Daisy Miller

“James’s most fascinating book for a general reader
is still Daisy Miller, that perfect miniature
of manners and morality.”
—Edmund Wilson

Daisy Miller: A Study (1879) tells the story of a spirited young American woman traveling in Europe, whose unconventional behavior clashes with European social norms. One of James’s most popular and admired novels, it explores and dramatizes his interest in the “international theme,” contrasting American innocence with European sophistication and the misunderstandings that result. James challenges gender roles, portraying Daisy as an early feminist figure who asserts her individual freedom and pays a price for doing so.

This Warbler Classics edition, prepared by William E. Cain, includes an introduction, a note on the text, annotations, a biographical timeline, and further reading.

Henry James (1843–1916) was born in New York City and educated there and in London, Paris, and Geneva. Cosmopolitan and multilingual, he spent most of his life in Europe. He wrote twenty-two novels, one hundred and twelve short stories, twelve plays, and more than two hundred essays and reviews as well as travel books and autobiographies. His best-known novels include The Portrait of a Lady, The Golden Bowl, The Wings of the Dove, The Ambassadors, Daisy Miller, The Europeans, and The Turn of the Screw.

William E. Cain is the Mary Jewett Gaiser Professor of English at Wellesley College. He is the editor of American Literature, a two-volume anthology of American literature; the author of American Literary Criticism, 1900–1945; and a co-editor of The Norton Anthology of Criticism and Theory.