Daisy Miller was used by Henry James to represent the American Stereotype in that time and to differentiate American and European customs. She was the “American flirt” in this story; very young, unsophisticated, and bold. In the time that this novella was written, it was not uncommon for Americans to visit and explore Europe. Europeans held a negative opinion of Americans due to the Americans’ spontaneous and often poor manners. Daisy’s character represented all Americans and Winterbourne represented the Europeans even though he, himself, was American as well.
The characters in Daisy Miller all had very differentiating personalities. Daisy, the title character, was used as a symbol of American customs. She was vibrant and shameless but also very innocent and ignorant to her surrounding customs. Winterbourne, the second leading character, had a calm demeanor and acted very stiff which showed how influenced he was by European
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culture. His analytical ways gave us a closer look to all the other characters, especially Daisy Miller. Giovanelli, a good friend of Daisy, was your average working guy. He was very well mannered, had good looks and dressed well. His character was more complex and difficult to analyze. He left the reader wondering if he truly cared for Daisy or if he was after her wealth. Though both Daisy and Winterbourne were both American, they had dissimilar personalities.
Daisy had little social etiquette and was extremely spontaneous. She cared little about what the European people thought of her because she was not fond of European culture and saw nothing wrong with her behavior. Winterbourne was completely opposite of this. He was very civilized and exceedingly polite. Winterbourne was greatly influenced by other people’s opinions of him, especially the women in his life. As the story unraveled, one could see how intrigued Winterbourne was by Daisy’s beauty. He stated that he “hadn’t for a long time seen anything prettier than his fair country woman’s features.” Daisy’s prettiness was a recurring theme throughout the novella. Mrs. Costello’s negative views of Daisy fall partly unheard by Winterbourne because he finds Daisy too beautiful for any of those things to be true. In part, he believed her innocence was to blame for her behavior. Daisy was unaware of how a big of scandal her behaviors appeared to
outsiders.
Daisy Blunt is described as a young, beautiful, dark-skinned women who was always nicely dressed. When Daisy walked by the store, the men started to compliment her and said what they would do for her. For example, one of the men, Jim claims he’ll buy Daisy a steamship and hire some men to run it for her.(pg. 69). From Janie’s perspective, Daisy is uncomfortable with all the attention that is suddenly placed upon her. When Daisy shows discomfort, the men would laugh loudly making fun of Daisy. (p...
Daisy Buchanan is the preeminent female character in the story. Her name, Daisy fits her exceptionally, she is bright and sunny like the flower. Daisy is best represented by the color yellow. She’s the story’s golden girl, the wife of wealthy broker, and the love of the mysterious Gatsby’s life. Grok describes the color yellow as “Deities with glowing halos and golden hair…But it also evokes a few negative responses in associations with dishonesty, cowardice, egoism, betrayal, and caution” (Grok). Daisy is described physically as a blonde, and back then the style along women was the flapper headband, like the glowing halo. In the story Daisy is dishonest, she cheats on her husband with Gatsby. Daisy is also a coward, she couldn’t leave Tom, her husband, who treats her like property for Gatsby, who truly loves and idolizes her. Daisy once tells Nick when telling him about her daughter, “I hope she’ll be a fool. That’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool” (1.17). Daisy is immensely obsessed with what people think of her, she likes being the girl who has this beautiful and graceful aura. This quote displays how she want’s her daughter to grow up to be just like her, the image of a weak foolish girl who lets men push her around. Betrayal is the emotion that Nick feels when she skips town instead of attending Gatsby’s funeral. Grok also writes that, “When paired with black, it suggests warning” (Grok). Gatsby is the color black, while Daisy is the color yellow. When the couple reconcile there is a multitude of trouble that eventually leads to the death of Myrtle, George, and Gatsby himself. Daisy isn’t just the bright ray of sunshine; she is also just as troublesome as Grok describes her, which is why th...
Characters in The Great Gatsby written by F. Scott Fitzgerald are often described differently than they actually act throughout the novel. In the beginning of the novel, Daisy is told to be “by far the most popular of all the young girls in Louisville”. She was said to have great beauty, and its even said that she holds her popularity spot because of it. She is also described as a “fool” which means she is beautiful, just like an angel. As we read on, we come to see that Daisy is actually very careless, selfish, and only focuses herself on wealth and power. She never looked at the consequences of her actions; and she let others clean up the messes she made. She wanted her daughter to grow up just like her, even though it’s a life nobody wanted to live. She even gave up her true love to be with somebody who had money and a good repetition. As perceived in the novel, Daisy is the most despicable character in the novel of The Great Gatsby.
