Volu m e I - Purdue University Calumet

“occupation for a long time was to stand on street-corners and watch the world go by, dreaming blood-red
dreams at the passing of pretty women” (Crane 965). Readers must note that Maggie is more relatable to the
babe Tommie, “a completely helpless creature, quite unable even to begin the struggle. He is weeded out in
infancy” (Fitelson 189). It is accurate to assume that Tommie’s death is a rescue call on an innocent victim; it
is a call of salvation which Maggie receives too late. She tries her best to be accepted by other people, but the
Naturalistic feature of indifferent forces controls her and the people around her.
Despite the literary movements of American Realism and Naturalism to achieve stories of every day life,
Romanticism is not obsolete in the discussed works. Eric J. Sundquist writes that “the psychological realism of
James and Crane represents most evidently and most tellingly the continued presence of romance” (Sundquist
23). Specifically, both Daisy and Maggie practice the mentality of Romanticism as they desire a life of selfgrowth
and individualism. They also express the desire of acceptance. By experiencing hostile environments,
both wish to move toward someone or something that will accept each girl as herself.
In particular, Winterbourne’s aunt, Mrs. Costello, has no interest in meeting a “dreadful” and
“uncultivated” girl like Daisy Miller (James 400). She believes Daisy’s family to be “common,” but does not
want to meet them to discover if her accusations are correct (James 399). He blames his aunt’s refusal to meet
Daisy on her headaches and denies Daisy the truth of European society and social conduct. Regardless of the
aunt, Daisy remarks that she is “dying to be exclusive” because she was exclusive in America; she dreamily
pursues her goals of meeting people (James 402). Daisy feels that she needs to make many acquaintances
because she is “fond of conversation” and wants to learn about the different societies and be accepted by the
kinder ones (James 413). It seems her romantic, harmless yearning to learn of different cultures is
unacceptable by Winterbourne, Mrs. Costello, and Mrs. Walker. Despite her asking Winterbourne to “do
[her] the honor” and take her around, Mrs. Costello and Mrs. Walker promote the gender stereotypes rather
than explaining to the oblivious girl what she is doing improperly (James 405). She is the study of a society
looking to define her, as Carol Ohmann writes, as “wholly innocent or guilty” (Ohmann 1). Winterbourne
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