Boekverslag Henry James

Geschreven door:	Dilianne (4 vwo) [meer]
Datum ingestuurd:	27 november 2006
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Titel:	Daisy Miller
Auteur:	Henry James
Jaar van uitgave:	1878
Aantal pagina's:	96
Verfilmd als:	Daisy Miller (1974)

Auteur:	Henry James
Geboren:	15 april 1843
Overleden:	28 februari 1916
Populaire titels:	1898The turn of the screw (4) 1878Daisy Miller (1) 1897What maisie knew (0)

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1. Henry James, Daisy Miller, Penguin Classics, 1987. First published in: 1878. Number of pages: 126.

2. I searched on the internet for a nice english book to read and I found this one. The description seemed very nice. I like old English stories, and so I also liked this one.

3. Winterbourne walks in the garden of his hotel. He has come here to pay a visit to his aunt, Mrs Costello, who usually spends the days in her room suffering from headaches. An American boy stops in front of him and asks for a lump of sugar. The little boy's sister joins him. She is a very pretty young lady. Winterbourne thinks he doesn’t make a nice introduction, but the girl does not seem to bother. Winterbourne finds it difficult to get a clear picture of the girl. She seems superficial. She chats openly about her background and family history. He wonders if her behaviour is quite proper. Her name is Daisy Miller, and she would like to visit the Chateau of Chillon very much. Winterbourne likes the idea of showing her the castle and they make definite arrangements. Winterbourne also promises her to introduce her to his aunt.
Mrs Costello, however, will not consent to meet Daisy or her family, because she thinks they are not proper. She accuses Daisy and her mother of being too intimate with their servant. She is shocked to hear that Daisy has consented to accompany Winterbourne to the castle. Daisy introduces Winterbourne to her mother.
Two days later they pay their visit to the castle. Winterbourne is a little disappointed by Daisy's conversation, which seems to lack depth. She listens to what he tells her about the history of the castle and about the antiquities they see, but he notices that she is not really interested. She reacts rather childishly when Winterbourne tells her that he will have to return to Geneva the next day. She makes him promise that he will visit her in Rome in winter. Winterbourne goes to Rome in January on the pretext of visiting his aunt. She tells him scandalous stories about Daisy's behaviour. Winterbourne thinks she is just innocent, but Mrs Costello stresses her vulgarity. At the villa of Mrs Walker, a friend of his, he meets Daisy again. She does not believe that he has only arrived the day before. She is still vexed that he left her at Vevey. When they leave late at night, Winterbourne accompanies her. She tells him that she enjoys mixing with all kinds of people. At the Pincian gardens they are met by Giovanelli, a very handsome Italian with exaggerated manners. Winterbourne tells Daisy that Giovanelli is not the right man for her and he decides to stay with her. Mrs Walker tries to persuade Daisy to get into her carriage, but Daisy refuses and walks off with Giovanelli. When Mrs Walker gives a party, Daisy’s mother arrives alone, informing her hostess that Daisy has stayed behind with her Italian friend and will come later. Daisy finally arrives after eleven. She discusses what happened during their walk with Winterbourne and does not want to accept the idea that Americans and Italians have different rules for correct behaviour.
Winterbourne often visits Daisy at her hotel, but Giovanelli is always present. Daisy, however, never seems embarrassed when her meetings with Giovanelli are disturbed by Winterbourne. All Americans in Rome are now discussing Daisy's behaviour. One day they accidentally run into each other in the Colosseum at midnight. She tells him that she has been there the whole evening with Giovanelli. Winterbourne accuses Giovanelli of being very inconsiderate: the Colosseum is a place where the danger of catching malaria is great, especially at night. Two days later Winterbourne hears that Daisy is dangerously ill. Mrs Miller tells Winterboume that Giovanelli has not visited Daisy since she has fallen ill. A few weeks later she dies. In the cemetery Giovanelli tells Winterbourne that Daisy was the most innocent girl he has ever met.
Winterbourne returns to Geneva and is said to be much interested in a clever foreign lady.

