Reading the novella “Daisy Miller,” I noticed images in terms of the characters and settings. Although I wrote about these two aspects in detail, this essay will have more of my opinions than facts.
During the entire time reading “Daisy Miller,” I thought that it had a similar storyline to Shakespeare's play “Romeo and Juliet.” Both stories were about love and a bit of “tragedy.” Romeo and Juliet had both died in the play, whereas only Daisy who died, making Winterborne depressed. In my opinion, Daisy Miller was more tragic than Romeo and Juliet because Winterborne was left alive, feeling the pain of Daisy’s death. Romeo and Juliet would not have to feel the pain for each other since the two of them died at about the same time. Another similarity is the way they had to “separate”for a while. Winterbourne had to go back to Italy, leaving Daisy no choice but to wait for him in Rome. On the other hand, Romeo and Juliet’s parents feuded for years, causing Romeo’s exile due to killing one of the Capulet’s (Juliet’s) relatives. Although they were separated under different circumstances, both couples had no choice but to become “separated.” However, towards the end, they are reunited. The overall story and situations in “Romeo and Juliet” and “Daisy Miller” are very alike.
Daisy Miller contains two separate themes: innocence and betrayal. In my opinion, betrayal plays a bigger role than innocence for a few reasons. After Daisy had moved on to an Italian man, the book became much more interesting. As the reader, I empathized with Winterborne as he expressed his depression and anger towards Daisy. It must have been extremely hard for him as he saw his love moving on and acting as if she didn’t care a bit. If one of the main themes in this book is betrayal, one of the minor themes is guilt and depression (especially after Daisy’s death). Innocence is also the key to this novella. When the two first meet at a cafe, the author portrays how they slowly fall in love with each other. This isn’t a complicated process compared to how they separate.
Henry James (author of the novella), had made me think about each page in Daisy Miller. He wrote many descriptive sentences such as Winterborne describing the city of Vevey, Switzerland in the first paragraph. He always had a twist towards the middle of the story (Daisy Miller moving on), which made it much more exciting than it was. All of the settings that took place matched with the story. I had absolutely enjoyed reading Daisy Miller because it made me have a different perspective about people who you may not understand. Winterborne thought that Daisy actually didn’t care for him, but later was told that she actually did. Although you may not understand someone at the moment, there may be a certain reason why they are acting in such a way. I am looking forward to reading his other novellas!
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