614 James, Henry
back home in New York, but she discovers that
her understanding of appropriate social behavior
clashes with the expectations of expatriate Ameri-
can high society. Upon meeting Winterbourne in
her first-class hotel in Vevey, she tells of dinners
hosted in her honor, some of them by men, in
Manhattan. Vevey offers little, in contrast to the
lively landscape of New York, and Daisy expresses
her disappointment in the town’s wholly absent
social scene. Indeed, her compatriots in the hotel
have avoided making the Millers’ acquaintance, a
rejection best represented in the character of Mrs.
Costello, Winterbourne’s aunt.
During their first meeting, Daisy confides in
Winterbourne that she hopes to know his aunt,
a wealthy woman who, as Daisy learns from con-
versations with one of the hotel’s maids, is “very
exclusive.” Mrs. Costello, however, has no intention
of crossing Daisy’s path; as she tells Winterbourne,
the Millers are “the sort of Americans that one
does one’s duty by just ignoring.” Indeed, the Mill-
ers hail from a rising class of newly rich Americans,
their wealth so newfound that Daisy’s father must
forego travelling to Europe in order to continue
making money to finance his family’s tour. The
Millers’ nouveau riche status contrasts sharply with
the wealth of the socialites they meet abroad, all
of whom experience the freedom of leisure bought
by fortunes inherited rather than earned. Later in
the novella, Mrs. Costello makes a condescend-
ing reference to the source of the Millers’ income
when, in speaking to Winterbourne, she pretends
to forget Daisy’s name, calling her instead Miss
Baker and Miss Chandler before finally settling
on Miss Miller. Emphasizing the labor-intensive
jobs of baker, candlestick maker, and mill opera-
tor, Mrs. Costello here delivers a veiled critique
of the Millers’ reliance on business. Winterbourne
acknowledges his aunt’s dismissal of Daisy in
Vevey, where he “at once recognised [sic] from her
tone that Miss Daisy Miller’s place in the social
scale was low.”
Daisy seems to confirm her status on her trip to
the castle of Chillon. Visiting the castle with Win-
terbourne and without a chaperone, Daisy does not
practice discretion, choosing to meet her companion
in the crowded hotel lobby where sundry guests and
servants watch her come down the stairs and leave
unattended with a man. During their trip, Win-
terbourne feels both anxious and exhilarated about
breaking the social code, but Daisy’s straightforward
demeanor and lack of self-consciousness surprises
him. For Daisy, this excursion provides a delightful
diversion from the otherwise dull social atmosphere
of the hotel, where her desire for society goes unmet
due to inexplicable—from her perspective—class
boundaries.
In Rome, Daisy spends much time with
Giovanelli, an Italian with a reputation among
elitists, such as Mrs. Costello and Winterbourne’s
friend, Mrs. Walker, for courting American heir-
esses in search of fortune. Daisy, however, enjoys the
lively company of Giovanelli and his social circle,
especially after her relatively quiet weeks at Vevey.
When Daisy asks Winterbourne to accompany her
to the Pincio to meet Giovanelli, the American
sees him for the first time and characterizes him in
class terms as “a music-master or a penny-a-liner or
a third-rate artist,” all denigrating descriptions of
the artist of no account who works for pay. More
astounding to Winterbourne and to his social set
is Daisy’s persistent interest in Giovanelli; Win-
terbourne is appalled that Daisy does not realize
the man’s low status. Mrs. Walker expresses similar
indignation when Daisy rejects an effort to salvage
the girl’s reputation. In an effort to clarify for Daisy
the upper-class view of her behavior, Mrs. Walker
travels to the Pincio in her carriage to warn the girl
against being reckless and unreasonable, but Daisy
waves off the carriage to continue her walk with
Giovanelli.
She pays dearly, twice, for rejecting the tenets of
high society. First, a few days later, at Mrs. Walker’s
party, the hostess turns her back on Daisy, a pub-
lic and humiliating sign that the girl is no longer
welcome in Mrs. Walker’s company. Second, a few
weeks later, Daisy again spurns the advice of those
around her in favor of visiting the Colosseum by
moonlight, only to contract a fatal bout of malaria.
At her graveside, Giovanelli tells Winterbourne
that, despite appearances and upper-class assump-
tions, Daisy would never have married him, leaving
Winterbourne to feel that he had misjudged her.
Melanie Brown