An Analysis between Daisy Miller and Souls Belated
Sometimes ideas or objects from two different sources seem to come together and similarities are noticed. I noticed many similarities in Edith Wharton's Souls Belated, and in Henry James' Daisy Miller. They both display conflicting cultures, namely American and English societies. The American culture in both stories is the culture that intrudes upon the norm. The 2 stories also have a recurring theme in common: The question of Marriage. None of the characters in either story have a firm idea about marriage. Marriage is constantly brought up in the dialogue of both stories. In "Daisy Miller" I believe Daisy was simply acting in the way of a young American girl. Do I think she knew she was acting inappropriately? Only insofar as she knew others did not approve of her actions. The question here is one of two separate cultures. Also, keep in mind here that the people who were criticizing Miss Miller were much older than her. What they deemed "inappropriate behavior" may have been so in their generation, but not for Daisy. I also believe Daisy was dull-witted enough to not catch on to everyone's true feelings on the matter until Mrs. Walker made a point of acting her displeasure directly to Daisy.
she even admits it. But did she know her actions were inappropriate? No. And after she found out they were, did she care? Obviously not. I agree with the responses of several people that Giovanni was indeed nothing more that a distraction, a means to make Winterbourne jealous. I also believe, however, that Giovanni was a way for Winterbourne to get distance enough between he and Daisy that he might observe and ascertain her true nature. This was accomplished, and he realized Daisy was a flirt, although a beautiful one. I would like to point out one thing that I don't think anyone else noticed, or at least if they did, didn't talk about. Both the beginning and the end of the novel refer to some woman (a foreign lady) in Geneva whom Winterbourne is "extremely devoted". My question is, what makes what Winterbourne does with this foreign lady any better that what Miss Miller does with Giovanni? In "Souls Belated" Lidia just got out of a terrible divorce and is out exploring the world and trying to figure out what to do with her life now. She doesn't travel alone; she travels with Gannett, who is her partner in crime. Lidia is scarred from her last marriage and views the whole idea of marriage a
Some common words found in the essay are:
Belated Lidia, Daisy Winterbourne, American English, Giovanni Daisy, Daisy Miller, Giovanni Winterbourne, Miss Miller, Daisy Daisy, Marriage None, Souls Belated, souls belated, daisy miller, american english, believe daisy, foreign lady, impact culture, miss miller, daisy flirt, idea marriage, culture stories,
Approximate Word count = 811
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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