Daisy Miller- an American woman?

In my opinion Daisy Miller acts as a morality tale for American men. The first moral is to not get wrapped up in gossip, even if it is from social elites. At the end of the book Winterbourne asks Mrs. Miller why Giovanelli never went to Daisy’s grave. She replies she was told that he was afraid of her to which she continues, “but I suppose he knows I’m a lady I would scorn to scold him”. This also shows that new (the Miller family is new to wealthy social circles) is better than the old because the other women were mean to Daisy at parties and in the case of Mrs. Walker, “seemed to pitiful to not even to attempt to save her. I ordered the carriage and put on my bonnet, and came here as quickly as possible.” Yet, Giovanelli does not keep her best interests in mind either because he takes her to the Coliseum even though there was fever going around. When Winterbourne questions him all Giovanelli can say is that he wasn’t worried for himself. Winterbourne shares some blame for her death because he does not attempt to be with her in place of Giovanelli. Could this be part of a bigger moral that America needs to make its own society and not rely on Europe for society? I think so.

In my opinion Daisy Miller is made to be an every (American) woman. She is an “inscrutable combination of audacity and innocence” (pg. 37) Even though Winterbourne calls flirting an American invention Daisy is much more direct than he is. She was mad at Winterbourne for going to Rome for his aunt and not for her. She brings to mind the strong willed ranch wives seen in most western movies. I recently saw a show on AMC called “Bond Girls Are Forever” in which the newer Bond Girls including Halle Berry said they liked the fact that in the movies they had become the equals of James Bond. They were allowed to be clever and sexy at the same time.