Daisy Miller

By Henry James (1843-1916)

A Study Guide

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Type of Work Settings Characters Point of View

Conflict Plot Summary Style Themes

Climax Symbols What Was Roman Fever? Study Questions

Essay Topics Author's Biography Complete Free Text Daisy Miller on DVD

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Study Guide Prepared by Michael J. Cummings...© 2007
Revised in 2010.©

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Type of Work and Year of Publication

.......Daisy Miller is a short novel, or novella, centering on conflicts arising from interaction between
artless American tourists and sophisticated Europeans. The Cornhill Magazine, a British publication
existing between 1860 and 1975, published the story in London in 1878.

Settings

.......The action takes place in the 1870s in Vevey, Switzerland, a small resort town on the northeastern
shore of Lake Geneva; at the Château de Chillon, a medieval castle on the eastern shore of Lake
Geneva, near Montreux; and in Rome, Italy. In Rome, the action takes place in hotels and streets; a
residence on Via Gregoriana; a public park on a hill called the Pincio; St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican;
the Doria Palace on the Via del Corso; the Palace of the Caesars on the Palatine Hill; a villa restaurant
on the Caelian Hill; and the Colosseum (originally called the Flavian Amphitheater), near the Roman
Forum. Geneva, Switzerland, is the temporary residence of one of the main characters, Frederick
Winterbourne, but no action in the novel takes place there.

Characters

Frederick Winterbourne: Twenty-seven-year-old American who received his education in Geneva,

Switzerland, the city where he temporarily resides. After living so long in Switzerland, he is well versed in
European customs and traditions. He becomes fond of fellow American Daisy Miller when he meets her
in Vevey, Switzerland. He has difficulty understanding her behavior. In particular, he cannot determine
whether she is naive and innocent or calculating and experienced.
Daisy (Annie P.) Miller: Extremely pretty young American who is on a European tour with her mother
and brother. She is outspoken, high-spirited, and independent and ignores (or is unaware of) customs
and traditions of European high society, particularly as they apply to interaction with the opposite sex.
Because she frequently sees young men unchaperoned, she creates scandal and gossip. Daisy is the
novel's protagonist.
Randolph Miller: Daisy's boisterous little brother. Europe generally bores him, and he thinks America is
far the superior place to live. Randolph is something of an allegory for boorish American tourists.

Mrs. Miller: Culturally and socially deficient mother of Daisy and Randolph and
wife of Ezra B. Miller, a wealthy businessman in Schenectady, New York. She is
weak-minded, ill at ease at social gatherings, and frequently suffers bouts of
indigestion. Europeans, as well as sophisticated Americans living abroad, look
down on her. She makes no effort to rein in Daisy, mainly because she sees
nothing offensive or untoward in her behavior.
Mrs. Costello: Winterbourne's American aunt, whom he visits in Vevey, Switzerland, and later in Rome.
She is a wealthy widow who, unlike Mrs. Miller, is culturally and socially sophisticated. She refuses to
meet Daisy Miller.
Mrs. Walker: Another sophisticated American. She lives in Geneva but spends the winter in Rome. Mrs.
Walker is appalled by Daisy behavior and looks down on Mrs. Miller, whom she regards as an
"imbecile."
Giovanelli (joh vuh NELL e): Daisy's frequent escort in Rome. Winterbourne and others regard him as
womanizer. Mrs. Miller and Daisy think him a splendid gentleman. He appears to be the only character
in the novel who understands and accepts Daisy's behavior.
Eugenio: Tour guide (called a courier in the novel) for the Miller family. He helps Mrs. Miller supervise
her children. Gossips spread rumors about him and Daisy.
Tourist at Doria Palace: Friend of Winterbourne. The tourist informs Winterbourne that he saw Daisy
Miller and Giovanelli together, unchaperoned, in the art galleries at the Doria Palace.

Point of View

.......Except for a few first-person intrusions (see, for example, pars. 3 and 4 in Chapter I), Henry James
tells the story in third-person point of view from a limited perspective—that of Frederick Winterbourne, a
twenty-seven-year old American who has lived in Europe for a considerable time. Winterbourne is in
every scene; all the action is described as he perceives it, not as any other any other character
perceives it. One may compare Winterbourne to a magnifying glass through which the storyteller sees
the action up close, then describes significant events in detail.

