Preview

Culture Clashes in Daisy Miller

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1407 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Culture Clashes in Daisy Miller
Culture Clashes Throughout the world people have differing ideas on what is good and bad based on whatever culture one visits one is sure to find major differences. In the period that this story takes place the US is trying to find its own identity and establish their own traditions. In the Europeans perspectives the Americans were deviant people because their culture was out of the norm. Winterbourne is stunned and intrigued immediately once he meets Daisy. He growing up with a more European lifestyle finds Daisy’s flirtatious and outgoing attitude very abnormal yet refreshing. Many of the older women in society, especially his mother, find her to be cheap and very unlady like due to her lack of classy behavior compared their idea of a proper high society woman should behave like. The book Daisy Miller, illustrates the American lifestyle, compared to the proper etiquette of European social standards. The novel Daisy Miller is the story of a girl who is on vacation with her mother and little brother. Along the way she meets Winterbourne and whom he immediately notices that she is different than other girls he has met in the past. She gives off an aura of wanting to become independent and a free spirit. Which all of the other women look down upon because they find it very trashy and very improper, especially for someone of such a high status also. Daisy’s family is of high society and normally girls like Daisy are quiet and respectful, never is it heard of to approach a man to which she is not acquainted with. Therefore, the idea that Daisy is flirtatious and so headstrong and direct with Winterbourne is just shocking to everyone who hears of her. She makes a great impact on those around her and unfortunately most do not like her because she is different and American. Henry James was born in New York on April 15, 1843 and died February 28, 1916 of edema following a series of strokes in London( “Henry James” par 1). He was the son of Henry, a minister, and

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    towards the story because it reveals glimpses into Daisy's character. Daisy is not a fool herself, but due to the times and the extent of her exposure to the social environment, she has not valued intelligence in women. Because of her generation being very mature and old fashioned, she believes that the younger females just care about their wild life of simply partying in the day and partying in the night.…

    • 414 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    One of the women characters to who may show sympathy towards is Daisy. Daisy throughout the novel is oblivious to the fact that Tom, her husband, has an intimate relationship with the character Myrtle in a very public way. This is one of the ways in which we, the reader, sympathise towards Daisy, not only because of the fact that Tom is cheating on her with other characters but, the public way in which this affair is being carried out with everyone aware of Tom and Myrtles relations, other than Daisy yet saying very little to her about it.…

    • 1288 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Daisy Miller is forced to address her personal identity in the book because she is only able to identify with being American by putting down others she meets. By today’s standards, Daisy would be considered “fake” or disingenuous. For example, Daisy’s own family tells her secrets and hands out her real intentions to deceive others. Her brother tells Winterbourne that Daisy Miller “isn’t her real name; that isn’t her name on her cards….Her real name is Annie P. Miller” (Page by Page Books, 2010, p. 2). Winterbourne is of course surprised by each revelation about Daisy, but is quick to put Daisy into the broad category of “American flirt” and decides that “this young girl was not a coquette in that sense; she was very unsophisticated; she was only a pretty American flirt” (Page by Page Books, 2010, p. 6). The foreigners or even expatriates Daisy meets are in the same category of people who (to her own mind) do not rise to this arbitrary standard she has made for herself and others she meets in Europe. She is only interested in talking about herself, and is arrogant, though considered to be…

    • 1042 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Scott Fitzgerald's character Daisy Buchanan in the novel The Great Gatsby is a perfect illustration of a woman in the 1920s. Married to a wealthy man, Daisy is portrayed as a stereotypical house wife with her good looks and aristocratic life style. Daisy is in love with her husband's money and the simplicity and luxury of her living. It is wondered if Daisy is like a role model in this novel, but throughout the novel, she is perceived to be ditsy, boring, and an adulteress to Gatsby. Fitzgerald offers a suggestion to his readers about the blend of her personalities in this quote from the novel, "She's got an indiscreet voice. It's full of-" I hesitated. "Her voice is full of money." He goes on to say that like money, ‘her voice seems to offer everything, but she's born to disappoint and that she is a person better to dream about than to actually possess.' Daisy like most women of the 1920s, doesn't know the means of a true relationship in the sense that she thinks the only way to attract a man or a man of wealth is to have good looks and a shallow personality, just like she has perfected. When talking to her baby daughter, Daisy says, "I hope she'll be a fool—that's the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool." In reality Fitzgerald has shown us that she is self-reflecting on herself and possibly all women of the time, by being ‘beautiful little…

    • 785 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    When reading the first chapter and especially page twenty-one, a curiosity in regards to Daisy's character arose. One could say, in most cases understanding Daisy’s actions in the beginning can prove to be a challenge. The connotation to her actions seemed somewhat vague, even. Numerous members…

    • 603 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    One of the main focuses in the novel, "The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is the character of Daisy as she is the goal for which Gatsby strives. Although she is an intricate part of the plot and adds to the many themes of the novel, her character is portrayed as selfish and immature. This essay will prove that Daisy is an empty, shallow, fairy-tale princess who never grows up by discussing: firstly, her rediscovered love for Gatsby; secondly, the relationship between herself and Tom Buchanan; thirdly, her carelessness and lack of thought for anyone but herself.…

    • 591 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Daisy has beautiful appearance and charming voice. “she was the first ‘nice’ girl he had ever known” (141). As a young debutante in Louisville, Daisy is extremely popular among the military officers. “It was the kind of voice that the ear follows up and down, as if each speech is an arrangement of notes that will never be played again” (14). Daisy’s voice is overwhelming to every man and it’s like true promises.To Gatsby, Daisy’s voice speaks of wealth (115). Daisy’s…

