Analyzing Daisy Miller and American Culture

Daisy Miller and American Culture What is a literary work? This is an articulation of what the author thinks, it is where he or she pours his emotions, expressions, and imagination. Since every person is usually a member of a certain society, there is often a close relationship between what an author thinks and what he conveys in his literary work. Authors often get inspired to create work based on the socioeconomic conditions surrounding them or the reality they face.

This is why it has been frequently argued that most literary works are an image of what is happening in the society. This is the same argument put forth by authors Austin Warren and Rene Wellek in their work Theory of Literature in which they state that literature is a social creation that utilizes devices such as metaphors and symbolism to communicate social issues. Moreover, the two argue that, literature is a reflection of life and that life itself is often considered a measure of social realities.

(94) As researchers from different fields investigate and evaluate different phenomenon to understand the modern day world, cultural and literary studies have constantly been defining and interacting with new social, theoretical and political paradigms. Since cultural and literary studies/research are relatively new compared to the other fields, they only have a few universally accepted theoretical premises or sets of canonical texts and classic methodologies.

This is similar to what Giroud argues in his work; he states that tutors ought to create space for mutual exchange of information with their students so that there is no silencing of dissenting opinions by a single prevailing narrative (201). Henry James was one of the leading American novelists of the nineteenth century. He was born in year 1843 in New York City. Henry James' father was a wealthy liberal who wanted his son to experience different cultures of the world.

He took his son abroad to Switzerland, England, Germany and France in a bid to give him a taste of the old world. While in Europe, Henry studied French and became interested with the artistic environment and nature of centuries-old European cities. After extensive travels in Europe, James came back to the United States and enrolled for a law degree at the Harvard University.

Upon completing his college studies, Henry James spent most of his time travelling around the world and authoring some of the best literary works that have ever been published in the world. Daisy Miller, is one such work. This is a romantic novel Henry James wrote in 1978. Indeed, as some critics argue, this is the best among his many amazing works (Coyle, 27). Brief review of Daisy Miller This romantic novel has two main characters, Fredrick Winterbourne and Daisy Miller. The story is set in two European countries, Italy and Switzerland.

The two main characters meet and become familiar with each other in Switzerland. Daisy Miller is an American lady from New York. Her family is wealthy and influential. Daisy and Fredrick meet when Daisy and her brother, Randolph, accompany their mother on a European trip. One of the locations that they had planned to visit on their European trips is Switzerland. This is where the two main characters meet.

Upon meeting, the two become so comfortable with each other that they break some of the most respected Swiss traditions / norms of the time, such as when Daisy makes an un-chaperoned trip to an Old Swiss Castle with Fredrick. After some time, Daisy's mother and brother have to travel to Italy and Daisy promises Fredrick to meet again in Italy. However, while in Rome, Italy, Daisy befriends several Italian men and starts to spend a lot of time with them.

She brings her Italian friends to parties held by Americans in Rome. This earns her a bad name and her American acquaintances such as Mrs. Walker start keeping away from her. This goes on to a point where she is banned from attending the American parties because the Americans don't feel that she is still one of them. Isolated, she looks for ways to keep herself busy and occupied.

Some of her other friends warn her not to walk around at night since she might catch some sort of fever, but she ignores their warnings and continues with her bad habit. She eventually does catch a fever and dies a few days later. Daisy Miller Context To understand the social context in which this novel was written, it is important to look at the time when it was published (against the background of the second Industrial revolution).

By the year this novel was published, the first Industrial revolution had ended about 18 years earlier and the second Industrial revolution had just begun. Life for Americans who were just starting to move into cities en masse, didn't easily transmute into art. Many people moved to settlements and cities near factories and did not have time to write or convey their emotions or imaginations in books (Cole & Scribner, 37).

Since the end of the American Civil War, the prevailing movement had continually been realism; a realism that looked at how Americans took to settling in the new communities near industries and also that looked at the issues people were facing in the Midwest or the Mississippi valley. However, insightful and differentiated novels such as Daisy Miller were also published during that period. These novels represented a different and concurrent movement or school of thought as we will see later.

The post-civil war period, particularly at the start of the second industrial revolution is considered by many historians as a new beginning for America. This is the era where many scientists and inventors made many new discoveries and ideas which propelled America to the superpower it is today. This new era signified the end of their chaotic and tumultuous post-win war period.

Many have documented how the new industrial era gave people new hope, for instance, authors Glen Moon and Don Cline state in their work Story of our Land and People that the new Industries brought about huge changes in the lives of Americans in the post-1865 period. Men such as Andrew Carnegie and Thomas Edison discovered / invented new ways of doing things that made work even easier (471). These innovations and technological developments heralded a new era growth that remains unmatched to date.

The growth brought about urbanization and migration of people from rural areas to cities. As cities grew, the societal conditions changed. The increased city populations meant that problems such as insecurity, inadequate housing and poor sanitation / health conditions which were never experienced before became a core part of the society.

Researcher, Jacob Thudiphara also presents the same argument in his work Urban Community Development when he states that rapid urbanizations can lead to growth of informal settlements in which residents lack physical and social amenities such as sanitation, water, education and so on (11). Rapid urbanization can also lead to increased poverty levels. Life becomes too expensive for people who previously lived in the rural areas. This means that they have to work extra hard, just to make ends meet.

This kind of work will almost always result in the majority of the city residents leading fast-paced lives, with no rest and no time to spend on other leisurely pursuits such as the creation of literary works. American Culture as Represented by Henry James in Daisy Miller Henry James depicts the main character of his novel as a beautiful, young, and rich lady who had to survive in the adverse conditions prevailing (personal) in Europe.