Conflict

.......The main conflict centers on the tension that arises between Daisy Miller and sophisticated
Americans in Europe. They cannot abide her outspokenness and her flouting of prevailing European
customs and traditions. Mrs. Walker says she is "reckless." Mrs. Costello labels her and her mother
"horribly common."

Plot Summary
By Michael J. Cummings...© 2007
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.......Frederick Winterbourne lounges over an after-breakfast coffee in the garden of the Trois
Couronnes, a hotel in the small resort town of Vevey, Switzerland, on the northeastern shore of Lake
Geneva within view of a snow-capped peak, the Dent du Midi. The twenty-seven- year-old American
arrived the day before from Geneva to see his aunt, Mrs. Costello. Winterbourne had attended grade
school and college in Geneva. His friends say that he continues to live in Geneva to pursue further
studies, but gossips say he sojourns there to pursue a certain foreign woman who is older than he. He is
free on this day, for his aunt has a headache and remains in her hotel room.
.......A boisterous American boy in knickers and red stockings comes by and begs sugar cubes from
Winterbourne’s table. They talk briefly before the boy, age nine, sees his sister—a beautiful young lady
in frilly white muslin—coming toward them. Winterbourne fixes his attention on her while the boy hops
about with an alpenstock (staff with an iron point used by mountain climbers). His sister asks him what
on earth he is doing, addressing him as Randolph. He says he is practicing to climb the Alps, then
announces, “He’s an American man!"
.......Winterbourne, believing that he has been introduced, says, “This little boy and I have made
acquaintance." After glancing briefly at the young man, she speaks with Randolph about a trip to Italy,
but he says he wants to go back to America.
.......“Oh Italy’s a beautiful place," Winterbourne interjects.
.......After the latter points out several sights of interest within view, she begins to converse with him,
noting that she, her brother, and her mother will be spending the winter in Italy. Winterbourne asks
Randolph his full name, and the boy tells him Randolph C. Miller and announces that his sister’s name is
Daisy but that her “real name" is Annie P. Miller. Randolph also offers additional information: His father,
Ezra B. Miller, is wealthy, and the family lives in Schenectady, New York
.......Daisy begins chatting about Randolph’s need for a tutor and playmates, as well as about many
other topics, in such an easy manner that an onlooker might conclude that she has known Winterbourne
all her life. Flitting from one topic to another, she bemoans the lack of “society" in Europe:

