"A Question for the Metaphysicians"

In Daisy Miller, Henry James considers ideas of culture, particularly the space that forms between high and low, European and American. There is, naturally, the question of whether there is any validity to these distinctions, of where these ideas of superiority or inferiority arise from and how they are propagated. What also appears is the specter of morality as it relates to these notions of culture. James seems to wish for his reader to ask after the consequences of engaging with either of these strains, the characters in Daisy Miller serving as examples of these effects and, in certain cases, as instigators on these topics. Winterbourne's aunt, Mrs. Costello, does just this near the beginning of the novella's second part, telling Winterbourne that the Millers "are hopelessly vulgar" before stating that the morality of this vulgarity is "a question for the metaphysicians. [The Millers] are bad enough to dislike at any rate; and for this short life that is quite enough" (428 [my pagination is off due to my usage of an e-book]). Where Winterbourne posits that this vulgarity is but a show of innocence, his aunt immediately views it as a sure sign of the family's consummate 'badness,' a brief semantic tiff that stands as an emblem for much of the novel's central conflict. Winterbourne seems hopelessly attracted to this innocence for as long as it is aimed at him, but as soon as he is no longer the sole object of Daisy's affections (however erratic they may be), he turns to a sort of tacit acceptance of the immorality (or bad taste) present in her behavior. The novella's conclusion, with its rapid disposal of Daisy and its illustrations of the words shared between Winterbourne and Giovanelli, almost points to this reckless behavior as the cause of her death. If the tale ended here, one might take it as an almost absurd method of informing the reader to stay within the confines of proper decorum. However, Winterbourne's turn towards "a very clever foreign lady" in Geneva slates his high cultural stance as well, evening out the criticism or perhaps even nullifying it entirely (886).