Henry James' Daisy Miller and Edith Wharton's The Age of Innocence

In the short stories A Rose for Emily and The Story of an Hour, Emily Grierson and Louise Mallard are both similar women, in similar time periods but they both are in entirely different situations. This essay will take these two specific characters and compare and contrast them in multiple, detailed ways.

In this passage from her autobiography, “One Writer’s Beginnings”, Eudora Welty recalls early experiences of reading and books that had later impact on her craft as a writer of fiction. Welty’s language conveys the intensity and values of these experiences with the use of imagery, with the use of diction, and the use of details.

lthough one may think that residing comfortably near to the top of the Manhattan social pyramid guarantees inclusion, the protagonist of Edith Wharton’s Age Of Innocence, Newland Archer, comes to find himself on the psychological fringe despite his wealth and lofty familial status, isolated by the unique attitudes about life and love he develops after falling for Ellen Olenska. By presenting Newland’s emotional defeat at the end of the novel, despite his conscious attempt to diverge from societal rules, Wharton demonstrates the inescapability of high society and its nature as a hindrance to free thought.

People imprint themselves on their surroundings; they inject fleeting moments into the veins of their environments, boiling the blood that swims hot through every crevice, echoing and lingering indefinitely. According to Wisker houses are the principal locations where the presence of its residents leave lasting imprints on the structure (2011, 4). Novels To The Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf and Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen both use domestic environments as important sites to emphasise and reflect their characters by deploying the literary techniques of language and style from their respective eras. Woolf as a Modernist writer from the early twentieth century uses experimental techniques and the supernatural genre that was prevalent

Daisy’s sudden, simple respect for the truth is startling to the reader because Nick’s perceptions of her throughout the novel are so very limited to her superficial manner … her stubborn honesty … is a logical outgrowth of her inner struggle to resolve conflicting needs. It is a brief, futile attempt to declare emotional independence (Fryer 54).

Self and others – Winterbourne is a character while at times could be very judgmental and opinionated, seems to view himself as part of a larger community. He is only judgmental because he is aware of what society deems as inappropriate when it comes to what Daisy Miller is doing. Winterbourne often thinks about others and typically not himself. For example, in the beginning, Randolph was pestering him for sugar lumps. Winterbourne told Randolph, “If you eat three lumps of sugar, your mother will certainly slap you.” While people may interpret Winterbourne differently, I see many cases of him being thoughtful of others and caring towards other people. Daisy Miller is a character that is rather self-centered focusing on herself and what she

Daisy puts up with her husband’s infidelity because of the benefits he provides, his background, his “old money”, and his reputation. When I talk to Daisy she’s always quite cheerful and peppy, but there are moments when I see how sad and lonely she is, “'All right,' I said, 'I'm glad it's a girl. And I hope she'll be a fool – that's the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool… you see I think everything’s terrible anyhow… I’ve been everywhere and seen everything.” (17) In a society corrupted by greed and scandal, the best thing that one can hope for is to be too stupid to realize what’s actually going on and therefore not get hurt.

The Age of Innocence, written by Edith Wharton in 1920, is a novel about Newland Archer, set in New York in the 1870s. In the beginning of the novel, Newland is engaged to May Welland, however when her cousin Ellen Olenska returns from Europe, he begins to doubt who he really loves. Due to societal norms, Newland stays with May and never consummates his relationship with Ellen, despite their growing feelings towards each other. At the time of writing The Age of Innocence, Wharton was reading Sir James George Frazer’s The Golden Bough (1914), a 14 volume work on anthropology, which consisted of myths, customs, and magical practices. This collection sparked interest for Wharton, potentially inspiring her to enlist many allusions to classical

Jay Gatsby’s dream was to spend his life with Daisy Buchanan, but the only way he could ever be with her was if he had money. He knew that if he did not have money Daisy would not even consider him. Gatsby obtained great wealth through illegal activities such as bootlegging. “He and this Wolfsheim bought and sold grain alcohol over the counter” (133). Gatsby also lied about how he obtained his wealth because he knew that Daisy would not approve of his life style. He said, “My family all died and I came into a good deal of money” (65). He would throw lavish parties to attract Daisy’s attention. He thought that if she saw his wealth she would fall in love with him again and leave her husband Tom. Gatsby had a purpose for living and he moved right

In Henry James’s “Daisy Miller” and Edith Wharton’s “The Other Two,” the narrators each disclose the complications of their party’s social formalities during circumstances within their own society. In both short stories, Winterbourne and Waythorn try to figure out their adored ones character and motives but for different reasons. In “Daisy Miller,” it’s noticeable that Mr. Winterbourne ends up longing for Daisy Miller as he tries to fully categorize the character she’s carelessly ruining. While in “The Other Two,” the narrator examines a society of how a married couple, Waythorn and Alice, adjust to an awkward

James' manipulation of appearances in Daisy Miller as well as other character's notions of these appearances provides us with a novella of enigmatic and fascinating characters. Daisy, the most complicated of these ambiguities, is as mysterious as she is flirtatious. James gives her a carefully constructed enigmatic quality that leaves the reader wondering what her motivations were and who she truly was. He structures the novella in such a way as to stress the insights that the supporting characters provide into Daisy's character, weather accurate or erroneous. Despite their questionable reliability, they allow James to make commentary on both European and American cultures and social class.

Daisy also went against the social norms of the society when she began to talk to Winterbourne (472). James is displaying Daisy as a tramp because she is traveling around and talking to Winterbourne when she should be a conservative woman who stays with her mother or only goes out with a chaperone.

Newland declares to the table that women have the right to be “as free as [men] are” (Age of Innocence 38). As the women talk further about Ellen, Newland states that he is sick of the “hypocrisy that would bury a woman” for preferring to be with her husband, contrary to what others believe (Age of Innocence 37). Newland sees a small connection between the women’s opinions and his own relationship with Ellen. He begins to see he must make a choice between Ellen and May, unbeknownst to him that his choice will be what is “socially acceptable” to old New York (“Edith Wharton” 2). Newland then decided that May should have the same “freedom of experience” he has (Age of Innocence 42).

She believes the Miller’s to be “common” and tells Winterbourne to stay away from them. However, Daisy represents to Winterbourne what he lacks, standing as a metaphor of what all of Europe lacks, as long as Daisy does not go too far with her social freedom.

Daisy Miller is breaking these social norms by constantly associating with different men, drawing the attention of many others and Connie expresses her sexuality by abandoning her friends to spend time with a boy in his car; this ultimately leads to society’s metaphorical murder of these women.