Daisy Buchanan is married to Tom Buchanan and cousin to Nick Carraway. During World War I, many soldiers stationed by her in Louisville, were in love with her. The man who caught her eye the most was Jay Gatsby. When he was called into war, she promised him that she would wait for him. Also that upon his return they will be married. Daisy, lonely because Gatsby was at war, met Tom Buchanan. He was smart and part of a wealthy family. When he asked her to marry him, she didn't hesitate at once, and took his offering. Here, the reader first encounters how shallow Daisy is, making her a dislikeable character. Another event that Daisy is a dislikeable character is when she did not show up to Gatsby's funeral. When Daisy and Gatsby reunite, their love for each other rekindle. She often visited Gatsby at his mansion, and they were inseparable. This led Gatsby on because he dedicated his whole life into getting Daisy back, and she had no gratitude towards it. At the hotel suite scene, Daisy reveals to all that she loves Gatsby, but then also says that she loves Tom as well. This leaves the reader at awe, because after...
Daisy's carelessness reveals her corruption as a human being. She uses her wealth and social status to escape whatever she chooses, like the death of Myrtle. Additionally, her actions demonstrate the dishonest exploitation of power for personal gain and attention. Daisy’s character, due to her money, inherently values her advantage over the lower class, revealing a nature of entitlement. Additionally, she gives no respect to anyone around her, sometimes n...
The character of Daisy Buchanan has many instances where her life and love of herself, money, and materialism come into play. Daisy is constantly portrayed as someone who is only happy when things are being given to her and circumstances are going as she has planned them. Because of this, Daisy seems to be the character that turns Fitzgerald's story from a tale of wayward love to a saga of unhappy lives. Fitzgerald portrays Daisy as a "doomed" character from the very beginning of the novel. She seems concerned only of her own stability and is sometimes not ready to go though what she feels she must do to continue the life that she has grown to know. She tells that she only married Tom Buchanan for the security he offered and love had little to do with the issue. Before her wedding, Jordan Baker finds Daisy in her hotel room, "groping around in the waste-basket she had with her on the bed and pull[ing] out [a] string of pearls. "Take 'em down-stairs and give 'em back.... Tell 'em all Daisy's change' her mine... She began to cry - she cried and cried... we locked the door and got her into a cold bath." (Fitzgerald 77)
In Daisy Miller, Henry James is presenting us the nature of Daisy’s character through her relations with other characters, especially Winterbourne, one of the mail characters. Daisy Miller is a wealthy, young, American girl from New York, traveling around Europe with her mother and younger brother. Daisy is spirited, independent, and well meaning, but she is also, ignorant, and provincial, almost laughably so. She offers the opinion that Europe is “perfectly sweet,” talks about the tiring details of her family’s habits, thinks Winterbourne might know an Englishwoman she met on the train because they both live in Europe. She has no social graces or conversational gifts, such as charm, wit, and she is really interested only in manipulating men and making herself the center of attention.
Fictional character’s names are often symbolic, alluding to the traits they possess. Daisy Miller's name is a symbol for a daisy flower. This is because she is fragile, pretty, and simple. The author continually refers to her physical attributes instead of who she actually is as a person, mirrored by how people usually focus on a daisy’s appearance. “And she was strikingly, admirably pretty (page 7).” said the narrator, not thinking anything of her deeper personality traits, or what she is capable of. The author seems to caution away from being like Daisy Miller by belittling her with his words. He uses negative connotation to affect the reader’s opinion of the character. For example the text says “ she began to prattle
Daisy is the "pretty American flirt" throughout the novella (James 474). She is nice and sweet, but also rebellious and ignorant. Daisy really does not care what society thinks of her. You see this throughout the course of the novel when she goes to Chillon with Winterbourne alone and when she frolics the streets at night with Giovanelli. Most Europeans look down upon American travelers in Europe, especially when they do not follow the customs and culture of their country. This is something that still has not changed today. The Miller family treats their carrier, Eugenio, like one of the family. Typically carriers live and sleep on the lower levels of the house, while Eugenio sleeps on the same level and interacts with the family. This is something that stands out to Winterbourne's aunt, Mrs. Costello because that is unheard of in European culture. When Winterbourne tells Mrs. Costello about Daisy, you can see the symbolism already becoming very prevalent, "They are very common; they are the sort of Americans that one does one's duty by not- not accepting" Mrs. Costello feels very strongly about the Americans in a negative way. She refuses to be introduced to Daisy and tells Winterbourne that she should be more like his cousins from New York. Ironically enough, he has heard that his cousins are "tremendous flirts" (James 478). This is interesting because of Winterbourne's belief that all American girls are flirts.
