Daisy In Terms example essay topic

Edith Wharton's "The House of Mirth" mainly describes the need of a woman to be married to a wealthy man and how she attempts to find the most appropriate suitor. "The House of Mirth" also observes the tedious physical and mental decline of a young woman who, because of her own weakness and indecisiveness, falls from social distinction into poverty and griminess. The story presents a cruel measure of reality and ends quite sadly. Instead of marrying and living happily, Lily weakens slowly and commits suicide, possibly unintentionally, as a way of evading a lower-class humanity in which her upper-class needs cannot survive. Lily's life is the exact opposite of dignity or beauty; she had many chances to live the kind of life she dreamed of, but lost it all. Similarly, Henry James' "Daisy Miller", is a rich, young, American girl from New York, traveling around Europe with her mother and younger brother.

Daisy is a complex combination of traits. She is feisty, independent, and well intentioned, yet she is also petty, ignorant, and unsophisticated. Daisy is also an irritating flirt. She has no public elegance or informal gifts, such as appeal, humor, and a talent for banter. Also she is primarily interested only in influencing men and making herself the hub of interest.

Throughout the story, Winterbourne, the love interest of Daisy, is fixated over the issue of whether Daisy is naive, but her behavior by no means reveals whether she is or isn't. Winterbourne accepts that Daisy is crude but wonders whether she is innocent. Frequently, Daisy seems less than innocent since Winterbourne did catch her with another man late at night at the Coliseum, which results in her death from malaria. Overall, it is the way in which Daisy embodies all the different forms of innocence that results in her demise. While the telling of the story is quite similar, "The House of Mirth" is different in the sense that all that character's form of thinking is revealed to the reader. Henry James primarily portrays the story of Winterbourne and the affect that Daisy has on him.

He does describe Daisy in great detail yet he fails to give any indication of why she acts the way she does. One can only ponder over ideas of how she thinks and her reasoning behind what she does in certain events. It is obvious that Daisy is ignorant to her inappropriate behavior but it is unclear if this is an act or if she is really unaware that she is acting incorrectly. Winterbourne is confused but is still drawn to Daisy, which is for the most part due to her beauty.

Overall, Daisy is a novelty to him. "The young lady inspected her flounces and smoothed her ribbons again; and Winterbourne... ". (52, 53, 54, Daisy Miller). While James does clearly portray his thoughts, it is clear that Winterbourne does appear to be a very shallow or undiscerning thinker. Out loud he defends Daisy, although halfheartedly, yet Winterbourne's attempts to classify Daisy in obvious ethical terms and fails to do so is most of the story itself.

He wants to be able to classify her to any known class that he recognizes. Her openness and impulsiveness appeals to him, but he is also puzzled by her lack of worry for the social particulars and the rules of politeness that have been defined by centuries of European culture. He befriends Daisy and tries to save her but ultimately decides that she is past recovery. Daisy understands and acts more impulsively, which results in her unfortunate death by going to the coliseum after midnight, with her new beau. The reader is apt to think she wanted to make him jealous because she loved him dearly but it is never defined. Unfortunately, the reader only knows Daisy in terms of only what Winterbourne believes is true.

Unlike "Daisy Miller", Edith Wharton is both the male and female protagonist's consciousness through out the story. The main character, Lily Bart is beautiful with significant social and family connections, yet she is still not married. Lily attends many extravagant parties for the upper class, who play bridge for money. This is difficult for Lily because she is addicting to gambling and cannot stop, although it ruins her money-wise. Lily has two major objectives, which are marriage and wealth. It is her wish to marry an affluent man, thus locking her position in society.

However, due to her uncertainty, she loses many opportunities, constantly thinking she can find a better man. Even so, Lily's true love, Selden, is not greatly wealthy and therefore she won't marry him.