but also the new found role for the
American female. Given the time frame and Daisy’s’ character traits James is speaking directly
to the new found role of the American female, pioneer and freewheeling bucker of trends. Her
youthful ignorance and her willing desire to participate in life, something frowned upon for a
woman of the time, as can be seen when Mrs. Walker comments: “it is really too dreadful. That
girl must not do this sort of thing. She must not walk here with you two men. Fifty people have
noticed here.” (James, 27) While Mrs. Walker is specifically talking about Daisy she is also
speaking to the new nature of ‘woman’ in the America’s while also offering a testament to the
nature of old world “European woman”. Her comment addresses conformity as well as social
pressure and old world versus new world; old Europe is frowning upon this childlike being who
is exploring her new surroundings in a very new American way. The allusion to new money is a
theme James uses throughout the story to reflect Daisy’s position within society, that of a second
class citizen ‘we are better than you’ male versus female, as well as her innocence which is a
thematic device used to express the idea of the feminist struggle: something the modern feminist
is still striving for but which may be incomprehensible to the ‘woman’ of today: “Daisy Miller,
who is typical of Henry James’s American in Europe, is really little more than a western hero
with parasol and a bank account” (Coffin, 273). Coffin is expressing the idea that a woman who
is fighting boundaries with her innocence is also riling against the male hegemony of the period.
Coffin further introduces this idea when he states: “A quick look at the book confirms the point.
Daisy baffles Winterbourne, who has “lived too long in foreign parts,” with her lack of
complexity and the openness of her motives.
Daisy’s instinctive innocence is reflected in James use of Randolph, her younger brother,
as a tool to advance the idea of repression. Daisy is repeatedly introduced to a scene through her
brother, being the advance guard of her true personality while the narrator describes the outer
conformity that Daisy represents: “ “The child, who was diminutive for his years, had an aged
expression of countenance, a pale complexion, and sharp little features” (James, 4) Or as
stipulated by Wardley: “If, as Frederick Winterbourne see it, Daisy Miller oscillates between the
masculine and feminine identifications, she also oscillates between American and alien, savage
and citizen, parvenu and natural aristocrat” (Wardley 232) In essence, here, the author is talking
to Daisy’s internal character but also to ‘woman’ in the late 19th century, the child representing
the immature woman who is uneducated about the world yet has been through struggles trying to
find meaning within her existence. A woman desirous of change, with her own thoughts and
ambitions, which is nevertheless, stymied by oppression and prejudice, a woman whose essence
is sublimated to the overarching male hegemony. In this scene Winterbourne is an allegorical
representation of the male of the 19th century, cold and calculating from the outset with an air of
superiority, reflected when Winterbourne responds to Randolph’s request for sugar
“Winterbourne glanced at the small table near him, on which his coffee-service rested, and saw
that several morsels of sugar remained. “Yes you may take one but I don’t think sugar is good
for little boys” (James, 4) Wardley's response to this statement is accurately reflected when she
stipulates that: ““Daisy Miller chronicles the behavior of Americans abroad. But it also depicts a
displaced landscape of North American immigration and the nativist anxiety about the American
dream girl’s intimacy with a handsome Italian”. (Wardley, 232) In this sense ‘old Europe’ is
used as a counterpoint to reveal diversity and acceptance, a peoples willing to accept change
while still frowning upon behavioral proprietary. While James may be speaking to humanist
intentions other readers can accept that Wardley is accepting of Turners diagnosis; “no sensible
man would deny that Turner in considering the American frontier put his finger on a major
culture characteristic of the land and the very qualities that Winterbourne found fascinatingly
implied by the “little American flirt.’ In those years between 1880 and 1914 the nation was
becoming a world power.” (Wardley, 232) The notion of a world power speaks to Daisy’s desire
to move within circles that are unfamiliar to her, while allowing the reader to accept the
conditions imposed by Mrs. Walker, ‘this is the way WE do things’, James makes this notion
clear as reflected by Wardley citing the idea of American behavior abroad.
The innocence of the child and Daisy herself are controlled by a willing yet authoritarian
male figure, one that is willing to allow innocence to explore but which still maintains a
cautionary air: a male figure that establishes itself as commander and controller.
