Upon Winterbourne's return to Vevey, Switzerland, he had been resting on a park bench, conversing with a curious little boy when a "beautiful young lady," Daisy Miller, approached. After a brief prattle, the two arranged a day's trip to the Castle of Chillon and over the next few months planned on meeting again in Italy. Throughout the story, Winterbourne tries to descry Miss Miller's personality and at the same time question her reputation as a flirtatious American girl in the late nineteenth century. Henry James' famous novelette, Daisy Miller, is a timeless story depicting what results from the defiance of social customs, ignoring advice pertaining to one's reputation, and finally confronting reality.
             From her first tête-â-tête with Winterbourne and until her last, Miss Miller defies all social customs pertinent in European society. During Winterbourne's first introduction to Miss Miller, to his surprise, she accepts his extremely bold decision to travel to the Castle without knowing if he was a respectable man. Later that same evening they met once more in the garden. She asked Winterbourne to take her out for a boat ride, but after gaining permission from her mother, she decided she would rather not go if no one would put up a fuss about her doing something so irrational. Winterbourne was left alone to ponder her whims and odd form of coquetry. After their parting, both agreed to meet again in Geneva, Italy. When Winterbourne first arrived in Geneva, he received news of Miss Miller's latest escapades from his very reputable aunt. During her stay in Geneva, her gentleman society was composed of "half a dozen of the regular Roman fortune hunters." As an American girl, she stayed true to her own values although she was in a foreign land. Daisy Miller was unaware of the social structure that depends on gender and class oppression and she developed a reput...