4. I think it was an anti-climax, when Winterbourne gets the message that Daisy Miller died. Personally I thought that at least somebody would end up very happy. Mr Giovanelli, Winterbourne or Daisy Miller herself perhaps. But she gets ill, and neither Winterbourne, nor Mr Giovanelli comes to visit her. Then Winterbourne gets the sad message she died, he goes to her funeral, speaks a few words with Mr Giovanelli, and that’s it. No explanation, and nobody knows what Daisy really wanted.

5. “Daisy Miller” is the name of the main character, the American girl. The entire story is based on what Daisy does and the things people say about her.

6. Daisy Miller: The most important character of the story. She’s a very attractive woman, who is really misunderstood. Everybody thinks of her as a huge flirt, but she really isn’t. She has friendships with several men, but nothing but friendship. She does thinks other people find inappropriate and in the end, nobody wants to be seen with her anymore.
Winterbourne: A 27-year-old American who meets Daisy Miller when he visits his aunt, Mrs Costello. He really likes Daisy, but he does exactly know what to think about her.
Mrs Costello: She’s Winterbourne’s aunt. She dislikes Daisy and her mother from the start, because she thinks they are too improper to get involved with. She’s very old-fashioned.
Mrs Walker: An American friend of both Winterbourne and Mrs Miller. She tries to persuade Daisy to leave Mr Giovanelli en get in a carriage with her to retain her good name. She gives Daisy the cold shoulder after that incident.
Mrs Miller: Daisy’s mother. She doesn’t bother Daisy hanging around with a lot of men, as long as she knows what’s going on. She also doesn’t seem to bother that people are talking about Daisy and her.

7. The novel is about people judging everybody, and not looking further that what they see at first sight. It’s also about doing what you want and not worry about what everybody thinks of you, simply doing what you want.

8. Henry James was born in 1843 in New York City. He was home-schooled in Europe and in the U.S. He entered Harvard law school, where he wrote critical articles and reviews for a periodical. He visited Europe several times, and in 1876 he settled in London. He was totally devoted to literature and travelling. In his earlier novels, he contrasts the sophisticated, but slightly staid Europeans with the innocent, eager, though often brash Americans. Perhaps more than any previous writer, James refined the technique of narrating a novel from the point of view of a character. He is also famous for his finely wrought short stories, which are masterpieces of the genre. In addition to fiction and literary criticism, James wrote several books on travel and three autobiographical works. He never got married.

9. “A week later the poor girl died; it had been a terrible case of the fever.” (Page no. 114 and 115)
It kind of struck me because it is so simple and yet so unexpected. The entire book is about complex feelings and actions. The author gives you a very detailed description about what happens and what everybody feels about that. This is just a little line between the rest, like it says that somebody walks to a table or something, so unimportant.
Mr Winterbourne reminds me of a friend of mine. He doesn’t judges people and is willing to see the best in everyone, even though he knows there aren’t only good things in people. He gives people a second chance. And a third and a fourth if that is necessary.

10. Very nice book to read. It felt like the book was very short. When I finished it, I thought it was a shame that the story was ended. It wasn’t very difficult to read, that made it more exciting. If it would have been a very difficult book, I would have liked the story this much, because then you’re too busy with the English instead of the story. The only thing I didn’t like, was the ending. A bit uninspired and in a hurry, like the author got short of time and had to make an ending in five minutes.

11. A. The story takes place in Vevey (Switzerland) first, later in Rome, and at the end in Geneva.
It is about the middle class. They are wealthy enough to travel and stay in luxurious hotels.
The story is about the 1870’s. It takes place in about 6 months. It is almost fall when Winterbourne meets Daisy Miller for the first time, and it is January when she dies.

B. The characters are the most important in this novel. There thoughts are described very detailed. You know exactly how they behave, what emotions they show and you exactly know Winterbourne’s thoughts. The author likes to describe how the characters are looking, walking and what the other characters see in there eyes.

C. The story has an omniscient narrator, even though sometimes it feels like it is told by Winterbourne. You exactly know what he thinks, feels, says, hears, wants, but it isn’t told by himself. It makes the story more like a story. If Winterbourne would have told the story, I think it would feel more like a autobiography, and I think it isn’t a good story for that.