Daisy Miller Analysis

Daisy Miller Passage Analysis:

Daisy Miller, by Henry James, is a tale of a naive, young girl, and the struggles in Europe in the social class. This is the introduction of Daisy into the novella. In his prose, he uses very simple language, which mirrors the youth and innocence the audience first sees in Daisy. As a flower, a Daisy is one of the simpler ones of those we know, one whose life is ephemeral. Daisy as a character is extremely coy, later teasing Winterbourne and flitting in and out of his heart before her untimely death at the end of the novella. At first, the descriptions of her loveliness draw the readers in, and her perceived innocence is meant to evoke a sense of protection for her within us. She is just a young girl, pretty, naive, and without a good sense of judgment or knowledge of traditional social conventions. The reader feels consternation towards Winterbourne for engaging himself with such a young girl who simply doesn’t know better, and for this, Winterbourne’s thoughts and actions as displayed in the book can be seen as preditorial. Viewed through his eyes, Daisy has become the prey, the one who is hunted and sought after time and time again. However, there is also mystery within these few lines that describe her. She is still not completely known, and this mystery and easy charm is what draws Winterbourne to her. Throughout the book, Daisy lives very freely, and it is because of this freedom that she can so easily weave her way around Winterbourne.