Monday, April 27, 2015
Americanness in Daisy Miller
One of the things that separates "Daisy Miller" from the other works that we've read so far in class is its setting. Taking place in Europe, "Daisy Miller" provides a different perspective from many of the other places that we've seen. Much of what we've read defines Americanness based on the setting - Cooper uses the wild descriptions to romanticize the transformation of the American landscape, Emerson revels in the beauty in nature - so it is interesting to see how this short story still relates to Americanness while taking place overseas. Mrs. Costello warns Winterbourne that he would regret living out of the country for so long, and in the last few lines of "Daisy Miller," Winterbourne laments, "You were right in that remark that you made last summer. I was booked to make a mistake. I have lived too long in foreign parts" (51). James contrasts America and Europe by placing American characters in this foreign setting, but he introduces a new type of Americanness that we have not seen before. Daisy seems to be defined by her "American innocence" throughout the story, but is also very blatantly flirtatious. Perhaps James attempts to emphasize the effects of European culture on Americanness or to highlight the changes in how women in America are being viewed during this time. I'm curious to see how other classmates interpret this change in setting from the other works that we've read, particularly with why Winterbourne then decides to continue living in Geneva and how Daisy redefines (or doesn't) American expectations for women in the 19th century.
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It is interesting to see Americanness defined as the anti-European more decisively than as having a definition itself in "Daisy Miller". It is funny to me that so many of the authors we have read (Cooper, for example), laud European culture and sensibilities as being better than the American, while being active participants in the growth of American culture.
ReplyDeleteThis is a really interesting post. While Mrs. Costello and Winterbourne may comment on their removal from and desire to return to America, they nonetheless entirely assimilate to European cultural norms and pass judgement on Daisy Miller and her family for their inability (or refusal) to do the same. It's somewhat ironic that two Americans living in Europe are critical of improper and flirtatious qualities they see as representative of "inferior" American culture.
ReplyDeleteWhile reading your post I noticed that the part where you write that Daisy has "American innocence" yet is flirtatious. It reminded me of a quote where Winterbourne remembers that he's heard that American girls are very innocent but he has also heard that they are not at all. I think this idea of American girl innocence/not innocence is still present in stereotypes about American girls.
ReplyDeleteI was really interested by this post. I thought the paradox of Daisy (flirt/innocent) was reminiscent of the paradox of Americans being defined in opposition to Europeans, yet striving to emulate them.
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