During the confrontation between Gatsby and Tom Buchanan about Daisy, she is talked about like she is a possession to be won over. During the argument Nick “glances at Daisy who was staring terrified between Gatsby and her husband” (Fitzgerald, page 143). Gatsby and Buchanan tell Daisy what to say instead of allowing her to tell her own truths, and if she does start to speak up for herself she is quickly quieted down. Daisy states at the beginning of the novel while talking about finding out the sex of her child that, “I’m glad it’s a girl. And I hope she’ll be a fool – that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool” (Fitzgerald, page 16). Daisy is the only female character in the novel who understands that no matter what a woman accomplishes, she will always be downcasted based on her gender. This outlook is what allows her to be controlled by Gatsby and Buchanan, because she doesn’t believe that anything she can do will make her more of a human to them. Myrtle on the other hand, while still a married woman, isn’t able to see her powerlessness. She feels powerful enough to stand up to Tom and chant Daisy’s name over and over again until he breaks her nose (Fitzgerald, page 37). This scene demonstrates the way that men handled women if they ever did feel confident enough to speak for themselves. One final scene from the novel that really
...y. At one point, Winterbourne tells Daisy that it did not matter whether he thought she was engaged or not. This so upsets Daisy that she cries, "I don't care...whether I have Roman fever or not!" (56). Winterbourne's ultimate rejection of Daisy, his decision to side with the American circle in Daisy's condemnation, hits Daisy so cruelly that she no longer cares to live. He refuses to believe in Daisy's innocence and she quickly fades away. Her resiliency and natural spontaneity have died.
Daisy Buchanan is The Great Gatsby’s most impenetrable and disappointing character. Although Fitzgerald attempts to deem Daisy worthy of Gatsby’s infinite devotion, in the end, she reveals herself for what kind of person she truly is. Despite her flirtatious charm and undeniable beauty, Daisy is merely an insensitive and self-absorbed woman. Gatsby convinces himself that he is wholeheartedly in love with Daisy, when in fact, he is only in love with the idea of her. Although Fitzgerald makes Daisy seem pure and innocent, in actuality, she is the opposite of what she is presented to be.
Myrtle is a “faintly stout” woman who “carrie[s] her surplus flesh sensuously,” a lady who, in defiance of her classless and dead surroundings, is “continually smoldering.” Consequently, projecting herself as one leading a superior life of vitality and substance in a place of human anguish (25). She is married to a struggling mechanic named George Wilson, who despite his unabating love for her, is a “ghost” in her eyes and someone she can order around, unable to provide for her the way Myrtle desires—materialistically. She even goes as far to say George “[is]n’t fit to lick [her] shoe,” highlighting her arrogance which stems from her fantasy of running off with the absurdly wealthy Tom Buchanan (34). In one instance, her pretense of being a lady of great wealth is magnified when Myrtle surrounds herself in the opulence of Tom’s apartment, and “gather[s] up her dog and her other purchases and [goes] haughtily in” (28). These descriptions of her actions show how she has let the facade of being of a higher stature completely envelop her true self. Myrtle also goes to the length of inviting “the McKees come up” to Tom’s apartment, further disguising herself as his true love, and as a result, attempting to lead the life Daisy Buchanan, his actual wife (28). In effect, she tries
" Like many people do in first impressions, Winterbourne feels the need to label Daisy right away." In the beginning, the stereotype seems to fit." Daisy is young, unsophisticated, chatty, and brags about all the society, especially the gentlemen"s society she had in New York (1562). " She enjoys teasing and getting reactions out of people just for the sake of it." For example, the second time she and Winterbourne meet, late one evening in the garden, she asks him if he wants to take her out in a boat on the lake."
The struggle that consistently conflicts the lives of all people is the inability to make statements one cannot support or a contradictory statement. This issue can be seen and is reflected in the novella, Daisy Miller, by Henry James. The story chronicles the life and the journey of Frederick Winterbourne, an American in Europe that falls in love with a mysterious woman, Daisy Miller. As the novella progressed, the duo would not be together and this caused unrest wherever they went. This relationship was all but perfect and the supporting characters in the novella proved this. They both shared mutual friends that could easily see the rift between the two. For example, their strained relationship was played out by Miss Walker who was in the middle of their escapades.