Daisy Miller is a classic novel written in 1878 by Henry James. It describes how two young Americans Daisy Miller and Winterbourne fall in love in Europe and go through many complicated stages. According to Wikipedia, the original text had 43 pages in total, printed in two magazines. The book I read has two chapters, set in two countries.
This story begins in Vevey, Switzerland when Rudolph, Daisy Miller’s younger brother, asks tourist Winterbourne for some sugar. In this essential scene, the two main characters meet for the first time. Rudolph is the first one to appear in Winterbourne’s sight, his request leads to a conversation. Shortly after, Daisy appears. According to her brother, her real name is Annie P. Miller, but she goes by the name “Daisy.” By this point, Winterbourne starts to describe her as an “American flirt” with a beautiful face. He gradually begins to admit that he is in love with Daisy, but isn’t positive if she feels the same way. As the story continues, the readers notice that the two are slowly falling in love with each other. Unfortunately, Winterbourne has to go back to Geneva and Daisy can’t do anything about it but beg for him to come to where she lives, Rome. The first chapter closes with their promise to meet.
After a couple of months, Winterbourne arrives in Rome to see Daisy. He expects the woman who was in love with him in Vevey, but instead finds a totally different person who has moved on to a young Italian, Giovanelli. Winterbourne believes that Giovanelli does not deserve Daisy at all. He tries to separate them by warning her but she refuses and continues to flirt. Winterbourne realizes that there is no way of getting Daisy back and tries to forget her. Later on, Winterbourne unexpectedly spots Giovanelli and Daisy in the Colosseum, where one could catch malaria, also known as “Roman fever.” Daisy becomes extremely ill after a couple of days and death eventually overcomes her. Winterbourne hears from Daisy’s mother that she had always cared about what he thought of her. Eventually, he goes back to Geneva, returns to his ordinary life, and thinks about Daisy Miller from time to time.
Overall, I enjoyed reading Daisy Miller. However, there were a few difficult scenes that I couldn’t follow, for example, the opening, in which the point of view of the narrator is unclear. This probably is because it was written in the 1800’s. I was also unsatisfied with the ending. If I could change something in the book, I would definitely let Daisy Miller live. Other than these issues, the story was enjoyable. I would like to read another Henry James novella in order to see how his other stories end.
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