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.
Dissecting Literature for Personal Growth
Daisy Miller is a vivacious young flirt hailing from upstate New York and residing in Europe, making a name for herself to say the least. Maggie is a timid, poor girl from a poor family residing in the slums of New York. How are they related? Well to be frank, it’s actually more intriguing to ponder how the aren’t.
Daisy Miller was published in 1878, and Maggie in 1893, this is worth mentioning when considering the completely different approaches these two authors take. Now it seems both stories are takes on womanhood and what it entails, but the protagonist of each are opposites. 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. As horrible as it sounds, this was just the mindset during these time periods. Daisy Miller is a bit more offensive in my…
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