Daisy Miller is a fictional family and self-novel about a young woman named Daisy. Daisy is a carefree, somewhat naïve person, who did not quite follow the customs of Europe. She is an American who is on a long trip in Europe with her mother and brother. In America, she was surrounded with gentlemen accompaniment, and frankly, was used to behaving however she pleases without losing their interest. She discovers otherwise throughout the story. The theme in Daisy Miller is about gaining the respect and reputation of people based on their behavior. There are also other reoccurring themes in the story. This particular theme is developed through Mrs. Costello, Daisy, Giovanelli, and even Winterbourne. Daisy wasn’t used to having to gain the respect of people or even caring what others thought about her. She used her good looks to get all the young bachelors in New York to love her. When Winterbourne first met Mrs. Miller he thought that she was, “Completely uncultivated, but wonderfully pretty.” (14) This shows …show more content…
Winterbourne and Daisy are the main characters who provoke the theme in the story Daisy Miller. Giovanelli had a major role in this as well. Winterbourne, and most likely Giovanelli, knew that, “It was impossible to regard [Daisy] as a perfectly well-conducted young lady.” (37)They both judged Daisy’s actions and made their decisions on what her reputation would be to them, even though that might not be the correct assumption. This is also one theme in Daisy Miller. The way Winterbourne’s thinks about daisy helps show the development of the theme. Winterbourne refers to Daisy as an “American flirt”(38), he also believes that, “She is very innocent.”(38) Winterbourne is of course jealous of Giovanelli because Daisy seems to have somewhat of an interest in him, and Winterbourne wants her to only have interest in