Daisy Miller: An Affluent Girl from New York - Essay Example

It is difficult to argue on the question of whether Daisy Miller is a ‘nice’ girl. Even though we get to see different sides of Daisy Miller in the story, it is still not possible to come to a definite conclusion about her character. Daisy is quite vulgar and we see examples of her immodesty when she is found late at night at the coliseum with Mr. Giovanelli. However, it is not possible to judge Daisy based on such incidents since morality is a culturally conditioned response and the standards of morality are set based on the social convention of that area.

Therefore, it is a fifty-fifty chance of Daisy being guilty or not innocent. Daisy acts on what she intends without giving any second thoughts to it. She represents the American flirt who does not obey or adhere to the rules of the European community in which she is currently. This is the reason she frequently becomes a subject of gossip among her peers. Even after knowing about Daisy’s character, life and habits it is not possible to decide whether Daisy was innocent or not. Firstly, it is not possible to conclude whether Daisy knew all along about what people were saying behind him.

She appears to be ‘too light and childish… too uncultivated and unreasoning’. Perhaps, it is because of this attitude that she fails to notice what others thought. However, equally plausible may be that ‘she carried about in her elegant and irresponsible little organism a defiant, passionate, perfectly observant consciousness of the impression she produced.’ Therefore, it is simply inconclusive and impossible to decide whether Daisy Miller is too innocent to notice what others think about her character or whether she is so a carefree and happy-go-lucky sort of person that she does not care one bit about what others think of her.

She does what she wills without thinking of the consequences. Whatever the reality, the readers are only left to speculate at the end of the story.