Daisy Miller centers partly on the role of convention in the human community and on the problem of reconciling the right to express one's individuality with the need to live together in harmony. This perennial dilemma has no easy solution and discussion of it will soon go beyond the question of whether Daisy is a flirt or behaves improperly. Another significant issue is the temptation to reduce people to intellectual concepts. Using James's development of this theme as a starting point, groups can consider how flexibly used generalizations facilitate communication while pigeon-holing people in ready-made categories denies their humanity. Also of interest in this sense are Winterbourne's "masculine" categories for labeling women. Finally, the story invites reflection on relations between parents and children.
1. Randolph Miller hails Daisy's first appearance with the announcement "She's an.....
This is a free excerpt of 135 words. This section contains 358 words. This
study guide contains 10,394 words (approx. 35 pages at 300
words per page).
Read the rest of this Literature Guide with our Daisy Miller Access Pass.
