The Innocence of Daisy Miller Essay -- Henry James, Daisy Miller

In 1878, Henry James wrote, Daisy Miller, a novella ab show up a youthful Ameri screw girl and her travels in Europe. Daisy Miller is a complex short story with many underlying themes such(prenominal) as appearance versus truth, knowledge versus innocence, outward action versus inward meditation, and Nature versus urbanity. In this short story, one is left to judge whether Daisy Miller, the main character of the story, is a pretty American flirt or a misunderstood, modern young woman. By probing into the complexities and contradictions of Daisys character, it is obvious that Ms. Miller is merely a misunderstood young woman.Through his novel, Henry James shows his readers that the gap betwixt what people believe to be true and the actual truth can be large, hence the theme of appearance versus reality. To the Europeanized Americans in the novella, Daisys freedom causes her to appear immoral. She is innocent and uncultured and incautious but the circle sees scarcely the surface of her character and the actions that character takes. She rebels non by having a gigantic knowledge of the rules which bind the society and consciously deciding to throw them out the window, but by being limited in her scope of devour and by refusing to change her inborn ways in order to enthrall a culture to which she does not belong. The great theme of the disparity between reality and appearance is at its greatest strength in the race between Winterbourne and Daisy because of the conflict which roars in emplacement of Winterbourne regarding the appearance he cannot overcome and the reality he cannot accept. Daisys lack of knowledge and experience deceives Winterbourne who is incapable of seeing deportment through the lens of inexperience after leaving America. He thusly fails to understand her inexperience as innocence. Winterbourne attempts to apply the conventional rules he has veritable since leaving America to Daisy without realizing that she is not dissecting the w orld with the same meditating process that he undertakes. In Europe, Daisy be asks just as she had back in America. She even goes as far as to say Im a fearful, terrific flirt Did you forever hear of a nice girl that was not? (44). It is through this quote that one can see that Daisy does not greet in Europe, nice girls are most definitely not flirts. It is such behavior that scandalized the conservative Americans that she... ...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 dont care...whether I have Roman fever or not (56). Winterbournes ultimate rejection of Daisy, his decision to side with the American circle in Daisys condemnation, hits Daisy so cruelly that she no perennial cares to live. He refuses to believe in Daisys innocence and she quickly fades away. Her resiliency and natural spontaneity have died. Winterbourne does not realize his mistake until Mrs. Miller relays Da isys kernel to him and Giovanelli speaks to him at the funeral. Giovanelli looks to Winterbourne and states, She was the most beautiful young lady I ever saw, and the most amiable...and she was the most innocent (58). It was through this conversation that Daisys innocence triumphs. The measure message of this novella is Daisys innocence and the cruelty of the society, which condemned her to death. Works Cited James, Henry. Daisy Miller A Study. The Heath Anthology of American Literature. 3rd ed. Vol. 2 Eds. Paul Lauter and Richard Yarborough. Boston Houghton Mifflin Company, 1998. 452-92. 2 vols.