DAISY MILLER HONORS ENGLISH Please read through these ...

DAISY MILLER
HONORS ENGLISH
Please read through these questions and bring ideas and comments to class daily. These are used to
help you in reading the novella Daisy Miler---not a substitute for involvement with the text!
Some key points:
o What definition of “Americanness” does James present in DM?
o Look at the title!
o How do you define James’ style and diction?
o Look out for the “Jamesian self-revealing narrator” and his distinct point of view.
o Who is the “hero” of the tale? Is it Winterbourne?
o How are Winterbourne and Randolph opposite versions of American Manhood?
o Look at the notes on the Gilded Age (link to the Age of Innocence) and how this age is
revealed in James’ writing.
o Self-Identity
o Character Names and Personalities/stereotypes and Significance
o The nature of the “real”
o “Psychological Realism” (think Chopin, Howells, and O’Neill)
o The theme of Americans Abroad
o Immigrant Narrative
o Daisy Miller as the misunderstood character study
o Compare to other strong female characters
o Why is she the object of “study?”
o
Set One”
Reading Questions on Henry James's Daisy Miller
1. Discuss these two contemporary views of Daisy Miller.
Harper's Magazine, December 1878: “Daisy Miller is an impossible daughter, who regards her
mother as a cipher, and who, besides, is an inscrutable combination of audacity and innocence,
elegance and vulgarity. A young person of bad manners.”
HJ himself in an August 1880 letter: “Poor little Daisy Miller was, as I understand her, above all
things innocent. It was not to make a scandal, or because she took pleasure in a scandal, that she
went on with Giovanelli. She never took the measure really of the scandal she produced, and had no
means of doing so: she was too ignorant, too irreflective, too little versed in the proportions of
things. She was a flirt, a perfectly superficial and unmalicious one....I did not mean to suggest that
she was playing off Giovanelli against Winterbourne--for she was too innocent for that.”
2. In what ways does James use his “international theme”) in this novel? What contrasts or
oppositions does he draw between European and American characters and ideals? What rules are
implied here for the behavior of young girls and married women in each culture?
2. To what extent is Daisy responsible for her own fate, and to what extent is she an innocent
crushed beneath a corrupt civilization? Discuss Daisy’s character in detail. Did you find her a
sympathetic character or an irritating one? What points of European civilization does she fail to
understand?

3. James uses language carefully in this novella as in all his works; certain words (“pretty”) and
images (flowers, for example) are repeated with variations throughout. Choose a few of the most
important examples that you have seen in this work and present them to the class.
4. In what way might it be said that this is Winterbourne’s story rather than Daisy’s? What do we
learn about him in the course of the story? Is he responsible for her death? Look closely at the
ways in which he assesses her and interprets—or misinterprets—her language and behavior.
5. James uses places and place names carefully in this work. Discuss the significance of the
various places alluded to here, such as the gardens, the Castle of Chillon, the Palace of the Caesars,
the Colosseum, St. Peter’s, and so on.
6. Two of the most crucial words in this story are “innocent” and “intimate,” especially because
the characters define them in various ways and apply them to Daisy’s relations with others. Find the
places in which these words are used and discuss the ways in which these loaded terms help to
create tension (and misunderstandings) in the story.
7. Several of the secondary characters play an important role in “Daisy Miller,” among them
Randolph, Mr. Giovanelli, and three American ladies: Mrs. Costello, Mrs. Miller, and Mrs. Walker.
Explain the function of each character in the story.
8. The theme of illness is significant here; explain its function in the story.
9. In “Daisy Miller: A Study,” Does James follow the precepts of realism and of art as he
describes them in “The Art of Fiction”?
10. What does it mean to be an American in this story?
Campbell, Dr. Donna.Reading Questions on Daisy Miller. 2005. 20 Feb. 2009.
Washington State U.
< http://www.wsu.edu/~campbelld/amlit/daisymillerques.htm >.
Reading Questions Set Two:
Henry James's "Daisy Miller: A Study" (1878)
Henry James (1843-1916) was born into a prosperous and cultivated family; his father was a
philosopher of mystical leanings, his sister Alice a gifted observer and author of an admired diary,
and his brother William an influential psychologist, author of The Will to Believe, and founder of a
school of American "pragmatism." Unlike the other writers studied in this course, James could
afford to write until he became self-sustaining, and during a period in which commerical interests
seemed increasingly to dominate American society, his works portrayed with some scepticism a
class of wealthy Americans, their hangers-on and their European allies and counterparts. James
lived with his family in Europe during his adolescence, and later resided for periods in France and
Italy before moving to England in 1876. He wrote stories and essays for periodicals, then turned to
novels and novellas; The Passionate Pilgrim and Roderick Hudson were published in 1875, followed by
The American (1877), Daisy Miller (1878) and--among others, The Portrait of a Lady (1881), The
Bostonians (1886), The Princess Casmassima (1886), The Wings of the Dove (1902), The
Ambassadors (1903), and The Golden Bowl (1904). He died in England in 1916 after becoming a
British citizen during the first World War. His prefaces to his novels lay out his artistic ideals for
narrative point of view, description, plotting, and characterization. He also wrote several quasiautobiographical
stories exploring psychological themes, among them "The Beast in the Jungle"
(1903). Though interested in the social movements of the time (e. g., anarchism, feminism), several