There ain't any society—or if there is I don't know where it keeps itself. Do you? I suppose there's some
society somewhere, but I haven't seen anything of it. I'm very fond of society and I've always had plenty
of it. I don't mean only in Schenectady, but in New York. I used to go to New York every winter. In New
York I had lots of society. Last winter I had seventeen dinners given me, and three of them were by
gentlemen . . . . I've always had . . . a great deal of gentlemen's society.
.......Winterbourne, amused and charmed by the loquacious lady, wonders whether she is “simply a
pretty girl from New York" or “a designing, an audacious, in short an expert person." After continuing to
monitor her jabber, he concludes that she is just a “pretty American flirt," not a sophisticated coquette in
the European sense.
.......Daisy expresses a wish to see a local tourist attraction—the Château de Chillon, a medieval castle
several miles southeast, noting that she and her mother had scheduled a trip to it the previous week but
canceled it because her mother suffered a bout of indigestion. Seeing it with Randolph was out of the
question because he prefers to stay at the hotel. When Winterbourne offers to escort her to the castle
with her mother, who would act as chaperone, Daisy readily accepts the offer but says her mother “ain't
much bent on going."
.......Before leaving the enchanting young lady, Winterbourne tells her he will introduce her to his aunt at
the Trois Couronnes. Later, when he asks his aunt—a wealthy widow of high station—whether she has
noticed the Millers at the hotel, she replies, "Oh yes, I've noticed them. Seen them, heard them and kept
out of their way. Calling them “horribly common," she says they are the kind of Americans to be ignored.
Daisy herself is “of the last crudity," Mrs. Costello says, and is having “an intimacy with her mama’s
courier." Mrs. Costello then declares, “I must decline the honor of her acquaintance."
.......In the evening, Winterbourne runs into Daisy in the hotel gardens. When she announces that she
will be “ever so glad to meet your aunt," Winterbourne makes excuses, saying his aunt is always
indisposed because of terrible headaches. Seeing through his excuses, Daisy says, “She doesn’t want
to know me!" However, she tells Winterbourne not to be concerned. By and by, her mother appears, and
Daisy introduces her to “Mr. Frederick Forsyth Winterbourne." Mrs. Miller is dressed elegantly, with
diamond earrings. Daisy informs her that she will be going to the castle with Winterbourne, and Mrs.
Miller does not object.
.......Although the hour is late, Daisy asks Winterbourne to take her for a boat ride on Lake Geneva, and
he enthusiastically assents just as Eugenio comes on the scene. He and Mrs. Miller frown disapprove of
the boating excursion. But after Daisy complains, Eugenio says, “As Mademoiselle pleases." Oddly, this
reply disappoints Daisy, who says, “Oh I hoped you'd make a fuss! I don't care to go now." She turns to
Winterbourne and says, “Good-night—I hope you're disappointed or disgusted or something!"
Winterbourne is bewildered.
.......Two days hence, they meet in the large hall of the hotel for the trip to the castle. At Daisy’s
suggestion, they take a steamer rather than a carriage. On the short trip, Winterbourne becomes
somewhat disappointed in her because “she was clearly not at all in a nervous flutter—as she should
have been to match HIS tension; she avoided neither his eyes nor those of any one else; she neither
coloured from an awkward consciousness when she looked at him nor when she saw that people were
looking at herself."
.......At the castle, Daisy listens attentively to Winterbourne’s description of the place as they walk
through winding passages, embrasures, and vaulted rooms, or stop to look down into oubliettes
(dungeons whose only entrance is a trapdoor in the ceiling). But he soon discovers that she is more
interested in his personal history than in the history of the castle. She asks him about “himself, his
family, his previous history, his tastes, his habits, his designs," then recites details of her own history.
.......Winterbourne manages to wedge in more information about the castle—in particular, about François
Bonivard (1493-1570), a hero of Geneva who fought to preserve the city’s liberties and was imprisoned
in Chillon castle. (Bonivard was the subject of Lord Byron's famous poem, "The Prisoner of Chillon.")
Impressed with Winterbourne's knowledge, Daisy tells him he ought to accompany her family on its
travels so everyone can learn from him.
.......“Don’t you want to come and teach Randolph?"
.......Winterbourne tells her that he cannot do so because he has engagements in Geneva and must
return there the following day. This news agitates Daisy, and she spends ten minutes telling him how
“horrid" he is. She then taunts him about "the special charmer in Geneva" that she presumes he is
returning to see. Although he denies the existence of such a lady, she persists in talking about her.
“Doesn’t she give you a vacation in the summer?" Finally, she agrees to stop teasing him if he will
promise to visit her in Rome in the winter. He does so, noting that his aunt will be taking an apartment
there in January.
.......In the ensuing months, Winterbourne’s aunt moves to Rome and writes letters to her nephew in
Geneva. One of them says that the Millers are in Rome, too, and that Daisy is “very intimate with various
third-rate Italians, with whom she rackets about in a way that makes much talk."
.......After Winterbourne arrives in Rome, he goes to Via Gregoriana to visit an old acquaintance, Mrs.
Walker, whom he had met in Geneva when she had two children enrolled in a school there. Shortly after
