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In the Swiss resort of Vevey, Frederick Winterbourne, an American who has lived in Europe so long that he has almost forgotten America, meets Daisy Miller, a…
In the Swiss resort of Vevey, Frederick Winterbourne, an American who has lived in Europe so long that he has almost forgotten America, meets Daisy Miller, a pretty, lively young woman from Schenectady, New York, travelling with her mother and her little brother. Daisy talks to anyone, goes out without a chaperone and ignores what people think. Winterbourne cannot decide whether she is innocent or shameless, and when they meet again in Rome, where she is seen everywhere with a handsome Italian, the American colony turns its back on her.
Context and significance
Published in 1878, Daisy Miller was Henry James's first great popular success and created a type: the free, innocent American girl misjudged by old Europe. It can be read in an evening. Read Washington Square next, and see his life.
About the author
Henry James (1843–1916) was born in New York, the brother of the philosopher William James, and was educated in Europe and America. In 1876 he settled in London, and later in the small town of Rye, and spent his life writing about Americans in Europe and the clash of innocence and experience.
In some twenty novels and more than a hundred stories, including The Portrait of a Lady and The Turn of the Screw, he developed a subtle, psychological style that influenced modern fiction. He became a British citizen in 1915, a year before his death.