ge that James uses for Daisy and her male counterpart Winterbourne. The story was told through the “civilized” language of Winterbourne and only slipped into a folksy language when Daisy spoke. Daisy Miller is a naive American girl and Winterbourne is spellbound from the moment he sees her. Even though there is this instantaneous attraction, every word she utters confused him even more as to what her true her true character was. Unfortunately, he questions whether Daisy is a good girl or a bad girl even after her tragic death. James throws these two young people together and stacks the deck against them. Winterbourne offers to introduce Daisy to his, “admirable aunt” (433), Mrs. Costello to assure Daisy that he is trustworthy. At the promise of this meeting, Daisy is star-struck and the aunt is disgusted. Mrs. Costello’s character represents old money and culture even though she is an American, and thus is a stark contrast to Daisy Miller’s character that is without any kind of formality. An intimate relationship with their courier constitutes Mrs. Costello’s disapproval of the Millers and she considers this proof that the Millers are not fit for her company. Through Mrs. Costello, we can see how Daisy oversteps the behavioral bounds of European society, but we can also see how Winterbourne is prejudiced to Daisy’s actions. Mrs. Costello, “frequently intimated that, if she were not so dreadfully liable to sick-headaches, she probably would have left a deeper impression upon her time” (432).The story goes on to cast Daisy, “the most innocent” (461), into suspicion in Winterbourne’s eyes, eventually causing him to turn his back on her. Winterbourne catches Daisy in certain damning circumstances that allow him to finally conclude that she is a bad girl and that all of his doubts about her had been true. Daisy dies in the end. Although Daisy catches ...
