This is a Re-post of the previous post, as I am uncertain of weather or not my reblog included by commentary.
Original Post title : Maggie VS Daisy
Authour: superdifferentanduniqueguy99
You make a lot of solid points for how similar Miller and Maggie are. However, I disagree with the notion that both stories have the same message about womenhood.
“ I would argue that they are both saying the same thing of womanhood, that a woman’s place is where she’s told it is”
Characters who share similarities, do not always carry the same message. It is true that just like Daisy, Maggie was shamed for pursuing a man. The difference is that Maggie’s relationship with Peter is a part of a larger story about class and privilege. In Daisy Miller, Daisy and her relations with men is the whole story.
It could be argued that in both cases, each woman dies because of her interest in men. Daisy wouldn’t have gotten malaria had she not gone out with Giovanelli, and Maggie wouldn’t have been disowned had she stayed away from peter. A strong connection , right? Not really. They were both compelled by completely different forces. Maggie was looking to escape poverty while Daisy was trying to escape boredom. Their motives are too dissimilar for them to be making the same statement on womanhood.
Additionally, the similarities between Daisy and Maggie’s endings are because of sexism, not because they have the same message. Women dying in literature was a popular trope during the time of publication.
American Literature 1865 to Present 