Analysis Of Daisy Miller

An Independent Woman

Every social group has its standards and customs. People must follow these standards and customs in order to be included in a group. Daisy Miller is a fictional character created by Henry James. She is a young American lady who travels in Europe with her mother and younger brother. During their journey, they encountered a group of European Americans. These people differentiate themselves from ordinary American tourists by accepting European values and following European customs. Daisy is excluded from that group, because her behavior is unacceptable to them. James describes Daisy through another character’ point of view. This character is a European American, who has lived in Europe for a very long time. His name

Daisy has lived in America for most of her life, and she has formed some very strong ideas based on certain American values. This essay has pointed out before that Daisy thinks “[p]eople have different ideas” (James, 49). She values individuality, while the European Americans do not. They believe their value is superior to others, and everyone should follow their standards or faces social exclusion. Mrs. Walker seems to think dropping Mr. Giovanelli is proper, but walking with his is not. Daisy despises that idea, and she is offended when Mrs. Walker and Winterbourne ask her to get into the carriage (James, 43, 44, 49). She tells Mrs. Walker that she would not change her behavior only because someone thinks it is improper (James, 44). Daisy tries to change other’s opinion by making Mr. Giovanelli sings on Mrs. Walker’s Party and failed. After that, she is excluded from the European American group. However, her relationship with Mr. Giovanelli becomes even closer. She acts like she is engaged to him (James, 55) Obviously, she is not engaged to Mr. Giovanelli. But, this is how she tries to make a statement. She would not change because others think her behavior is improper. Daisy cares about others opinions on her (James, 57). And, she certainly cares about Winterbourne’s opinions. However, she would not let others dictate her life, not even at the cost of social exclusion. She is all by herself,

Daisy is very popular in America. She has a lot of social lives in New York (James, 11). So, her ideas and behaviors are common in America. When she travels to Europe, she experiences a culture shock, since European cultures are quite different from the American ones. However, she has no intention to change her ideas and behaviors. The European Americans think the European values are superior to American values. Therefore, they think Daisy is uncultivated, because she does not follow certain standards and