Daisy Miller Gender Roles

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In “Daisy Miller: A Study” by Henry James and “The House of Mirth” by Edith Wharton, the perspectives of the male characters control much of what the reader learns about the female protagonists in each novel. Winterbourne, the male protagonist in “Daisy Miller: A Study,” attempts to court the beautiful central female, Daisy, and in doing so also becomes a first-hand observer of her life. Likewise, the male onlooker in “The House of Mirth” is Lawrence Selden, who analyzes the attractive protagonist, Lily Bart. Not only are the opinions of these men helpful in analyzing their female counterparts, they are also helpful in understanding the men themselves. By using the biased observations of both women from Winterbourne and Selden, the authors…show more content…
Winterbourne is free to attempt to court Daisy by walking and talking with her unescorted which is unacceptable for young wealthy men and women, however, when Daisy is seen doing the same thing with Winterbourne and Giovanelli, she is judged harshly and exiled by people of her class. By seeing Daisy through Winterbourne, the reader is forced to ask: is this how Daisy really is or is it just what Winterbourne thinks? Winterbourne’s opinion of her is greatly biased by his attraction to her so everything the reader learns about this women could simply be the delusions of a love-sick man who is entranced by her beautiful face. Winterbourne’s rejection of Daisy is somewhat hypocritical because throughout the story he himself is alone with her knowing she is a flirt but he ends his relationship with her because he finds her alone with Giovanelli. His rejection of her also shows how biased he is because he waits until he finds her with another man to think about societal rules being broken even though he and Daisy had been breaking them all along. Winterbourne’s attraction to Daisy is what began their relationship and his hypocrisy and jealousy is what ended…show more content…
The novel opens with Lily and Selden meeting at the train and then going to his apartment for tea. Both Lily and Selden are part of the wealthy upper class and in their society it was not acceptable for a single man and a single woman to be alone together like this. Wharton opens the novel in this way to illustrate to the reader how important Selden will be throughout the story as well as the importance of Lily and Selden’s relationship and how it affects Lily. Much of what the reader learns about Lily is learned when Selden speaks of her. Lily is a beautiful woman and it is her beauty that attracts Selden to her and clouds his

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