he arrives, the Miller family is announced to the hostess, and in walks Daisy with a male companion.
With them are Mrs. Miller and Randolph. Daisy scolds Winterbourne for not visiting her first, then chats
with Mrs. Walker while Winterbourne listens to Mrs. Miller discuss her ailments. She says she’s
disappointed in Rome; Randolph says he hates it.
.......When Daisy turns her attention again to Winterbourne, she jabs him about leaving her in Vevey and
returning to Geneva, then turns her attention back to Mrs. Walker, saying she will be attending the
latter’s upcoming party with a guest, Mr. Giovanelli. “He's a great friend of mine and the handsomest
man in the world—except Mr. Winterbourne!" she says.
.......When the get-together ends late in the afternoon and everyone begins saying good-bye, Daisy
declares that she is going to walk to the Pincio, a public park on a hill, to meet Mr. Giovanelli. Mrs.
Walker warns her that it is unsafe to walk the streets alone when evening draws on. And her mother tells
her that "You'll catch the fever as sure as you live. Remember what Dr. Davis told you!" Daisy then asks
Winterbourne to accompany her, and he eagerly offers his hand.
.......On their way, the pretty American attracts stares on the crowded streets as she gabs on about the
wonderful hotel she is staying in and the variety of its guests—Englishmen, Germans, Italians,
Americans. At the Pincio, Daisy sees Giovanelli leaning against a tree, watching women in carriages go
by. He is a little man with a handsome face, a cane, and a glass eye. Winterbourne says he intends to
remain with Daisy after she meets the Italian. She replies that he sounds imperious and that she never
lets anyone dictate to her.
.......Meanwhile, Giovannelli comes over and Daisy introduces the two men. The Italian speaks English
“cleverly," Winterbourne thinks, and the latter surmises that Giovannelli has had plenty of practice on
American heiresses. Daisy takes the arms of both men, and they walk. After observing Giovannelli,
Winterbourne concludes that he is not a real gentleman but an imitation. He is disappointed that Daisy
cannot see through him. After a quarter-hour, Mrs. Walker pulls up in a carriage and calls over
Winterbourne to tell him Daisy must not be seen walking with two men or her reputation will suffer.
Winterbourne tells Mrs. Walker that she is making too much of Miss Miller’s behavior, adding, “She’s
very innocent."
.......“She’s very reckless," Mrs. Walker says. For good measure, she adds that Daisy’s mother is an
imbecile. When Mrs. Walker motions for Daisy to get into the carriage, Daisy goes on her way with
Giovanelli, then retraces her steps and introduces her friend to Mrs. Walker. The latter asks Daisy to
come with her, but Daisy refuses. Mrs. Walker points out that it is improper to be seen walking with two
gentlemen and that she’ll be “talked about." When she asks Winterbourne what he thinks, he tells her to
obey Mrs. Walker. But Daisy says, “I hope you have a lovely ride," then walks off with Giovanelli.
Winterbourne gets into the carriage and says, “I suspect she meant no great harm." Mrs. Walker then
informs him that Daisy has been doing everything she’s not supposed to do—“Flirting with any man she
can pick up; sitting in corners with mysterious Italians; dancing all the evening with the same partners;
receiving visits at eleven o'clock at night. Her mother melts away when the visitors come."
.......When Mrs. Walker urges Winterbourne not to see Daisy again, he tells her he likes her very much,
then exits the carriage and walks to his aunt’s hotel.
.......At Mrs. Walker’s party three days later, Mrs. Miller arrives alone, nervous that she must fend for
herself in Italian society. While Winterbourne listens nearby, she tells Mrs. Walker that Daisy will be
considerably late. Believing Daisy’s tardiness is a ploy to spite her for having reproached the young lady
in the Pincio, Mrs. Walker says she will not speak to Daisy when she arrives.
.......It is late, 11 p.m., when Daisy and Giovanelli make an appearance. Daisy explains to Mrs. Walker
that she and Giovanelli got carried away at the piano, noting that he sings beautifully. Later, Giovanelli
sings several songs very well. Daisy, referring to the incident in the Pincio park, tells Winterbourne that
she should not have to alter her habits to suit others. Winterbourne says, “I’m afraid your habits are
those of a ruthless flirt." After Daisy readily acknowledges that she’s a flirt—“Did you ever hear of a nice
girl that wasn’t?—Winterbourne asks her to flirt with him. Daisy says she will not because he’s “too stiff."
Irked, Winterbourne tells her not to flirt with Giovanelli because it’s “pure American silliness" and it’s
improper to violate local customs. Daisy says that at least Giovanelli never offends her. Giovanelli
comes over and asks her to take tea with him in another room, and off they go for the rest of the
evening. At the end of the party, Daisy approaches Mrs. Walker to say good-bye, but the latter turns her
back on her. Mrs. Miller then bids good night, saying that “we’ve had a beautiful evening." It is evident to
Winterbourne that the snubbing deeply hurts Daisy. He tells Mrs. Walker that she was unkind, but she
tells him that Daisy “never enters my drawing-room again."
.......In the ensuing days, Daisy becomes even more of a pariah among Americans in Rome because of
her untoward behavior. Even Winterbourne avoids her.
.......One Sunday, when Winterbourne and his aunt are visiting St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican, they
see Daisy and Giovanelli there strolling. Mrs. Costello raises the possibility that Daisy will marry
Giovanelli, but Winterbourne thinks neither wants to marry. When his aunt asks about the Italian’s
