Plot and Major Characters

In Vevey, Switzerland, a young American expatriate, Winterbourne, meets attractive,

enigmatically naive Daisy Miller, an American traveling with her mother. Finding Daisy
refreshing, Winterbourne escorts her to the Castle of Chillon. This outing annoys his aunt,
Mrs. Costello, who believes Daisy to be uncouth and dangerous to the established social
code. Meeting again in Rome, Winterbourne escorts Daisy on a walk with her new Italian
acquaintance, Giovanelli, but the stroll is interrupted by Mrs. Walker, another American
expatriate, who feels Daisy is ruining her reputation by associating with the handsome
Giovanelli. Daisy rejects Mrs. Walker's advice, and is subsequently shunned by American
society in Rome. After a harsh exchange of words with Winterbourne, Daisy pays a rash
evening visit to the Colosseum. As a result, she falls ill with fever and dies a week later. At
her grave, Giovanelli assures Winterbourne of Daisy's innocence and Winterbourne realizes
his love for the dead American girl, his premature judgment of her, and his own blindness in
the face of European convention.

Major Themes

In many early works James drew from personal experience and observation to focus
on perhaps his most celebrated theme: the conflict between European and American
culture. Daisy Miller is his best-known story in this vein; the title character is a young
American woman oblivious to the social codes of the Old World. She is contrasted
with the American expatriate character of Winterbourne, a man who harshly judges
Daisy's alleged social transgressions at the expense of his love for her. His complex
and deft portrayal is considered essential to understanding the tension between old
and new, conventionality and individuality, Europe and America, and appearance and
reality in the novella.

Critical Reception

As with much of James's work, critical estimation of Daisy Miller has fluctuated. While
early discussion focused on the accuracy of James's depiction of the generic
"American girl," later critics have suggested that Winterbourne is the pivotal character
of the story. According to these critics, by presenting Winterbourne's disapproval of
Daisy's essentially innocent activities, James subtly admonished the narrow attitudes
adopted by many Americans abroad. Other early discussion of Daisy Miller examined
the reasons for Daisy's death, and commentators debated whether Daisy deserved
her fate or Winterbourne's inaction caused her downfall. Daisy Miller's originality,
stylistic distinction, and psychologically complex characters have led many modern
critics to regard James as a subtle craftsman who skillfully reflected the late
nineteenth-century concern with morality and social behavior.