Henry James - Character Settings in American Literature

While Henry James is very much an American writer and many of his protagonists are American women, he often sets his stories in Europe, thereby linking the New and Old worlds together. When one compares character and setting in Daisy Miller and The beast in the Jungle, one recognizes that James explores the female character with a subtlety that many men might not be able to match while simultaneously using setting to create an environment in which the flaws and foibles of his female characters as well as their virtues can be best seen. This is certainly true when one compares Daisy Miller to May Bartram.

In Daisy Miller, James (1, 201) depicts a young American girl who is "singularly honest and fresh." In comparison her mother is regarded by the male interest in the story, Mr. Winterbourne, as "a simple, easily managed person" (Miller 1, 223). Daisy Miller is traveling through Europe with her mother and younger brother and as an American, exhibits behaviors and attitudes that are substantially different from those of her European peers. Though Winterbourne, meeting Daisy in Vevey, Switzerland, is infatuated with her and is quite conventional in terms of his social etiquette, he has no problem inserting himself into a relationship with this young girl that is not appropriate. For example, while he finds it perfectly acceptable to escort her to tourist attractions alone, he finds it utterly incomprehensible that her mother would permit Daisy to be involved with an I

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