In Daisy Miller, the titular character is harshly judged by society due to her deviance from societal norms. However, the novel is filtered through Winterbourne’s perspective, and he is the least confident in his conclusions about Daisy’s motivations and values. Winterbourne frequently talks to other characters about Daisy, and most of these conversations are centered around if Daisy is an innocent young women obliviously defying societal norms, or a rebellious flirt intentionally defying convention. The word “innocence” is consistently utilized and debated in these conversations, which connects to whether Daisy’s fate should be viewed as tragic or inevitable.
A significant conversation about Daisy’s innocence occurs between Winterbourne and Mrs. Costello, who is a staunch observer of European social norms. Winterbourne defends Daisy and Mrs. Miller, stating “They are very ignorant- very innocent only. Depend upon it they are not bad,” to which Mrs. Costello replies “They are hopelessly vulgar…Whether or not being hopelessly vulgar is being “bad” is a question for the metaphysicians. They are bad enough to dislike, at any rate, and for this short life that is enough” (James 33). In this passage, the triviality of European social norms becomes evident. While Mrs. Costello appears confident in her assessment of Daisy, she ultimately acknowledges she is incapable of judging her character. She does not deny that Daisy could perhaps be innocent, but she implies this is irrelevant, saying she is “hopelessly vulgar.” However, she emphasizes her inability to make the ultimate assessment, as she acknowledges that she is not a metaphysics, or a philosopher that makes conclusions about the nature of existence. Since this ultimate judgment of character is missing, the “society” takes this role of instating moral values and expectations. Since Daisy and Mrs. Miller are “bad enough to dislike,” Daisy’s innocence becomes irrelevant. Mrs. Costello, in her “short life” is content to unquestionably follow these expectations. However, by describing her life as “short” and reverting ultimate moral assessments to philosophers, the novel emphasizes the ultimate triviality and malleability of these judgments.
Arguments about Daisy’s innocence continue throughout the novel. These conclude at Daisy’s funeral, when Mr. Giovanelli states “she was the most innocent,” to which Winterbourne questions “The most innocent?” and Mr. Giovanelli affirms “The most innocent!” (James 63). By the end of the novel, Winterbourne continues to be unsure of Daisy’s agency in her decisions. However, this conversation has more weight than before, because it questions whether Daisy is responsible for the decisions that lead to her death. Winterbourne questions Mr. Giovanelli’s confidence in Daisy’s innocence, yet never makes an assured conclusion either way.
The word “innocent” is repeated throughout the novel as Daisy’s agency is debated and questioned. By the end of the novel, Winterbourne, who once was a staunch defender of Daisy’s lack of “blame,” is left unsure of her naïveté. This reflects the novel’s critique of these judgements. The characters’ conclusions about Daisy seem confident, yet are repeatedly changed and qualified. The reader is left to decide whether Daisy is a helpless victim or intentional rebel. However, the way that her innocence is inconclusively debated highlights the ultimate triviality of these concepts.
Yes, I definitely agree that Daisy’s innocence is an important but very confusing/conflicting topic throughout the novel. A question that I had while reading, and especially after seeing it discussed at length in your blog post, is what “innocence” really means to Winterbourne. Does innocence mean compliance to European social norms, compliance to American social norms, lack of awareness about her deviation from these social structures? Although one definition of “innocence” probably can’t be made, noting all of the specific situational factors on the changing of Winter’s opinion of Daisy’s innocence could be important when analyzing innocence in the novel.
Your post noted a lot of important conversations Winterbourne had about Daisy’s innocence. It would be interesting to also include Daisy’s actual actions in the conversation, like Daisy’s “umbrella moment” with Giovanelli, where Winter’s opinion seems to be impacted in the moment.
I love what you said about to Mrs. Costello, it doesn’t matter if Daisy is innocent or not. Maybe the reason why Winterbourne is so obsessed with this question is not that he wants to justify Daisy’s actions, but to justify himself for being attracted to her. Near the end of the novella, when Winterbourne gives up on pursuing Daisy, he immediately decides that whether Daisy is innocent or not is no longer important to him.
I like the way you emphasize the triviality of the debates around Daisy’s innocence. Like you say, the purpose of these debates seems to be to aid the reader (and Winterbourne) in deciding whether Daisy’s death is tragic or inevitable. However, Mrs. Costello’s comment – “They are bad enough to dislike, at any rate; and for this short life that is quite enough” – seems applicable to Daisy’s overall story and fate. Because, as you say, society has taken on the responsibility of upholding morality in the conventions of “proper” behavior, it doesn’t matter whether or not Daisy intentionally flouts social expectations or whether she is actually innocent and ignorant. At the end of the story, she still dies, regardless of her intentions. While societal expectations may be trivial and made-up, they hold an immense amount of power, and Daisy’s death shows that nonconformity can (or will, or must) be punished in a devastating way.
Lily, you did a great job exploring “innocence” in Daisy Miller. Innocence, beauty, and purity are all connected and it seems like Winterbourne interprets her robust beauty as purity and ultimately innocence. I like when you explained that Winterbourne’s aunt dismissed Daisy as not important enough for it to matter if she is innocent or not and thus it is irrelevant. Since Daisy likes to tease and is so flirty, I wonder if innocence is as dismissible to her character as Mrs. Costello believes it is. I understand she is dismissing Daisy as a person, not just her innocence, but your attention to the word innocent and connecting it with Daisy has made me think how important this connection is.