Daisy Miller Essay, Research Paper

I have noticed several postings I would like to

comment on in addition to adding my own little spin to

this discussion. I believe Daisy was simply acting

in the way of a young American girl. Do I think she knew

she was acting inappropriately? Only insofar as she knew

others did not approve of her actions. The question here

is one of two seperate cultures. Also, keep in mind here

that the people who were criticizing Miss Miller were

several generations removed from her. What they deemed

“inapproprite behavior” may have been so in thier

generation, but not for Daisy. I also believe Daisy was

dull-witted enough to not catch on to everyone’s true

feelings on the matter until Mrs.Walker made a point of

acting her displeasure directly to Daisy. I was going to

say something else here… Oh yeah, I remember. Daisy

knew she was a flirt, she even admits it. But did she

know her actions were inappropriate? No. And after she

found out they were, did she care? Obviously not.

I agree with the responses of several people that Mr. G

was indeed nothing more that a distraction, a means to

make Mr. W jealous. I also believe, however, that Mr. G

was a way for Mr. W to get distance enough between he

and Daisy that he might observe and ascertain her true

nature. This was accomplished, and he realized Daisy was

a flirt, although a beautiful one. I would like to

point out one thing that I don’t think anyone else

noticed, or at least if they did, didn’t talk about.

Both the beginning and the end of the novel refer to

some woman (a foreign lady) in Geneva whom Mr. W is

“extremely devoted”. My question is, what makes what Mr.

W does with this foreign lady any better that what Miss

Miller does with Mr.G? On the discussion question,

Daisy was rebelling. She was rebelling against a culture

who thought what she did was wrong. What I mean is, she

continued to flirt after she found out that it was

deemed “inappropriate,”(although I still hold to the

opinion that she didn’t know what she was doing wrong

until that point) which indicates rebellion, at least

to me. Did anyone else think the ending of the

book rather abrupt? It was like, one minute she’s

talking and laughing in the Collesseum and the next,

she’s dead.