Daisy Miller

Henry James' signature theme, the American abroad, centers on a beautiful but flawed daughter of a wealthy Schenectady industrialist. Daisy Miller travels through Europe with her doting, vapid mother and rambunctious young brother. Daisy falls for the sophisticated Mr. Winterbourne, another expatriate, but their romance is threatened by Daisy's behavior. The mores and traditional social customs were something Daisy managed to ignore and caused more than a few eyebrows to be raised throwing her reputation into question. The story has a tragic and unexpected ending.