of his works provide biting satires of would-be reformers. "Daisy Miller" may be seen as an early
example of the "new woman" genre; and its heroine's death as an authorial "punishment" on the
woman who oversteps familiar bounds, even if she remains technically "innocent."
Many of James's novels explore the ideals, illusions, and failures of manners and morals, which lay
behind confident exteriors. His observers are usually slightly detached, and often preoccupied with
"the American personality," but also removed from it. Aspects of the pattern of "Daisy Miller" are
sometimes repeated--an innocent narrator or character meets Europeans whose slightly sinister
sophistication and guile is too much for the bumptuous (The American), trusting (The Golden Bowl),
or naïve/inexperienced (The Ambassadors) protagonist/observer. The device of using a narrator
who is neither entirely American nor entirely European enables James's narrator to criticize
several cultures from a seemingly neutral position. Sexuality and love are viewed through a veil of
innuendo and scepticism. Much of the plot interest turns on the narrator's effort at understanding
the puzzle of others's lives, determining the degree to which the characters understand their own
fate, and deciding on the extent to which he (always he) should mete out or withhold judgment on
them, and less often, on himself. His characters are cultured, comfortably off, and free to devote
their lives to affairs of the emotions or heart, and they often use this leisure for unwise or
disappointing ends.
1. What forms of pride might this story have evoked in American readers of James's time? What
anxieties about the nature of their own society might it have evoked?
2. To which aspects of the plot and characterization do you think James's British readers might
have responded favorably?
3. What are the implications of the story's subtitle, "A Study"? Of the names "Winterbourne"
and "Daisy"?
4. To what degree do you think the character of Daisy Miller might have embodied traits of a
wealthy American girl of her day? Are there unrealistic or uncharacteristic aspects of her
character, and if so, do these matter?
5. What does the story mean by "innocence"? Why is Daisy Miller's relative "innocence" of
importance to all who meet her?
6. To what extent is this story organized around stereotypes? Are these stereotypes still
current? Would they have bothered readers of the time?
7. What themes does this story share in common with those by Irving, Hawthorne and Melville we
have read? What are some major contrasts?
8. To what extent is the plot determined by the fact that the title character is a young,
attractive woman? Would the attitudes conveyed by Winterbourne have been relatively tolerant,
restrictive, or typical for his day? How did contemporary novels treat themes of pre-marital sex
and adultery?
9. What effect is created by opening the story in a Swiss hotel frequented by expatriates? Do
some aspects of the opening description predispose the reader to expect some of what follows?
10. What do we learn about the narrator in the opening sections--and what don't we learn? How is
his "character" useful in permitting the unwinding of the plot?
11. How would you characterize James's style? His descriptions? What are some instances of irony
in his descriptions? (e. g., Winterbourne's response to Randolph's description of his father, the
constant references to Schenectady)

