James' manipulation of appearances in Daisy Miller as well as other character's notions of these appearances provides us with a novella of enigmatic and fascinating characters. Daisy, the most complicated of these ambiguities, is as mysterious as she is flirtatious. James gives her a carefully constructed enigmatic quality that leaves the reader wondering what her motivations were and who she truly was. He structures the novella in such a way as to stress the insights that the supporting characters provide into Daisy's character, weather accurate or erroneous. Despite their questionable reliability, they allow James to make commentary on the idea of foreignism and Americanism as well as status and wealth within these societies.

In Daisy Miller the protagonist, Daisy, rebels against convention and runs from any stereotype that could be applied to her. She seems determined to defy convention and to never be completely understood. Daisy's flat-out rejection...