How Is Daisy Miller Ugly American
Daisy Miller: Finding Personal Identity as an Ugly American
Psychology 112
Vampire Academy for Phlebotomy and Psychology
Dracula Smith
September 20, 2010
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 …show more content…
In the end, Daisy craved respect from the same people she looked down on, and found that she could not identify with on any level. It is difficult to believe that if Daisy were a real person that she would have been happy with the final result of her life. As a character in the book, she is easy to misunderstand. Daisy acted the way she did in the story because she lacked role models to show her another way to act. Unfortunately, in the story, she became more of the epitome of an ignorant American who saw no value in the culture of European people, but sought to have them look up to her and respect her for being American
Psychology 112
Vampire Academy for Phlebotomy and Psychology
Dracula Smith
September 20, 2010
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 …show more content…
In the end, Daisy craved respect from the same people she looked down on, and found that she could not identify with on any level. It is difficult to believe that if Daisy were a real person that she would have been happy with the final result of her life. As a character in the book, she is easy to misunderstand. Daisy acted the way she did in the story because she lacked role models to show her another way to act. Unfortunately, in the story, she became more of the epitome of an ignorant American who saw no value in the culture of European people, but sought to have them look up to her and respect her for being American