Apparently it’s perfectly fine for Winterbourne to offer to take Daisy Miller on late evening excursions, but should any other man attempt such cruel notions, he will soon find himself the worst type of human in the eyes of Winterbourne. Winterbourne takes immense issue with the late night excursion Daisy takes with Giovanni in Rome and blames her death upon it, but this blame and judgment disregards that Winterbourne wished to do almost the same thing. Upon meeting Ms. Miller, Winterbourne desired to take her on a midnight boat ride before it had even been a full day knowing each other. The love story or tragedy of “Daisy Miller: A Study,” by Henry James, relies on the hypocrisy of social etiquette and the leniency versus judgment offered to different individuals on the basis of prejudice.
Winterbourne cultivated an affection for Ms. Miller in the story, but paralleling every feature of hers that he adored was his constant acknowledgement, judgment, and beration of her lack of mind for social customs, or her wildness as he described it. He never truly loved or cared for Daisy, but rather cared to critique her and to control her. Everything about her that he found intriguing, her carefree manner, her spontaneity, her openness, were the very assets of her personality that he constantly sought to dismantle. Arguably, it would have been more of a tragedy should Daisy have returned Winterbourne’s feelings before death because should she have entered a relationship with him, I firmly believe that he would have crushed her.
Clearly, Winterbourne and Giovanni weren’t that different in their affection for Daisy and it is doubtful that Giovanni intended to get her ill and eventually cause her death. Other suitors who did the same were simply fortunate enough to not suffer the consequences. If anything, Giovanni was shown to impose less on Daisy’s personality. She could be free with him and explore Rome without fear for judgment of walking too long or in the wrong area. He offered her freedom with his affections. In addition, the primary argument against his character seemed to criticize him for not being of a high enough social standing. Winterbourne, who spent much time criticizing him, could only critique his class, intellect, and not his cruelty because there was none. Winterbourne was the one who wished to change Daisy.
I find this connection of ideas in a text written in the 19th century fascinating. It almost seems to argue against social conventions and in the valuing of character over someone’s willingness or ability to follow arbitrary standards. Daisy may have died, but Winterbourne will always love a woman that he wanted only to change. He will suffer the torment of losing the idealized version of Daisy that he wished to crush her into. Giovanni, however, while missing the real Daisy, will at least have the memory of her as more than a flirt or an American, but as the woman he loved. I believe the memories that each suitor is left with say much more about their characters than anything else.
I agree that Winterbourne is highly judgmental in his treatment of Daisy, and looks down on Giovanni for his social class. However, it is interesting because at the end, Giovanni reveals that “she would never have married me, I am sure” (51). The story later goes on to imply that Daisy might have married Winterbourne. However, it is too late now, because Daisy is dead, showing the consequences of Winterbourne’s elitism and his constant criticism.
Reading your point about Winterbourne’s judgmental and controlling tendencies strangely reminds me of how some parents act toward their kids. A lot of awful people that happen to be parents have this–as you call it–false love that they impose upon their children as justification to control everything the kid does, forcing their way of life and ideals onto the kid, being overly harsh because they “care” when in fact they’re just terrible people. They deny the kid the freedom to explore, express, and confine them to their rules, overly punish them, leading to serious psychological issues in the kid. This is almost parallel to the way society imposes rules on individuals resulting in tragedies like Daisy’s fate.