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Satyabodhi Lim

Jon Paul Henry

ENGL 1106:004

6 June 2022

henry James’s “Daisy Miller”: a study in two parts

Henry James’s novel “Daisy Miller” should be renamed due to the fact that the
narrative is not built around her character Daisy Miler but Frederick Winterbourne. Daisy’s
personality and story are told in less detail than Winterbourne's. Although Daisy plays an
important role in the narrative, but her personality as a character is unclear. The story follows
Frederick Winterbourne from a young age by giving a brief introduction to his background.
We are informed about his hometown and his social life “Geneva having been for a long time
his place of residence. “(Henry James 45). Throughout the story, information about his
emotions, thoughts, and all of his actions were given in details, giving the main character of
the story more clues about his personality. James’s novella is told in a rather unique way,
using an ambiguous perspective to explain the thoughts and actions of Frederick
Winterbourne. The novel doesn’t use Winterbourne’s point of view. Although the identity of
the narrator is never revealed, it is certain it is someone who has a close relationship with
Frederick Winterbourne. The story starts with Winterbourne rather than Daisy, whose name
is used for the title of the narrative and introduced a little bit after Winterbourne meets with
Randolph. Generally, a novel starts with building as well as establishing the backdrop of the
narrative. Introducing the “main character” or “protagonist” of the narrative often comes after
the author has established the setting for the main character. Therefore, introducing
Winterbourne at the start of the story should reinforce the reason for his name, instead of
Daisy’s name, to be used for the title of the narrative.
We were never introduced to Daisy’s background as much as Winterbourne’s is. For
example, we don’t know where Daisy spent her childhood, her age, and her activities in
Vevey and Rome beyond spending her time with Winterbourne. The novel never tells us her
point of view. We only know Daisy to the extent of Winterbourne’s view of her, or what his
thoughts of her were when the narrator mentioned her. Her story beyond of when
Winterbourne sees her is partly through what Mrs. Costello said to him. Furthermore, Mrs.
Costello’s words are based on what she heard from the menials, which can be considered as
rumours, which is why their story is narrated in a vague manner. We know so little about her
for her to be considered the main character. If James were to give the narrative more
background and details about Daisy, the title would have been more appropriate. Daisy’s
actions appeared to have had a greater influence on Winterbourne than Winterbourne's
actions on Daisy, yet they were a reaction to what Winterbourne had said about her. For
example, “‘Oh don’t say such dreadful things!’ Said Winterbourne—‘just at the last!’ ‘The
last!’ Cried the young girl” (James 68) assuming that Winterbourne could have said it
differently, Rome would not have happened. Another instance is when she decided to refuse
to get inside the carriage because of what Winterbourne said. “He looked at her, her exquisite
prettiness, and then he said, very gently, ’I think you should get into the carriage.’” (James
81) Daisy was affected by his statements, which drove her to leave Winterbourne and Mrs.
Walker, resulting in a negative impression of him. which clearly demonstrates that he is the
reason for the conflict and has much more of an impact on the narrative than Daisy. Daisy’s
relationships are only played to give tension to winterbourne’s relationships. The appearance
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of Daisy causes some turmoil in the relationship between each character. If Winterbourne
were to choose to support Daisy, Mrs. Walker and Mrs. Costello would probably never
interact with him ever again. Winterbourne’s social life is in Europe, where he spent most of
his childhood, which would quickly deteriorate. In comparison to Daisy, Winterbourne has
more to lose; if Daisy’s social life in Europe goes apart, she can still return to New York,
where she has most of her friends. Daisy’s death only marks an end to one of many stories in
Winterbourne’s life and it also puts an end to Daisy’s story, who plays a big part in
Winterbourne’s dilemma. As well as, to a certain extent, a solution to Winterbourne’s
Dilemma. It is written in the very final paragraph that “Nevertheless, he went back to live in
Geneva, whence there continue to come the most contradictory accounts of his motives of
sojourn” (James 100) It is stated that he continues to live on his live with may or may not
another lady that lives in Geneva; yet, the narrative did not stated that his life has been
changed by his experience in Rome since then “a report that he is ‘studying’ hard—an
intimation that he is much interested in a clever foreign lady” (James 100) in the last line of
the narrative, it seems like it is intended to say that Winterbourne continues to pursue the
same foreign lady who is mentioned in the early parts of the narrative. He is said to have
moved on from the events in Rome to some extent. By all accounts, and with proven results,
it is apparent that Frederick Winterbourne is the main character of the story as he is involved
in every single part of the novel, from his encounter with Daisy in Vevey, to the dilemma he
is facing in Rome, and until Daisy’s death, he is clearly involved in all of it. Thus, it seems
more fitting to call this story his and this narrative’s title to be Frederick Winterbourne’s
story and rename the title to something other than Daisy Miller because her character is
underdeveloped.

943 words
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Works Cited

James, Henry. ”Daisy Miller” 1878. A study in two parts, Broadview edition, edited by

Kristin Boudreau & Megan Stoner Morgan.