Daisy Miller a Study in Two Part Review

CW: death, ghosts, vague hints of child molestation or other unspecified activities of the sort, sexism, general upper-class snobbishness

I found a vintage edition of Henry James's The Plow of the Screw and Daisy Miller some time ago and accept long thought that both stories in this book sounded perfectly appealing to me. Merely it wasn't until learning this yr that Ruth Ware's The Plow of the Central (which I intend to read) might loosely connect to James's classic, and the 2d season of Netflix'south The Haunting of Hill House (which I intend to watch) is likewise based on Bly Manor from The Turn of the Screw, that I was finally motivated to choice up this slim Gothic volume.

In The Turn of the Screw, a new governess is hired to intendance for the two young children residing at Bly Manor; the deaths of their parents has left them in the intendance of an uncle who has no involvement in raising children, and has instructed the governess to oversee them without contacting him for any reason. The governess is overjoyed by the uncle and the children, and wishes to comply, simply 2 issues complicate the thing. The first is the boy's unexplained expulsion from his boarding school. The second is the appearance of 2 figures around the house, who appear to be the ghosts of deceased former employees at Bly. The governess does her all-time to keep the household running smoothly, but presently discovers she's in over her head.

"An unknown man in a lonely place is a permitted object of fear to a immature woman privately bred."

Past far the longer piece in this volume, The Plough of the Screw is formatted as a ghost story dictated by the governess (dead by the time this story is shared) and read aloud to a group of eager listeners safe effectually their own fireplace. This framing device seemed a fleck unnecessary (and outdated- originally published in 1898) to me, equally the governess's unexplained expiry doesn't seem to add anything important to the tale of her life, nor are these background listeners crucial to the story in any observable manner.

As for the governess's account, information technology is atmospheric and eerie almost from the become-become, her fright and tension apparent in every chapter. Interestingly, what she is agape of remains vague and nameless through the volume. It appears that she is non agape of the ghosts, nor of the children, merely rather the fact that the ghosts appear to the children. Her every seemingly ordinary interaction with them is disected into what the governess sees as horrifying implications: whether the children are aware of the ghosts, whether they know the governess is aware of them, whether they are concealing interactions with the ghosts from her, etc. It's all very unsettling, only the reader must practice a bit of guesswork to make meaning of it. For example, one particular "horror" is the governess's realization that the two ghosts, while alive, were having an matter that the children may accept been aware of. No further data is given- are we to assume the children were somehow fabricated complicit in this affair, somehow involved inappropriately in the adults' exploits? For the governess's fearfulness to be taken seriously, the reader must find some sort of significance in this revelation (one of many), into which no further insight is granted by the narration.

As a result, the themes of the story are a scrap muddled, and perhaps more than desirable is left upwards to the reader's own intuition. Immediately upon finishing this story, I idea it made picayune sense. As the days passed, notwithstanding, I found my thoughts continually returning to this puzzling story, and came to appreciate that The Turn of the Spiral can be read two ways: straightforwardly, as a ghost story in which supernatural forces are at play and manipulating the living; or psychologically, as an examination of the governess'southward mental health with the possibility that her interactions with the children reveal increasing paranoia rather than ghosts. I appreciated this story more with time, as I was able to await at the plot as a whole and examine it from several different angles, each as plausible every bit the side by side. I came to see its lack of concrete answers as a force, rather than a weakness, though I practise think it'due south a book to be applauded for its ambiguity rather than any item perspective that might be found inside.

In Daisy Miller, nosotros exit the ghosts behind for a satirical sort of romance.

A fellow (named Winterbourne) leaves his studies for a brief visit to his aunt in another metropolis. While at that place, he meets a daughter named Daisy Miller, a polite just unconventional person whose family possesses enough money to let them to practice equally they similar, without much reproach. Though most see her equally an "uncultured" American, Winterbourne nonetheless follows her to Italy during the winter holiday. Though he likes her, he doesn't seem to sympathise that he can't fit her into a traditional relationship; his want for her visitor and his sense of propriety compete for precendence, to disastrous consequence.

"Winterbourne wondered how she felt about all the cold shoulders that were turned towards her, and sometimes information technology annoyed him to suspect that she did not experience at all. He said to himself that she was too light and childish, too uncultivated and unreasoning, too provincial, to have reflected upon her ostracism, or fifty-fifty to have perceived it. And so at other moments he believed that she carried nigh in her elegant and irresponsible niggling organism a defiant, passionate, perfectly observant consciousness of the impression she produced."

I establish Daisy Miller much more immediately engaging and thematically rich. Daisy is wonderfully outspoken and sure of herself, a character that has truly stood the test of fourth dimension (this story was originally published in 1878). Though there is very lilliputian plot, Winterbourne's gradual shift of opinion is fascinating- fifty-fifty humorous- to follow. When he arrives in Italy, he goes get-go to visit another woman, so every bit non to appear too eager to see Dasiy. When he does come across her, he's annoyed to discover that she's become close friends with some other human being. Daisy (and James's narration) notes this double-standard and doesn't let him get away with it. In the end, Winterbourne will larn the truth Daisy has been enacting all forth- that some things are more important than society'south opinion. Much to my please, it presents every bit a dour rather than trite example of "lesson learned."

The but downside to Daisy Miller, on the tail of The Turn of the Screw, is that while thought-provoking,Daisy doesn't require nearly as much contemplation upon completion. It's letters are more readily apparent, and easier to file away.

In this sense, the two stories in this volume read rather opposite for me- I wasn't won over by The Turn of the Screw until I could mull over the full story and depict my own conclusions, whereas Daisy Miller convinced me immediately only didn't hold my attention long afterward. Together though, they make for an intriguing- if unusual- pair, and I'm glad to accept finally read them both!

My reaction: iv out of five stars. Individually, I'd rate these each the aforementioned, which makes a cumulative rating convenient this fourth dimension around. I don't think I've ever read Henry James before, but I enjoyed the feel plenty that I've at present added his Portrait of a Lady to my TBR.

The Literary Elephant

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Source: https://literaryelephant.wordpress.com/2019/08/07/review-the-turn-of-the-screw-and-daisy-miller/

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