Daisy Miller: A Study (Penguin Classics) - Softcover

James, Henry

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0141441348 ISBN 13: 9780141441344

Publisher: Penguin Classics, 2007

Synopsis

Travelling in Europe with her family, Daisy Miller, an exquisitely beautiful young American woman, presents her fellow-countryman Winterbourne with a dilemma he cannot resolve. Is she deliberately flouting social convention in the outspoken way she talks and acts, or is she simply ignorant of those conventions? When she strikes up an intimate friendship with an urbane young Italian, her flat refusal to observe the codes of respectable behaviour leave her perilously exposed. In Daisy Miller James created his first great portrait of the enigmatic and dangerously independent American woman, a figure who would come to dominate his later masterpieces.

About this title

Review:

"The critical faculty hesitates before the magnitude of Mr. Henry James's work."--Joseph Conrad

From the Back Cover:

Daisy Miller is a fascinating portrait of a young woman from Schenectady, New York, who, traveling in Europe, runs afoul of the socially pretentious American expatriate community in Rome. First published in 1878, the novella brought American novelist Henry James (1843-1916), then living in London, his first international success. Like many of James' early works, it portrays a venturesome American girl in the treacherous waters of European society--a theme that would culminate in his 1881 masterpiece, "The Portrait of a Lady."
On the surface, "Daisy Miller" unfolds a simple story of a young American girl's willful yet innocent flirtation with a young Italian, and its unfortunate consequences. But throughout the narrative, James contrasts American customs and values with European manners and morals in a tale rich in psychological and social insight. A vivid portrayal of Americans abroad and a telling encounter between the values of the Old and New World, "Daisy Miller" is an ideal introduction to the work of one of America's greatest writers of fiction.

About this edition

• Publisher: Penguin Classics
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 0141441348
• ISBN 13: 9780141441344
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 79
• Editor: Lodge David