While
Randolph represents the innocence of Daisy Miller her introduction to the story is a
representation of the way things should be, according to the 19th century male; “she was dressed
in white muslin, with a hundred frills and flounces, and knots of pale-coloured ribbon”. She was
bare headed; but she balanced in her hand a large parasol, with a deep border of embroidery; and
she was strikingly pretty. “How pretty they are! Thought Winterbourne” (James, 5) Daisy’s
introduction is one of an alabaster figure, designed, sculpted and accurate. Dunbar uses this
innocence as a reflection of both the female form and perceived mindset but also as a vehicle for
developing sympathy for the character of Daisy and the 19th century ‘woman’; “Most of the
changes which he introduced that have a purely stylistic purpose emphasize Daisy’s Charm, the
disagreeableness of her critics, and the innocence of her conducts. The result is to increase the
reader’s sympathy for Daisy and to make plainer the meaning of the story”. (Dunbar, 312) This
idea of innocence and purity are further enforced with Dunbar’s explanation of the revisions
made by James to the novella:
“By associating his heroine with nature imagery, James has not only increased the
impression of her attractiveness, but also suggested the innocent naturalness of her
behavior. In one place “his little friend the child of nature of the Swiss lakeside” is
substituted for her name (N46; C2 44) and in another “that pretty American girl is
changed to “that little American who’s so much more a work of nature than of art” (C2
60; N79) The young girl’s eyes were singularily honest and fresh is revised to read “her
expression was as decently limpid as the very cleanest water” (Dunbar 312).
The changes that Dunbar talks of are a result of an original magazine publication from
which James received far from favorable results; Dunbar tells us that many Americans read the
story with indignation. It can be argued that James’ original use of Daisy and her innocence
were a far more realistic portrayal of the ‘American abroad’ which is the reason the offense
taken. As a female navigating her way through the 19th century world she had expectations
around her, which Daisy fills admirably yet is only the surface characteristics of the deeper and
more involved woman. One who is desirous of freedom, independence of thought and process
and one who desires the ability of self-expression. This idea is reflected in Dunbar’s statement:
“When James Revised this story in 1909 for the New York Edition, he made the ironic discovery
that Daisy, far from being a slander, was really an idealized treatment of the American girl”
(Dunbar, 311)
The novella speaks volumes about the idea of the female role in 19th century America
but is also speaks to the role of male hegemony, money and the inability of the two to act
together as a vehicle to explore the concept of the bonded male and his inability to function with
respect or decency towards ‘women’ in 19th century America, as Randall states “In all fairness
to Frederick Winterbourne, we must admit that the difficulty in judging character through
manners is one of which he is not exactly unaware. When the American colony at Rome
ostracizes Daisy and he is struggling to divine her attitude toward their treatment of her, he can
come to no certain conclusion” (Randall, 568) Randall is speaking directly to the uncertainty
faced by males in a male dominated world in which propriety must be maintained. Should a man
want to accept the freedom of woman as sacrosanct he is still bound by his own slavish bonds
that cause him to question or fail to respond to the strength of the woman.
James’ uses of Randolph and Daisy to express the central tenets of the female struggle is
one that is reflected by many writers of the time, including Ibsen, Chopin, Gilman and Woolf.
While James was considered to be a humanist his writing can be used as a vehicle to understand
and advance to the feminist ideal. The work speaks to both the male and female position bound
within chains of societal oppression and as such represents both James’ humanist ideals and the
female struggle. The work also touches on American identity struggles and conformity, the
desire to be something that we are not, yet at the same time, seeking a place within our
community. Randall captures this idea when he talks about Americans as censorious and
snobbish when travelling abroad but to the European eye they are wonderfully exotic. James’
work reflects the inner struggle that all humanity has with themselves and their position and role
in society. As a vehicle for advancing the feminist ideal James’ use of Daisy, Randolph,
Winterbourne, Mrs. Walker and Mrs. Costello works to forward to idea of prejudice and the
notion that we are products of our society and change is the most difficult thing to effect. Daisy
is the literal representation of the female struggle; Randolph is the figurative representation of
the feminist struggle, innocence in the face of an old world regime. Mrs. Walker and Mrs.
Costello are used to represent the old world ideals of America while Winterbourne is the
figurative representation of the male struggle to allow freedom to women, which must rile
against societal norms in order to affect the desired change, but a character which is uncertain of
how to achieve this result and one which is uncertain of how to accept the idea that men and
women are equal individuals.
Works Cited
Coffin, Tristram P. “Daisy Miller, Western Hero.” Western Folklore, Vol 17, No 4 Oct,
1958, pp 273-275. Print
Dunbar, Viola R. “The Revision of Daisy Miller.” Modern Language Notes, Vol 65, No 5
May 1950, pp 311-317. Print
Jame, Henry. “Daisy Miller – A Study.” The Norton Introduction to the Short Novel, 2nd
Ed: W.W.Norton & Co, 1987: 3-40. Print
Randall, John H. “The Genteel Reader and Daisy Miller”. Amrican Quarterly, Vol 17,
No 3 Autumn 1965, pp 568-581. Print
Wardley, Lynn. “Reassembling Daisy Miller.” American Literary History, Vol 3, No 2,
Summer 1991. Pp 232-254 Print