Daisy Miller

At the little town of Vevey, in Switzerland, there is a particularly comfortable hotel. There are, indeed, many hotels, for the entertainment of tourists is the business of the place, which, as many travelers will remember, is seated upon the edge of a remarkably blue lake.

International-tragedy novella: Vevey meeting → Chillon excursion → Rome social scandal → Colosseum fever death → Winterbourne's belated comprehension — compact and inevitable, the plot a closed circuit of observation and too-late understanding, so plot scores 82.

"She is completely uncultivated," Winterbourne went on. "But she is wonderfully pretty, and, in short, she is very nice. To prove that I believe it, I am going to take her to the Chateau de Chillon."

Daisy Miller the 'uncultivated' American girl, Frederick Winterbourne the expatriate observer, Mrs Costello the Old World arbiter, Eugenio the courier, Giovanelli the Roman suitor — each a position in the international debate, so cast scores 84.

"Of course you don't dance; you're too stiff," said Miss Daisy. "I hope you enjoyed your drive with Mrs. Walker!" "No. I didn't enjoy it; I preferred walking with you."

Novella tautness — Part I Vevey/Chillon, Part II Rome/death — no dilated middle; James compresses a season's social observation into two movements; the Colosseum scene arrives with tragic acceleration, so pace scores 88.

You receive an impression of these things at the excellent inn of the "Trois Couronnes" and are transported in fancy to the Ocean House or to Congress Hall. But at the "Trois Couronnes," it must be added, there are other features that are much at variance with these suggestions.

Early James at full polish — the Vevey hotel description, the dialogue of social nuance ('You are too innocent' / 'I am not so innocent'), the Roman scenes rendered with impressionist precision, so prose scores 88.

The shore of the lake presents an unbroken array of establishments of this order, of every category, from the "grand hotel" of the newest fashion, with a chalk-white front, a hundred balconies, and a dozen flags flying from its roof, to the little Swiss pension of an elder day.

Vevey, Chillon, Rome — the European tourist circuit as moral testing ground; the 'particularly comfortable hotel' and the Colosseum at twilight bookend a geography of American freshness against Old World codes, so world scores 86.

At the little town of Vevey, in Switzerland, there is a particularly comfortable hotel. There are, indeed, many hotels, for the entertainment of tourists is the business of the place, which, as many travelers will remember, is seated upon the edge of a remarkably blue lake.

Part I — the Vevey hotel and the Millers' appearance — establishes the international setting and social curiosity immediately; less iconic than Portrait of a Lady's afternoon tea but efficient in scene-setting, so hook scores 86.

I really think that you had better not meddle with little American girls that are uncultivated, as you call them. You have lived too long out of the country. You will be sure to make some great mistake.

The American girl abroad as structural principle — Daisy's 'innocence' as Rorschach for European and expatriate judgment — established the template James would elaborate for thirty years; the novella as 'study' anticipates the novel of consciousness, so innov scores 86.

"You were right in that remark that you made last summer. I was booked to make a mistake. I have lived too long in foreign parts." Nevertheless, he went back to live at Geneva, whence there continue to come the most contradictory accounts of his motives of sojourn.

Winterbourne's belated recognition — 'She would have appreciated one's esteem' — and return to Geneva with 'contradictory accounts' of his motives — morally unresolved, deliberately withholding romantic consolation; tragedy completed but understanding deferred, so ending scores 84.