background, Winterbourne says—based on inquiries—that he seems respectable but moves only in the
lower circles of society because he has no title, such as count or marchese. Mrs. Costello runs into
friends, and they all have much to say about the brazen American girl. Outside, when Winterbourne
sees Daisy ride off with Giovanelli, he pities her because he feels she has sunk very low.
.......One day, after Winterbourne chances upon a friend outside the Doria Palace on the Via del Corso,
the friend discusses the magnificence of a Velasquez (Diego Rodriguez de Silva y Velázquez—1599-
1660) portrait of Pope Innocent X he had just seen in the Doria’s gallery. He says he also saw a portrait
of a different kind in the same gallery—“that little American who's so much more a work of nature than of
art and whom you pointed out to me last week." He is, of course, referring to Daisy, whom he saw with
Giovanelli in a secluded nook where the Velasquez portrait hangs.
.......“The girl's a charming beauty," he says, “but I thought I understood from you the other day that she's
a young lady du meilleur monde [of better society; of the higher classes; literally, of a better world]."
.......The implication of this remark upsets Winterbourne, and he immediately takes a carriage to Mrs.
Miller’s to enlighten her about her daughter’s scandalous behavior. But when he tells her what he heard,
she says she thinks Giovanelli is a gentleman and that Daisy may even have decided to marry him.
.......Thereafter, Daisy ceases to receive invitations to parties; no one wants her around. Several days
later, Winterbourne sees Daisy again at the Palace of the Caesars on the Palatine Hill. As usual
Giovanelli is at her side. When Daisy remarks that Winterbourne ought to get someone to walk with, he
says, “I’m not so fortunate as your gallant companion." Daisy replies that Winterbourne’s remark
indicates that he thinks she sees too much of Giovanelli.
.......“Everyone thinks so," Winterbourne says. Daisy says that “they’re only pretending to be shocked."
Then she tells Winterbourne that she is engaged to the Italian and asks him whether he believes her. He
assures her he does. She does not believe him, then adds, "But IF you possibly do [believe me], well, I
ain't!"
.......A week later, after dining at a villa on the Caelian Hill, Winterbourne is walking in the vicinity of the
Colosseum on his way back to his hotel when, at about 11 p.m., he decides to enter the great
amphitheater, once the scene of gladiatorial contests and other brutal entertainments, to bathe himself in
a little of its aura. In the distance, he notices two people seated on steps at the base of the arena.
.......“Well, he looks at us as one of the old lions or tigers may have looked at the Christian martyrs!"
Daisy Miller says loudly enough for him to hear. At that moment, Winterbourne reaches a conclusion
about Daisy: “She was a young lady about . . . whose perversity a foolish puzzled gentleman need no
longer trouble his head or his heart." He walks toward them, thinking of the risk Daisy is taking “lounging
away such hours in a nest of malaria." He warns her that “this is the way people catch" the Roman fever
and scolds Giovanelli for bringing her to the Colosseum. Giovanelli says he warned her “it was a grave
indiscretion, but when was Mademoiselle ever prudent?"
Moments later, Daisy and Giovanelli get into their carriage. As the driver cracks his whip, Daisy says, “I
don’t care whether I have Roman fever or not."
.......Several days later, news of Daisy’s Colosseum adventure is the stuff of gossip among Americans in
Rome, although Winterbourne himself had never told anyone he saw Daisy there late at night. A day or
two later, another story about her makes the rounds: She is very ill and doctors are attending her. When
Winterbourne arrives at the Millers' hotel to check on Daisy’s condition, Mrs. Miller says Daisy has
spoken of him.
.......“She wanted you to know she never was engaged to that handsome Italian who was always round.
I'm sure I'm very glad; Mr. Giovanelli hasn't been near us since she was taken ill." She says Daisy
reminded her three times to be sure to deliver that message to Winterbourne.
.......A week later Daisy dies and is buried in the Protestant cemetery near the old wall of Rome.
Giovanelli is there. He tells Winterbourne, “She was the most beautiful young lady I ever saw, and the
most amiable." To which he added in a moment: "Also—naturally!—the most innocent."
....... “The most innocent?" Winterbourne says.
....... “The most innocent," says Giovanelli. "If she had lived I should have got nothing. She never would
have married me."
.......Winterbourne leaves Rome. The following summer, he visits his aunt again at Vevey and tells her
that he thinks he did an injustice to Daisy. He also says, "She sent me a message before her death
which I didn't understand at the time. But I've understood it since. She would have appreciated one's
esteem."
.......Later he returns to Geneva, where “there continue to come the most contradictory accounts of his
motives of a sojourn: a report that he’s ‘studying’ hard—an intimation that he’s much interested in a very
clever foreign lady.
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Style
.......Henry James drives the story with accomplished writing centering on character development rather
than plot twists and turns. In portraying his characters, he chooses words carefully, as a gifted painter
chooses colors, in order to shade or highlight a passage with just the right connotation, implication, or
undertone. Note the judicious word choice (warm starlight and indolent sylph), as well as the alliteratively
soothing phrases, in the following sentence from Chapter 2. (Alliterations are in colored boldface.)