12. What do we learn about Daisy, her brother and mother from their first meetings with
Winterbourne? What are his first judgements of Daisy? ("in her bright, sweet, superficial little
visage there was no mockery, no irony"). What seems unusual to Winterbourne about her manner of
greeting him and her reaction to his invitation to the Castle of Chillon?
13. To what degree is Daisy intelligent? Interested in other cultures? Perceptive about other
people? What are her social preferences? Does she seem to have friends of her own sex? What are
her motivations in Europe? Which aspects of her portrayal seem critical? (e. g., "her light, slightly
monotonous smile"). Can you tell when she makes mistakes of language?
14. Can this story be read as a comment on the expectations for wealthy young women of the
period? On the lack of formal education or active endeavors for women?
15. Are Daisy and Winterbourne temperamentally well-suited to become friends?
16. How is Mrs. Costello characterized? Mrs. Walker? Whose opinions do they represent? To what
extent are their opinions founded on evidence? What does Mrs. Costello mean by saying, "But she is
very common."
17. In what sense is Mrs. Costello correct/or incorrect when she warns Winterbourne, "You have
lived too long out of the country. You will be sure to make some great mistake. You are too
innocent"?
18. How is Daisy's mother portrayed? To what extent is Daisy the victim of unusual
circumstances? What can you infer from this novel about the lives and health of prosperous middleaged
women of the period (or the author's view thereof)? Had Daisy lived, what do you think would
have become of her?
19. How does Daisy react to the news of the varied stages of her social rejection? To what extent
does it distress her? ("You needn't be afraid. I'm not afraid!")
20. Which events in the first section parallel Daisy's ill-omened nighttime tryst with Giovanelli?
Can Winterbourne be viewed as a possible admirer of Daisy? Why doesn't she accept his offer of a
nighttime boat ride?
21. According to the values of his society, should Winterbourne have accompanied Daisy to Chillon?
Is their trip a sign of flirtation? How does Daisy react to the news that he must return to Geneva?
22. What is ominous about the ending of the story's first section? The opening of the second?
What is the symbolism of the shift from "Les Trois Couronnes" to Rome? How is the story's
progression aided by the division into two sections?
23. To what extent are manners and morals conflated in the society represented in this story? Is
it possible to separate these two within the plot--or does the narrator also see them as nearly
identical?
24. What opinions and acts reveal Randolph's and Mrs. Miller's failure to adjust to life in Europe?
25. What are some signs of ignorance or failure to sense danger in Mrs. Miller's reactions to
Daisy's behavior? ("Of course, it's a great deal pleasanter for a young lady if she knows plenty of
gentlemen.")
26. Under what circumstances is Daisy warned that she may contract a fever? What symbolism or
indirection seems to surround such concerns? In your opinion, to what degree were their concerns
valid?
27. What are some humorous moments in their conversation with Mrs. Walker?
28. What moments in Daisy's conversation foreshadow her death? ("We are going to stay all
winter if we don't die of the fever; and I guess we'll stay then.") How would you characterize her
conversation--artless? honest? simple? naive? heedless?

29. What is the reader supposed to think of Giovanelli's character and intentions? ("He had
practised the idiom upon a great many American heiresses") Why is Winterbourne annoyed that she
is content to accompany both men?
30. What drives Winterbourne's concern with Daisy's sexual behavior, in your view? What is the
author's purpose in presenting his narrator as much more tolerant than either of the older women
who judge Daisy?
31. Why does Daisy reject Mrs. Walker's invitation/demand that she enter the latter's carriage?
Over what do Mrs. Walker and Winterbourne quarrel? Why does Winterbourne not return later to
accompany Daisy and her attendant? How does Daisy offend Mrs. Walker by her behavior at the
latter's party, and how does the latter respond?
32. What is Daisy's definition of "flirtation"? ("Did you ever hear of a nice girl that was not [a
flirt]?") On what grounds does she criticize Winterbourne? Does she seem sincere? What advice
does Winterbourne give her? ("When you deal with natives you must go by the custom of the
place.")
33. Why do you think she is offended at the mention of a possible love for Giovanelli? What does
Winterbourne seem to mean when he says that she seemed a person who would never be jealous? of
whom he could never be afraid? What personal lack does he regret in himself ("his want of
instinctive certitude")?
34. What are some symbolic elements of Daisy's night in the Colesseum? What role does
Winterbourne play in prompting her departure? How does he judge her?
35. What symbolism surrounds her death? What is the significance of the message she sends him
before her death, and what motivates it?
36. What to-him important recognition comes to Winterbourne at the grave site? What role is
assigned Giovanelli in her death?
37. What effect is created by ending the story with Winterbourne's final conversation with his
aunt? What mistake has he made? Has he indeed lived too long in foreign parts?
38. What is the significance of our final piece of knowledge, that Winterbourne continues to live
in Geneva without known occupation as before? What has he learned, if anything, from this
encounter? What has the reader learned? Are we expected to judge him, or her, or Europeans and
Americans, or all of the above?
39. May there be some autobiographical aspects of this story?
Boos, Florence. Daisy Miller Study Guide Questions. U of Iowa. 2005. 20 Feb 2009.
< http://english.uiowa.edu/courses/boos/questions/jamesdaisy.htm >.