Why do so many novels of the 19th century diminish the role of motherhood? For Dickins, why are the mothers frequently absent (Dombey and Son, Great Expectations, Oliver Twist)? For Jane Austin, the mothers are largely just silly or decorative (Pride & Prejudice, Mansfield Park). What does their absence or inadequacy imply? It is also interesting to note who, if anyone, is filling that role in the respective novels. In Daisy Miller, it partially falls to the courier, and the consequences are fatal.
Exploring more deeply the role of motherhood in Daisy Miller, James would seem to be implying that the figure is absent, negligible, ineffective, insignificant. As Dames reports in his excerpt A Concise Companion to the Victorian Novel: “A common enough moment in Victorian fiction – the introductory portrait of a character – here relies on the meaningfulness of facial characteristics, their capacity to unveil the workings of a personality” (Dames p. 101). James introduces Daisy’s mother using adjectives which describe her non-entity: “Her mother was a small, spare, light person, with a wandering eye, a very exiguous nose”. Even her physical introduction is covered in nuances of her insignificance “The figure of a lady appeared, at a distance, very indistinct, … with a slow and wavering movement”…” (p. 22) the lady in question hovered vaguely about the spot”. James uses adjectives or adverbs to describe her as a shadow, her lack of presence, her deficiencies as a parent. Her hair is thin and “frizzled” rather than “curly” which other than being pejorative implies burned or ruined. This is not an attractive image of a role model for Daisy. Finally, he uses very strong language in the last chapter when he writes “Mrs. Miller was invisible.”
But what if James is actually implying the reverse: that the absence of a strong figure in the role of motherhood is damaging to her children’s growth and ultimately could have fatal consequences? Mrs. Miller’s social invisibility in the last chapter is due to her bedside presence with her sick daughter. James is then saying that her daughter is advantaged by her mother’s presence. Tracing this back throughout the novel, the absence of adequate and effective guidance from her mother has repeated negative consequences for Daisy and ultimately results in her tragic death. James would thereby seem to be indirectly expounding the importance of motherhood in forming and rearing children.
This is such an interesting analysis of what the novel implies about the role of motherhood. The mention of the courier as a mother figure is particularly illuminating. How does Daisy being “raised” by a man impact her morality and behavior in the novel? She therefore has no model of ideal femininity. I agree that the novel seems to imply that this absent mother figure negatively impacts Daisy’s ability to behave “appropriately” socially, especially for a young woman. While Daisy’s mother is written dismissively throughout the novel, this analysis suggests that her passiveness makes her partially to blame for Daisy’s fate, and further questions if Daisy can be interpreted as an innocent victim.