He [Winterbourne] found her [Daisy] that evening in the garden, wandering about in thewarm starlight
after the manner of an indolent sylph and swinging to and fro the largest fanhe had ever beheld.
Here are four more passages demonstrating James’s skill as a wordsmith
Her mother [Mrs. Miller] was a small spare light person, with a wandering eye, a scarce perceptible
nose, and, as to make up for it, an unmistakeable forehead, decorated—but too far back, as
Winterbourne mentally described it—with thin much-frizzled hair. Like her daughter Mrs. Miller was
dressed with extreme elegance; she had enormous diamonds in her ears. So far as the young man
could observe, she gave him no greeting—she certainly wasn't looking at him. Daisy was near her,
pulling her shawl straight—Chapter 2.

She [Daisy] came tripping downstairs, buttoning her long gloves, squeezing her folded parasol against
her pretty figure, dressed exactly in the way that consorted best, to his fancy, with their adventure. He
was a man of imagination and, as our ancestors used to say, of sensibility; as he took in her charming
air and caught from the great staircase her impatient confiding step the note of some small sweet strain
of romance, not intense but clear and sweet, seemed to sound for their start.—Chapter 2.

Mrs. Walker was one of those pilgrims from the younger world who, while in contact with the elder, make
a point, in their own phrase, of studying European society; and she had on this occasion collected
several specimens of diversely-born humanity to serve, as might be, for text-books. When Winterbourne
arrived the little person he desired most to find wasn't there; but in a few moments he saw Mrs. Miller
come in alone, very shyly and ruefully. This lady's hair, above the dead waste of her temples, was more
frizzled than ever.—Chapter 4.

He [Winterbourne] set her [Daisy] down as hopelessly childish and shallow, as such mere giddiness and
ignorance incarnate as was powerless either to heed or to suffer. Then at other moments he couldn't
doubt that she carried about in her elegant and irresponsible little organism a defiant, passionate,
perfectly observant consciousness of the impression she produced. He asked himself whether the
defiance would come from the consciousness of innocence or from her being essentially a young person
of the reckless class. Then it had to be admitted, he felt, that holding fast to a belief in her "innocence"
was more and more but a matter of gallantry too fine-spun for use. As I have already had occasion to
relate, he was reduced without pleasure to this chopping of logic and vexed at his poor fallibility, his want
of instinctive certitude as to how far her extravagance was generic and national and how far it was
crudely personal.

