Daisy Miller by Henry James is about a young man, Winterbourne (how’s that for a rich-boy name!) who is vacationing in Vevey, Switzerland and meets a young woman, Daisy Miller. They both hail from wealthy American families. The difference is that he is a blue-blood who has been living in Geneva to study. Ms. Miller, on the other hand, is from new money and is doing her “grand tour” of Europe with her mother and brother. What follows is a clash of social norms, classes, and social expectations.
What stood out to me was that fact that Americans really haven’t changed much since we entered the world scene. Once we started having an upper-class who decided to travel the world and rival our European cousins, it’s like we’ve never left the party. Apparently Vevey is the place for wealthy Americans to summer and it’s a total tourist trap. But unlike today, back then it was important to see and be seen by the right people. Wealthy wasn’t just wealthy. Winterbourne’s family apparently is old money and so they elicit a certain respect from other wealthy Americans. Daisy’s family, on the other hand, is considered “common” by the wealthy elite because her father is new money; he has created his own wealth rather than inheriting it.
Daisy is aware of this and is having none of the social airs the old-money biddies expect from young, single American girls. Instead, she goes where she wants and with whom she wants. This in turn creates a social maelstrum amongst the ex-patriot Americans in Europe. They, apparently, want the Europeans to not associate all Americans with Daisy.
The part that really stood out to me was how true this is even in today’s world. I lived in Spain for a year in a study-abroad program in college. After living there six-months, it was odd how I viewed Americans who came through on a vacation. For some reason they seemed so different from myself. Maybe it’s because I had learned the social norms, and they hadn’t. But I too found myself cringing from some of their behaviors. Mostly I just chuckled because I was sure I had probably done the same things when I was first in Europe.
What really struck me is that Americans are NOT the rudest travelers (I’m talking to you U.K.!), but we do tend to call attention to ourselves. Like Winterbourne tells Daisy, you’re not rude, you’re just innocent. And that’s how I came to understand most Americans traveling outside of the U.S. (and sadly, sometimes, outside our geographical ghettos). We don’t mean to be loud or rude. But we tend to have a kid in a candy shop approach to being abroad. So get your passport out because this book was educating and intriguing.