Despite the allure of foreign influences, James presents Daisy as this charming young lady who was able to maintain her purity as an American. Daisy was able to remain strongly American because of her background as a strong and hardworking woman despite the wealth of her family. Of the many challenges she faced in Europe, the greatest one was her isolation from the migrant American society in Rome.

The American scene in Rome was made up of Americans who had moved to Europe and maintained their ways despite the European influences. Despite Daisy maintaining her American purity she had gotten friendly with many Italian men. This is shown in the novel, where Mrs. Costello remarks that Daisy has an intimacy with her mother's courier (James, 34). It is her relationships with Italian men that result in her rejection from Mrs. Walkers party.

Things get progressively worse for her as other Americans also start isolating her and after some time she is ostracized from American events / parties. In the novel, Henry James attempts to represent the social conditions of the time through Daisy Miller. Henry James uses European countries to show how different the American culture of the time is, from other societies. In this context, Daisy Miller may be thought of as a reflection of the American society (Berland, 12-3).

There are four main aspects that author of this novel utilizes to contrast Daisy Miller's behaviors with those of Europeans, namely, purity, innocence, naturalness and freedom. Freedom Daisy Miller was a rich young lady who was free and had the resources to indulge in free-will. As a tourist in Europe, it was expected of her to respect and adhere to the norms and rules there. For instance, the first city the family visited was Vevey. This city was greatly Calvinistic and she was expected to act in a certain way.

While in Rome, she was expected to behave like the Romans (the majority of whom were Catholics back then). With Catholics being quite a conservative people, it was not expected for young woman to be familiar with so many men and to talk to them as freely as Daisy did. For instance, it was uncommon to see a young woman walking unaccompanied with a man, as was the case when Daisy decided to go to Pincio Park with Mr. Giovanelli.

Knowing that this would not be proper in Rome, Fredrick volunteered to accompany her but she refused (James, 56). This shows her free spirit and her need to be freed of local culture or societal norms. In addition, Daisy Miller refused to let any man dictate to her what to do. She considered herself a free woman with the ability to do as she pleased.

This is shown in the instance where she looks at Fredrick in the eye and tells him that she has never allowed any man or woman to interfere with her plans or tell her what to do (James, 57). For example, she goes on to Pincio Park with Giovanelli even though Mrs. Walker tells her not to. Daisy's free spirit can also be found in the instance when she refuses to get into Mrs. Walkers carriage. Mrs. Walker was one of the most common faces in the American scene in Rome.

She was afraid that if Daisy went alone to the park to see Mr. Giovanelli, then her reputation will be soiled. It was uncommon for women to walk on their own, without being chaperoned. Daisy Miller's refusal to abide with this norm or tradition shows that she was a free spirit who did not want to be restricted to a certain way of life in a foreign land irrespective of the customs and norms.

To many people it appeared that Daisy was flirting with Giovanelli but that was not the case. Daisy considered Mr. Giovanelli a friend and didn't care what others thought. She was of the idea that if what she was doing is right then nothing was going to stop her. With this, the author shows a core characteristic of the American people; the characteristic of freedom that Americans stood for, and that they reserved as a right so that they can pursue anything they want as long as it is legal.

Naturalness The author tries to portray the main character as American as possible. For instance, the name Daisy was a common name during that period. Daisy is also the name of a flower plant that grows wildly in gardens and wastelands across America. In using this name, that author tries to give some of the characteristics of the Daisy plant to the main character.

Daisy, the character, is depicted as being a wild girl in Europe (a place she does not belong), this is similar to the fact that daisies, though beautiful, often grow up in waste places. The author also depicts her as a pretty young lady who is full of life and doesn't change her ways to adapt to European culture. This striking resemblance to the flower is highlighted throughout the narration of the main character. Daisy's naturalness is also seen in her walk with Mr.

Giovanelli where the author describes her as walking happily with the man and without even the slightest indication of fear or worry of what others would think of her. Fredrick, who was near the two, lingers for a moment and then walks away. This shows that he does not approve of such demeanor. He might be American, but he has already changed his ways and he now thinks and behaves like a European. In other words, he doesn't ooze American spontaneity or naturalness that Daisy does.

Innocence Daisy's innocence is shown in her behavior. For instance, the first day she met Fredrick, he was surprised to see her open up so fast even though they had just met a few hours earlier. Normally, Fredrick expected ladies of Daisy's age to be fearful and to have a certain fear when talking to men. He remarked that Daisy is an innocent girl who is not hindered by anything.

Daisy's innocence or naivety can also be seen in her free interactions with men and her doing things that were not expected of ladies of her age. It is not as if Daisy wanted to intentionally break the norms or rule, she simply didn't know that such rules existed and that people took them seriously. This because back in the United States such norms were neither unheard of or were simply thought not to be important. Daisy's innocence can also be seen when she assures Fredrick that Mr.

Gionvanelli is a good man despite his apparently flirtatious nature (Edel, 17). Fredrick reacts to this by stating that this is where Daisy is mistaken (James, 57). By this he means that Daisy is too trusting with the man, despite his history. Purity Henry James depicts Daisy as a pure girl. He makes sure that he doesn't put any sort of European characteristic into her. Even her behavior is fully American. This is seen even in the instance when Daisy agrees to walk with Giovanelli in the park alone despite Mrs.

Walker insistence not to. If Daisy could have bowed to pressure at this instance then it could mean that she had accepted Italian culture and taken it as her own (James, 53). Her purity is also seen in her refusal to board Mrs. Walkers carriage despite her pleas (James, 61-2). As was mentioned earlier, Mrs. Walker thought that if Daisy was seen walking alone with Giovanelli then her reputation would be soiled. However, Daisy's refusal to agree with this argument shows that she maintains her American perceptions of right and wrong.

The author shows that despite the influences surrounding her in Europe, Daisy remains a pure.