Henry James is very deliberate in the descriptions of his characters in Daisy Miller. Mr. Giovanelli is described repeatedly as being very handsome, but also very short. When Winterbourne first meets him, James writes, “Winterbourne perceived at some distance a little man standing with folded arms, nursing his cane” (39). While Giovanelli’s size could be contributed to Winterbourne’s distance from him, the phrase “little man” immediately associates Giovanelli as being shorter than Winterbourne. Also the use of “nursing his cane” implies that Giovanelli needs some kind of walking assistance that Winterbourne does not. As Winterbourne and Giovanelli are in competition for Daisy Miller’s attention and affection, this characterization seems to paint Winterbourne in a more favorable light. Later on, Winterbourne also says, when referencing Giovanelli, “‘The little Italian… He is apparently a perfectly respectable little man. I believe he is in a small way a cavaliere avvocato” (53). Winterbourne cannot seem to ignore Giovanelli’s size, stating it twice in the same section of dialogue. Even when describing Giovanelli’s profession, which is very admirable, Winterbourne uses the unfortunate phrase “he is in a small way”, which further reinstates Giovanelli’s inferior size (53).
Height seems to be a great source of stability and validation for Winterbourne. Throughout the novella, Winterbourne seems to be uncertain about everything, most especially, societal expectations and Daisy Miller’s personality and interest in other men. David Lodge’s introduction to Daisy Miller describes Giovanelli as “a handsome young man of dubious social status” (xvii). Winterbourne struggles throughout the novella with proper social habits and expectations. Giovanelli’s ambiguous position in the social hierarchy is another layer of conflict and confusion for Winterbourne, as Giovanelli seems removed from the rules Winterbourne must follow, most especially with women. David Lodge also states, “Daisy is forcing the pace of [her and Winterbourne’s] relationship” (xxiii). Traditionally, men have more control in the beginning of a relationship because women have to adhere to stricter social standards, but Daisy inverts this as she controls many men throughout the story. Winterbourne becomes lost in this competition for Daisy and cannot gain any footing because she seems to desire attention from many different men. When Giovanelli’s height becomes clear, Winterbourne holds onto this subject as a source of validation and superiority. As Daisy becomes enthralled with Giovanelli’s beauty, Winterbourne reaffirms his masculinity and importance by repeatedly noting his superior size.
This conflict between Winterbourne and Giovanelli seems to suggest that Winterbourne is insecure and highly unsure of his place in society as he is evidently very threatened by another man’s attractiveness. Winterbourne holds onto the attention and affirmation he gets from Daisy Miller, and when her attraction strays to another man, Winterbourne is forced to cling to something as trivial as height to reinsert himself in the narrative and in Daisy Miller’s life.
Good analysis! The way Winterbourne describes Giovanelli in contradictory terms, seemingly insulting him one moment but complimenting him the next, is really interesting and I do agree that he is using this language to assert himself in the narrative. I think it also helps shows the reader his indecisiveness within not only his actions but in his narration.
I think this blog is spot on in comparing the size between Giovanelli and Winterbourne and what that implies. The only sentence I question is the final sentence suggesting height is “trivial”. I think even in today’s supposedly egalitarian age size seems to matter in judging one’s appearance or presence. Giovanelli being described as “little” implies inferiority and given the repetitive nature of his small stature being emphasized its importance is clear despite his being handsome. Does size matter more to men than to women however?. Daisy seems content with a handsome man despite his smallness and she praises his other virtues “He’s tremendously clever. He’s perfectly lovely!” (37) and “he sings beautifully” “he has the mostly lovely voice and he knows the most charming set of songs.” (48). Winterbourne clearly views Giovanelli’s size as a disadvantage but it seems Daisy finds other characteristics more important than size.
Grace, I think this is a great post! Through reading your piece I was shocked how much “little man” and “small” came up in the James’ writing. I like how you pointed out how descriptive James is with his characters and then provided some examples of characters’ physical descriptions. I also noticed how descriptive his characters were, but I thought about it through their dialogue so by means of the character themself describing/sharing who they are. In my blog post, I wrote about Daisy specifically and how I think her dialogue describes who she is and her personality.