Henry James’ “Daisy Miller”
1-What did you think of the ending? Make an argument for what you think is Henry Jame’s ultimate point.
2-What is Giovanelli’s purpose in the novella? How does he serve to understand customs in European culture? How does he sreve to understand the fraught class (economic) realities in European (and perhaps American) culture?
3-Arguably, the most important scene in this short novella, the carriage scene between Mrs. Walker, Daisy Miller and Mr. Winterbourne elucidates many important things…what do we understand about (insert analysis here) in that important moment. (Try to use different examples here as the scene points out a lot of important things). I have about 3 ideas in my head and I want to see if students hit those marks.
4-n what ways is masculinity questioned in this story? (Select a scene and deconstruct all of its tiny bits to understand and answer how James challenges ideas of masculinity).
5-I’m not particularly fond of Mrs. Costello
and her rules. Yet, if I look closely enough, I recognize why she has such control over those rules. And, what she stands to lose if those rules become broken. Part of this argument has much to do with questions of gender. In fact, Mrs. Costello says some very interesting things about gender and rules and requirements for men and women. Let’s see if you all can find them.
please support answers with quotes from the novel
