Daisy Miller Essay, Research Paper
I have noticed several postings I would like to
comment on in addition to adding my own little spin to
this discussion. I believe Daisy was simply acting
in the way of a young American girl. Do I think she knew
she was acting inappropriately? Only insofar as she knew
others did not approve of her actions. The question here
is one of two seperate cultures. Also, keep in mind here
that the people who were criticizing Miss Miller were
several generations removed from her. What they deemed
“inapproprite behavior” may have been so in thier
generation, but not for Daisy. I also believe Daisy was
dull-witted enough to not catch on to everyone’s true
feelings on the matter until Mrs.Walker made a point of
acting her displeasure directly to Daisy. I was going to
say something else here… Oh yeah, I remember. Daisy
knew she was a flirt, she even admits it. But did she
know her actions were inappropriate? No. And after she
found out they were, did she care? Obviously not.
I agree with the responses of several people that Mr. G
was indeed nothing more that a distraction, a means to
make M
was a way for Mr. W to get distance enough between he
and Daisy that he might observe and ascertain her true
nature. This was accomplished, and he realized Daisy was
a flirt, although a beautiful one. I would like to
point out one thing that I don’t think anyone else
noticed, or at least if they did, didn’t talk about.
Both the beginning and the end of the novel refer to
some woman (a foreign lady) in Geneva whom Mr. W is
“extremely devoted”. My question is, what makes what Mr.
W does with this foreign lady any better that what Miss
Miller does with Mr.G? On the discussion question,
Daisy was rebelling. She was rebelling against a culture
who thought what she did was wrong. What I mean is, she
continued to flirt after she found out that it was
deemed “inappropriate,”(although I still hold to the
opinion that she didn’t know what she was doing wrong
until that point) which indicates rebellion, at least
to me. Did anyone else think the ending of the
book rather abrupt? It was like, one minute she’s
talking and laughing in the Collesseum and the next,
she’s dead.