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Themes

The collision between the cultures of the Old World and the New World. Henry James published Daisy
Miller in 1878, a time when many Americans were making fortunes in the burgeoning industries of the U.
S. Some of these newly rich Americans lacked the culture and sophistication to move in the high social
circles to which they gained entry with their money. When they traveled to Europe, they often suffered
ridicule from the long-established denizens of the upper niches of society, the aristocrats. Americans in
Europe who had adopted European ways also ridiculed their gauche countrymen. In Daisy Miller, the
Millers are among the parvenus, the newly rich. They have enough money to buy the best clothes, hire
the best help, stay at the best hotels, and so on but lack the cultural savoir-faire that the European
aristocrats pass on from one generation to the next. Without realizing it, the Millers violate long-standing
social customs and traditions. They give offense without meaning offense. Daisy Miller sees no reason
to alter her behavior, for she genuinely believes there is nothing wrong with it.
Noncomformity: Daisy refuses to conform to the customs and conventions of high society and spurns
expectations that she behave as a demure stereotype in male-female relationships. For example, she
gads about unchaperoned with Giovanelli. She ignores Mrs. Walker’s advice about public behavior. And
she tells Winterbourne that “I’ve never allowed a gentleman to dictate to me or to interfere with anything
I do."
Prejudice and Snobbery: Mrs. Costello and Mrs. Walker are so strict in their adherence to social and
cultural rules and traditions—and so intolerant of those who display the slightest hint of gaucherie—that
they become thoroughgoing snobs. As such, they prejudge the Millers, seeing only the mistakes that
they make.
When in Rome, do as the Romans do. Daisy, of course, does not abide by this ancient precept, but Mrs.
Costello and Mrs. Walker do observe it—perhaps to a fault. Winterbourne is not entirely sure what to do.
There is enough of the New World in him to excuse Daisy’s behavior, at least for a while. But in the end,
at the Colosseum, he, too, turns against her and, in so doing, commits a moral and humanitarian faux
pas, as do the other “proper" aristocrats. Ironically, it is Daisy who does the proper thing at the end,
offering the beau geste of forgiveness.

Climax

The climax in Daisy Miller occurs when Winterbourne encounters Daisy in the Colosseum and reaches
this conclusion about her: “She was a young lady about . . . whose perversity a foolish puzzled
gentleman need no longer trouble his head or his heart."

Symbols

Daisy Miller: The protagonist represents the common, unsophisticated Americans who visit Europe. Her
first name is the same as one of the most common plants. One variety of this plant, the English daisy,
grows wildly in the United States. Her surname is one of the most common in America—in some cities
and towns more common even than Smith—suggesting that she is one of the hoi polloi. Daisies have
white raying petals surrounding a bright yellow disk. It is interesting that Daisy Miller wears white muslin
in the opening chapter while exhibiting a sunny disposition.
Winterbourne: His name represents coldness. Winter, of course, is the coldest season of the year; a
bourne is a brook that flows only in the winter. Several times in the novel, Daisy reproaches
Winterbourne for being “stiff," meaning cold and inelastic, like an icicle, in his manner. Following is an
example in Chapter of Daisy’s use of the word:

