A dandelion rosetteI enjoyed Howell's entire editorial, imparticular, his conjecture that Daisy Miller is more a study, and ". . .not a story with plot and development."
I also appreciated his ending note as well, where he points out that artists can present what they want, convey the subject of their choosing--they are not bound by predefined parameters of what should always be...never thought of it quite that way before.
If young American women are viewed as ill-bred, low-moraled, or ". . .so queer you know. . ." while being who they are in Europe, then one can easily infer young women (or men) traveling anywhere outside their country could likewise be thought to be other than they really are. Appearances are just appearances; small minds and levels of ignorance are the same. And we could also make the point that some human experiences are simply interchangable, making them more of a study of a same-same human nature rather than a unique story.
Case in point: My eldest daughter lived for a glorious year in Stourbridge, England, as a 16-year-old Rotary Exchange student. She often mentioned one of the hardest issues for her was getting the English people in her new, temporary life to want to get to know her as, Meredith, a person separate from their idea of stereotypical American teen. She did not live for MTV as they thought she did; did not in any way agree with Bush Jr., his politics or his war...but they thought she did.
In turn, Meredith had to develop patience, learn how to make conversations and find ways to first name, then overcome her own stereotyping that she carried with her. She was sure all the English loved tea, Tony Blair, had bad teeth , were witty, charming...and were overall accepting of their wet, dank environment. She was wrong, too.
Howell also makes a fun point too, how we at home have our own inherent prejudices. He describes a hypothetical circle of American women sewing, while listening to Daisy Miller being read out loud invariably would decry that of course, Miller would describe a loud, bawdy American young lady, as opposed to a refined American young lady...isn't that just the way it always goes?
Howell concludes that "sometimes an artist would, "...sometimes justly prefer to paint a dandelion instead of a rose." Howell thinks its a wiser assertation for Miller to describe a caricature that carries some framework of understanding with it, opposed to another that has none. I think he could have closed his argument using the dandelion and the rose description, letting the reader ponder it for themselves. A wonderful observation...those contrasting images.
I like how you use your own experiences (or your daughter's for that matter) to prove the point you are making.
ReplyDeleteI also appreciate my remaining two team members posting early. I knew I could count on you two. :-)
You've made several good points. People are too judgemental and Daisy Miller just goes to show you that people in general have not really changed that much. People will still jump to conclusions about someone's personallity based on where they are from or anything else they can use to back up an idea they have about a certain group or individual.
ReplyDeleteNow that I have read Daisy Miller I see the story is comprised of Americans in Europe with the so called upper caste judging Daisy's family. Not quite the context I wrote the blog in, but nonetheless...I enjoyed Daisy even though it was an interminable slow read for me. Human nature is so much free HBO, and will always be. :)
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