Thursday, March 08, 2007
Henry James
Katja
ENGL 48B
Journal # 30, James
8 March, 2007
"’Well,’ said Winterbourne, ‘when you deal with natives you must go by the customs of the place. Flirting is a purely American custom; it doesn’t exist here. So when you show yourself in public with Mr. Giovanelli and without your mother—‘" (Henry James 497).
Henry James wrote Daisy Miller: A Study in 1878. The quote here refers to yet another one of Miss Daisy’s uncouth habits: flirting.
Old habits die hard... Miss Daisy is (unfortunately) the epitome of the classless, loud American tourist, suffering from illusions of grandeur and entitlement. The major difference between then and now boil down to waist size and the nowadays ubiquitous American tourist garb of shorts and socks-in-sandals, replacing 1870s haute "white muslin, with a hundred frills and flounces" (470).
I admire Henry James’ sardonic view of his own people. He clearly was able to identify the affectations that shaped the world he moved in, and to use that knowledge to his literary advantage. It strikes me that this faux Europeanism fits remarkably well into this quarter’s overarching theme of the Gilded Age. Additionally, the grand tour world of the late 19th century is quite reminiscent of the way the Romans copied all things Greek when they began to establish their empire. But they say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery...
Miss Daisy is a petulant child who will never get her way, if only because she is too much of a tease and too proud to give in to anything she should desire. She wants it all to come to her, without putting in an iota of work, which makes her goals diffuse and insincere at best and completely unattainable at worst. Winterbourne realizes that Miss Daisy is a dead end and more than a few pegs below himself on the social ladder. He has lived in Geneva too long to not be imprinted with European tastes and thoughts. Good for Winterbourne!
ENGL 48B
Journal # 30, James
8 March, 2007
"’Well,’ said Winterbourne, ‘when you deal with natives you must go by the customs of the place. Flirting is a purely American custom; it doesn’t exist here. So when you show yourself in public with Mr. Giovanelli and without your mother—‘" (Henry James 497).
Henry James wrote Daisy Miller: A Study in 1878. The quote here refers to yet another one of Miss Daisy’s uncouth habits: flirting.
Old habits die hard... Miss Daisy is (unfortunately) the epitome of the classless, loud American tourist, suffering from illusions of grandeur and entitlement. The major difference between then and now boil down to waist size and the nowadays ubiquitous American tourist garb of shorts and socks-in-sandals, replacing 1870s haute "white muslin, with a hundred frills and flounces" (470).
I admire Henry James’ sardonic view of his own people. He clearly was able to identify the affectations that shaped the world he moved in, and to use that knowledge to his literary advantage. It strikes me that this faux Europeanism fits remarkably well into this quarter’s overarching theme of the Gilded Age. Additionally, the grand tour world of the late 19th century is quite reminiscent of the way the Romans copied all things Greek when they began to establish their empire. But they say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery...
Miss Daisy is a petulant child who will never get her way, if only because she is too much of a tease and too proud to give in to anything she should desire. She wants it all to come to her, without putting in an iota of work, which makes her goals diffuse and insincere at best and completely unattainable at worst. Winterbourne realizes that Miss Daisy is a dead end and more than a few pegs below himself on the social ladder. He has lived in Geneva too long to not be imprinted with European tastes and thoughts. Good for Winterbourne!
# posted by Katja @ 6:58 PM 