    • 524 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the novel “The Great Gatsby” written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Daisy is described ieaders in various ways. In the beginning of the story Daisy is described “by far the most popular of all the young girls in Louisville”. This quote described by Fitzgerald tells the reader that Daisy holds a degree that she has immense beauty which has blinded many men. It means that she holds the popularity status because of the beauty she has. She is also described as “ a beautiful little fool.” This also indicates that Daisy is simply just beautiful just like an angel pure and white. And in which white could also means lack of morality.…

    • 595 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Daisy is a careless siren who uses everything given to her by birth to win what she loves, namely attention,…

    • 661 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Daisy Buchanan, in Fitzgerald’s 1920s American novel: ‘The Great Gatsby’, is the love of Jay Gatsby and the person he has devoted the last five years of his life to. Initially, Fitzgerald portrays her as pure, attractive and innocent, but gradually reveals her selfish and shallow personality. Ultimately, the reader feels that she is not a worthy objective of Gatsby’s dedication.…

    • 857 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    During the 1920s men were powerful over women. The Great Gatsby shows this when Tom punches Myrtle in the nose to control her. We know because it says, “...Tom Buchanan broke her nose with his open hand.” Jordan and Daisy were short dresses this shows the trend. Daisy says, “'I'm glad it's a girl. And I hope she'll be a fool—that's the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool.”Daisy agrees to being a fool after she finds out she gave birth to a girl. She expresses how a girl needs to be stupid to survive. She knows this because of the fact that Tom is cheating on her. The novel shows how Daisy and Myrtle are cheating on their husbands, this goes back to women being careless for their actions. (Shmoop)…

    • 605 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Surrounded by wealth from a young age, Daisy leads a privileged lifestyle that has instilled in her an air of carelessness when it comes to dealing with real-life issues. After the birth of her daughter, she comments, “I hope she’ll be a fool—that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool” (17). This personal philosophy that it is best for a girl to be a “beautiful little fool” is one prevalent in many of her decisions throughout The Great Gatsby. Instead of facing her love for Gatsby, she marries Tom, an aristocrat with a penchant for infidelity. When she is confronted by Gatsby five years later, she plays the “beautiful little fool” yet again by blindly remaining with her unfaithful husband. Ultimately, she turns a blind eye to the reality of her poor decisions when it comes to love, and remains forever preoccupied with the hope of finding happiness in the lap of…

    • 833 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    She is described as a captivating, young girl that leads others on with her naive and innocent presentation. "Her face was sad and lovely with bright things in it, bright eyes and a bright passionate mouth..." (Fitzgerald 9). She builds the American Dream by showing the beauty and happiness of her life. She is the perfect ideal for what a young woman of wealth should be. She comes from a well-know, wealthy Southern family and is expected to act like it. She was expected to marry in her 'class', establish a sense of security, gain social status, create a home for her family and have children as she was supposed to. However, Daisy showed faint resistance towards her expected lifestyle and the oppression she faces daily. While speaking whith Nick about her daughter she says, "I'm glad it's a girl. And I hope she'll be a fool -that's the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool," (Fitzgerald 17). Daisy isn't as daft as society would believe her to be, she knows first-hand that the only way her daughter will make it during a time like this is to be a "fool". During this time, society prefferred women to be simple, eloquent, obideant and naive. They also did not value educated women. Because of her not wanting her daughter to wish for more than she could have, Daisy wanted her to become a "beautiful little fool". Daisy is a product of her raising and has expectations set for her as a woman in the 1920's. She tries to please…

    • 1040 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Fitzgerald uses the 1920’s period to enclose smaller details of his female characters, using the era of fads, jazz, parties, revolution, freedom, and independence of women to structure the novel with themes of egotism and materialism. Daisy being the more centrally focused female in the novel examples all of these attributes of the 20’s within her relationships with people, her speech and her decisions during the novel. Wealth and glamour are vital in Daisy’s life evidently following with her marrying a man whose aggression is touched upon, proof of faithlessness and shallow characteristics however with the consistent ability to provide for her with the flamboyant standard of…

    • 1541 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    american dream

    • 408 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The 1920s were new times for Americans. Wealth, leisure, and social events replaced the frugality and hard work that had defined America for decades before. A country built on the backbone of ingenuity and a “work before play” philosophy was transformed into a wasteful, carefree time. Gatsby fulfils the typical embodiment of the 1920s American dream; a man squandering his fortune on lavish parties, expensive clothes, and the best entertainment to ensure his popularity in the social rankings. Although he seemed fulfilled and pleased with his life, his soul was hollow and empty. No amount of money could fill the place where his one true love, Daisy, was meant to be. Many other Americans were like Gatsby in the 1920s, building a façade of happiness with money, lust, and social statuses, only to be shallow and hurt because of lack of morals, loss of true love, and a greed for more wealth. Though not all Americans were like this in the 1920s, we can see examples of these types of characters in the Great Gatsby through Daisy, Tom, and Jordan. Harshly, the 1920s compared to the 1930s can be associated with these characters; at first they are overwhelmed with prosperity, continually seeking the utmost means of wealth, which they believe will buy them love and true happiness. After the shine of success becomes dull, they are left with no morals, fabricated love, and no sense of true belonging. Parallel to the 1930s, victims of this time of greed are sent into a downward spiral of moral poverty.…

    • 408 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays