Essay about Innocence in Daisy Miller

As seen in society today as well as in Fitzgerald’s time, men will have affairs outside of their marriages, and the wife, falls victim to this violation of faith. Daisy falls victim to Tom’s affair with Myrtle: “Daisy’s affection for Tom…was soon shattered by his breech of her trust” (Fryer 51). Matters take an abrupt turn in the novel however, when Daisy’s sudden insistence for honesty emerges. At the hotel in the city, when Gatsby pressures her into proclaiming that she never loved Tom she can no longer bear the anxiety. She refuses to deny her love of Tom.

Gender and sexuality – Gender plays a large role in the story of Daisy Miller. In the beginning and at the end, Winterbourne is known to be “studying” in Geneva. What this really means is that he is spending time with older, foreign coquettes. On the other hand, Daisy Miller is heavily looked down upon especially when she is in Rome. When Winterbourne arrives in Rome, his aunt tells him “When she comes to a party she brings with her a gentleman with a good deal of manner and a wonderful mustache.” Also, people continue to question her actions throughout the novella. For example, when Daisy Miller explains that she is going to the Pincio, Mrs. Walker replies with, “Alone, my dear—at this hour?” The carriage scene is another example of this happening. Both Mrs. Walker and Winterbourne tell her that she should go home because they are worried about her reputation being ruined by her walking the streets of Rome. In conclusion, Winterbourne is never confronted about what he does with older foreign ladies whether it is in the beginning or in the end of the novella. However, Daisy Miller’s actions are criticized. Both gender and the attraction between Winterbourne and Daisy Miller play a large theme. Winterbourne’s ultimate desire is to have Daisy Miller to himself to ultimately marry

Fitzgerald expresses the corruption of the American dream through the use of characterization of different characters. Daisy is one of the few

In the novel, to kill a mockingbird, Harper Lee presents three very distinct types of innocence that are portrayed by different characters throughout the novel. A good part in this story’s brilliance is that Harper Lee has managed to use the innocence of a young girl to her advantage. She does this by telling the whole story from a child’s point-of-view. By having an innocent little girl make racial remarks and regard people of color in a way consistent with the community, Lee provides the reader with an objective view of the situation. As a child, Scout can make observations that an adult would often avoid. In addition, readers are also likely to be forgiving of a child’s perception, whereas they would find an adult who makes these

Fitzgerald characterizes Daisy as a stereotypical stay-at-home mother who is soft and submissive in her relationship with her wealthy husband. However, on further examination, Daisy also rebels in her own way, primarily within her marriage to Tom. From the start, it is apparent how Daisy’s marriage to Tom is not based on love, as Fitzgerald describes their relationship as “impersonal eyes in the absence of all desire,” (Fitzgerald 10) which shows how their relationship is comforting and convenient but not loving. Tom is described as a very powerful man with “a cruel body” (Fitzgerald 7) with “two shining arrogant eyes (that) had established dominance over his face,” (Fitzgerald 6). This description of Tom is of a self-absorbed man who overpowers

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

Daisy, like her husband, is a girl of material and class at heart, and Gatsby being her escape from a hierarchist world. Daisy has just grown up knowing wealth, so in her greedy pursuit of happiness and the “American Dream” Myrtle Wilson died, Gatsby's heart and life were compromised, without claiming responsibility on her part. Daisy was “by far the most popular of all the young girls in Louisville...” (116) Jordan says, describing early affections between Daisy and Gatsby. She goes on to say, “...all day long the telephone rang in her house and excited young officers from Camp Taylor demanded the privilege of monopolizing her that night.” (116) . Daisy was a fancied girl who has Gatsby tied around her finger, Jordan explains that he was looking at Daisy “...in a way that every young girl wants to be looked at some time...” (117). Daisy, abusing Gatsby’s love for her uses it to create security and protection, greedily and selfishly allowing him to take the fault. While Daisy’s beautiful, alluring traits turn her into an innocent, naive flower, she plays the ultimate villain.

Daisy illustrates the typical women of high social standing; her life is moulded by society’s expectations. She is dependent and subservient to her husband. She is powerless in her marriage.

Daisy as a character and Daisy's choices are symbolized in the novel through her house. Nick, our narrator,

Critics of this writing think that James created a character that makes the reader think about whether she is really innocent or not. Carol Ohmann shows that James displays Daisy this way on purpose so that we as the readers can argue whether Daisy is really innocent and just naïve. In “Daisy Miller: A Study of Changing Intentions,” Ohmann writes,

Fitzgerald presents his audience with Daisy, a married “girl” who eventually reunited with the lost love of her life, Jay Gatsby. While breaking rules and being adventurous, Daisy ultimately brings Gatsby to his death. Although she explores her sexuality and runs off behind her husband Tom’s back, Daisy continues to be oppressed. Tom’s aggressiveness and wealth force Daisy to depend on him, making her a slave of her husband. Because of this, she can not leave him to be with Gatsby, the one she loves. Doing so would mean losing economic support and losing a stable life. In this way, her husband defines her life. There is an evident contrast however with Tom’s role. Tom keeps an apartment away from home for his mistress and gets away with it. Because he is the man, society would not dare punish him for exploring his liberties. Daisy on the other hand is inferior to Tom and, as a social norm, is not allowed to indulge in such freedoms because doing so would bring shame to her honor.

Daisy on the other hand plays dumb. She uses vulnerability and innocence as a mask. She acknowledges what she's doing and is focused on keeping her reputation clean. She is bubbly and giggly and is married to Tom. Tom and her were once in love for a short while until Daisy had her child and it was first revealed that Tom was cheating. Daisy was playing the fool, she also knew that Tom “had some women in New York”(20). She was not fighting back in order to preserve her marriage for her daughter as well as her reputation. Daisy is onto something though, she knows that “a fool- that's the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool”(17). She knows that by her playing the fool she can get out of and get away

Secondly, Daisy is another example of an individual of the novel who appears to be things she really is not. Scott Fitzgerald’s illusions of the appearance of Daisy are meant to affect the events in the novel. Daisy is introduced as a pure hearted, guiltless and lovable character. “The other girl, Daisy, made an attempt to rise — she leaned slightly forward with a conscientious expression — then she laughed, an absurd,

He said to himself that she was too light and childish, too uncultivated and unreasoning, too provincial, to have reflected upon the ostracism or even to have perceived it. Then at other moments he believed that she carried about in her elegant and irresponsible organism a defiant, passionate, perfectly observant consciousness of the impression she produced. (43)

Winterbourne is largely blinded to the honesty and innocence that Daisy imparts because he has trouble recognizing a manner that has become foreign to him. Thus when Daisy walks calmly along with both Giovanelli and Winterbourne in the Pincio and does not seem anxious to get rid of Winterbourne, Winterbourne is perplexed (36-37). He does not realize that she does not know better and she will ruin herself because of it.