Winterbourne: You're a very nice girl, but I wish you'd flirt with me, and me only.
Daisy: Ah thank you, thank you very much: you're the last man I should think of flirting with. As I've had
the pleasure of informing you, you're too stiff.
April Daisies: This phrase appears in the final chapter at the burial of Daisy Miller in the Protestant
Cemetery in Rome when the narrator says, “Winterbourne stood staring at the raw protuberance of the
April daisies." Raw protuberance suggests that raw, new, unsophisticated Daisy Millers will take the
place of the deceased Daisy Miller.
Mrs. Walker: Her name suggests, ironically, that she does not walk the streets of the common people
(as Daisy does when going to the Pincio park) but instead rides in the carriage of the uncommon people
(the European and American sophisticates and aristocrats). The symbolism of Mrs. Walker’s name
manifests itself when she rides in a carriage to the Pincio to “rescue" Daisy from her ambulatory
indiscretions.
Randolph Miller: This boisterous ten-year-old represents boorish American tourists (adults as well as
children) and their sometimes clumsy, crude, or tactless behavior.
Polish Boys: These children, mentioned in the second paragraph of Chapter 1, represent discipline and
decoroum and, thus, are foils of Randolph Miller.
Eugenio: The name derives from a Greek word meaning well born. Eugenio, of course, is a mere
servant, a courier. However, the Millers regard and treat him as an equal. Thus, Eugenio is well born to
the Millers. He symbolizes the American principle—stated in the Declaration of Independence—that “all
men are created equal."
Roman fever: This disease, malaria, seems to represent the ill effects of the sophisticated Europeans
and Americans who criticize, chastise, and defame Daisy, her mother, and her brother.
Painting of Pope Innocent X: This Velasquez work appears to represent the contrived and artificial ways
of European and American aristocrats and sophisticates vis-a-vis the natural and unpretentious ways of
Daisy Miller. A key passage suggesting this interpretation of the painting appears in Chapter when
Winterbourne encounters a tourist friends outside the Doria Palace, where the Velasquez portrait hangs:
He met one day in the Corso a friend—a tourist like himself—who had just come out of the Doria Palace,
where he had been (79) walking through the beautiful gallery. His friend "went on" for some moments
about the great portrait of Innocent X, by Velasquez, suspended in one of the cabinets of the palace,
and then said: "And in the same cabinet, by the way, I enjoyed sight of an image of a different kind; that
little American who's so much more a work of nature than of art and whom you pointed out to me last
week." In answer to Winterbourne's enquiries his friend narrated that the little American—prettier now
than ever—was seated with a companion in the secluded nook in which the papal presence is
enshrined.
Colosseum: This ancient amphitheater represents society looking down upon an enemy of the state in
the arena and displaying the thumbs-down death sentence.

What Was Roman Fever?

.......The term Roman fever was coined to describe malaria, outbreaks of which occurred frequently in
Rome over the centuries. The city was a hotbed of the disease because of swampy areas in it that
became breeding grounds for mosquitoes carrying disease-causing parasites.
.......The term malaria itself derives from the Italian words mala aria, meaning bad air. Malaria is an
infectious disease caused by a single-celled parasite that enters the bloodstream primarily via the bite of
the female anopheles mosquito. The parasite invades the liver and divides. Then the new, smaller
parasitic cells enter the body’s red blood cells and produce so many additional parasitic cells that the red
blood cells rupture and discharge whole armies of parasites into the bloodstream. The body reacts with
chills, high fever, shaking, and sweating. When the sweating lowers the body’s temperature, the
symptoms subside. However, renewed attacks by the multiplying parasites cause a reoccurrence of the
symptoms, and the cycle repeats itself again and again. Severe anemia (in which there is a significant
reduction in the number of the body’s red blood cells) eventually develops, leading to serious
complications that can kill the patient. Eventually, drugs were developed that halt the multiplication of the
parasitic cells.

Study Questions and Essay Topics

1. Which character in the novel is the most admirable? Which character is the least admirable? Explain
your answers.
2. Write an essay describing how Europeans today regard typical American tourists. When conducting
your research, consider interviewing travel writers, foreign-exchange students, flight attendants, tourists,
travel agents, and business travelers. If you have visited Europe, include your own impressions on this
topic in your essay.
3. Is Mrs. Miller an unfit mother?
4. Cite dialogue in the novel that reveals Daisy and her mother as according to European standards.
5. If a modern Daisy Miller traveled to Europe and behaved like the Daisy in the novel, would
Europeans ridicule her?
6 Is Winterbourne changed for the better at the end of the novel? Or does he continue to lead the same
life he led before he met Daisy? Explain your answer.