Daisy Miller

Daisy Miller is a novella by Henry James published in 1878. It tells the tale of a young girl named Daisy and her adventures in Europe, and more importantly, how she and her actions are viewed a young Swiss man named Winterbourne. Despite the disapproval of Mrs. Costello, Winterbourne quickly falls in love with Daisy, noting that her spunkiness and spontaneity set her apart from the more formal and uptight European women. However, Daisy moves to Rome and becomes involved with an older man named Giovanelli. Winterbourne travels to Rome and tries to warn Daisy to change her ways for the sake of her reputation, but she doesn't listen. Eventually, Winterbourne gives up on Daisy, deciding that she isn't worth worrying about. Daisy dies shortly after.
Daisy is representative of a young, naïve America. She personifies a lot of Americans at the time, who had never been to or been educated about Europe. A running theme throughout Daisy Miller is innocence. Winterbourne is continually debating whether or not Daisy is innocent, and in the end, it is because he believes that she has lost her innocence that she dies. Had Winterbourne believed her to still be corrigible, he would have saved her  from the malaria she contracted at the Coliseum in the night air. Finally, another theme that underlies James' work is the stability versus the misfortune of an unlived life. Winterbourne, because he plays it safe, outlives Daisy, and possibly avoids more heartbreak than he already suffered, but at the same time, he never pursues the girl he thought he loved, so he never really knows what could have happened.

--Wald der Sterbend