Daisy Miller and an International Episode

by Henry James, Adrian Poole

This unique edition reunites two tales which James intended to be complementary: Daisy Miller and An International Episode. Young Daisy Miller perplexes, amuses, and charms her stiff but susceptible fellow-American, Frederick Winterbourne. Is she innocent or corrupt? Has he lived too long in Europe to judge her properly? Amid the romantic scenery of Lake Geneva and Rome, their lively, precarious relationship develops to a climax in the Coliseum at midnight. The tale gave James his first popular success, yet some compatriots detected treachery in its portrayal of young American womanhood. James responded with An International Episode, which exposes a couple of English gentlemen to the charm and wit of American sisters in Newport, Rhode Island and then in London.

Read together, these two short masterpieces shed light on each other, demonstrating the range of James's own manners, from sharp satire and buoyant comedy to complex, perhaps even tragic, pathos. Adrian Poole's superb introduction explores James's ironic portrayal of the frictions, negotiations and potential alliances sparked by the new transatlantic world in the closing decades of the nineteenth century. Poole also provides informative notes as well as an appendix on stage and film versions of Daisy Miller. This volume reproduces the definitive New York edition texts.

About the Series: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the broadest spectrum of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, voluminous notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

Genres: Classics, Fiction

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1878

About the author

Henry James was an American-British author. He is regarded as a key transitional figure between literary realism and literary modernism, and is considered by many to be among the greatest novelists in the English language. He was the son of Henry James Sr. and the brother of philosopher and psychologist William James and diarist Alice James.
He is best known for his novels dealing with the social and marital interplay between émigré Americans, the English, and continental Europeans, such as The Portrait of a Lady. His later works, such as The Ambassadors, The Wings of the Dove and The Golden Bowl were increasingly experimental. In describing the internal states of mind and social dynamics of his characters, James often wrote in a style in which ambiguous or contradictory motives and impressions were overlaid or juxtaposed in the discussion of a character's psyche. For their unique ambiguity, as well as for other aspects of their composition, his late works have been compared to Impressionist painting.
His novella The Turn of the Screw has garnered a reputation as the most analysed and ambiguous ghost story in the English language and remains his most widely adapted work in other media. He wrote other highly regarded ghost stories, such as "The Jolly Corner".
James published articles and books of criticism, travel, biography, autobiography, and plays. Born in the United States, James largely relocated to Europe as a young man, and eventually settled in England, becoming a British citizen in 1915, a year before his death. James was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1911, 1912, and 1916. Jorge Luis Borges said "I have visited some literatures of East and West; I have compiled an encyclopedic compendium of fantastic literature; I have translated Kafka, Melville, and Bloy; I know of no stranger work than that of Henry James."

Reviews

[Roman Clodia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Two complementary novellas from HJ which explore issues of young American womanhood in the context of European culture. Both stories are concerned with negotiations of American feminine identity, Daisy Miller quite overtly, An International Episode more covertly.

One of the things I like about HJ is that he resists generalising: in Daisy Miller, especially, fresh, reckless, breezy Daisy falls foul of Americans abroad from the judgmental Winterbourne (that name's a dead giveaway about his nature!) to a round of society matrons. It doesn't do anything as unsubtle as pitch Americans against Europeans.

An International Episode has two young men travel to America, and the relationships begun there continue back in London. This is more lighthearted than Daisy Miller but there is an underlying legacy of loss of understanding and spoiled possibilities.

So two short tales that offer a taster of James and some of his concerns but cased in an accessible, easy-to-read manner. These don't have the depth of the novels, but do offer an analysis of social individuals, make use of cultural misunderstandings and show acute attention to the experiences of women at home (wherever that might be) and abroad.

[Isabella Roh · Rating 4 out of 5]

These two books both deal with the quaint realities of culture shock--particularly in the American engagement of Europe. Daisy Miller was delightful, and full of questions about moral rules and social rules, all framed from the masterfully crafted perspective of Winterbourne as he studies Daisy. An International Episode focused on two young Englishmen who met two American sisters, and while both were eager to become friends, the bizarre system of social "precedence" forces Bessie to choose the best means of keeping a level head.

[Chris Gager · Rating 4 out of 5]

My edition is a Penguin Books(#625) paperback from 1947. A real oldie with some seriously yellowed paper. I picked this one off my bookshelves as I wanted to read something "different." Though I'm not a big fan of Mr. James, this one is short, even with two novellas included. Maybe it'll make me read more Henry James. I've got several more on my bookshelves. I think I may have read this long ago in H. S. English class. Adrian Poole has no contribution in my edition. I assume he must have contributed a scholarly introduction in the edition pictured.

Read into this a bit last night and already a seep of melancholy and dysfunction is present. Daisy doesn't fit. She's too direct and her mother is no help at all. It hasn't been a trial to read so far. From what I understand HJ developed his more elaborate and off-putting prose style later in his career. I guess he didn't want to be misunderstood. When this story came out it was attacked for it's treatment of Daisy, a treatment that some considered a put-down of middle-American femininity.

Finished with the famous but rather abrupt "Daisy Miller" last night. I'm sure I read this before, perhaps a couple of times. What this is about is bit of a puzzler. What's the point of killing off poor Daisy? Is it the same point being made by Hardy in "Return of the Native" ... transgressors will suffer? That Daisy's American straightforwardness is "better than" the rigidity of "old Europe"? I felt bad for the girl, of course, but her lack of judgment bordered on socially criminal recklessness, not to mention the Roman fever thing. Perhaps she was a fore-runner of the kid in "Into the Wild."? Whatever ...

Now nearing the end of "An International Episode," a sort of lightweight(I hope) examination of the same issues in "Daisy Miller." The ladies in question are a wise American wife and her Daisy-like younger sister. The topic's are love and marriage and English snobbery. Again, this one is pretty easy to read and also an early HJ story.

And so to the end of another "comedy" of manners by H. James. This one has a lighter tone than "Daisy Miller," but still has a kind of mournful quality. As if people didn't have enough problems in finding the right love-partner, social convention in England presents formidable obstacles.

[Eva · Rating 3 out of 5]

Två långnoveller som jämför Européer och amerikaner, men ytligare än andra Henry James historier.

I Daisy Miller förklarar Winterbourne: "Flirting is a purely American custom; it does not existe here."
(Hade den amerikanska dating-institutionen redan uppstått?)

[Lily · Rating 3 out of 5]

Daisy Miller: 4 stars
An International Episode: 2 stars

[nahla]

justice for daisy

[Breeze]

I liked Daisy Miller but struggled my way through An International Episode.

[Rob Stevens · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story starts a bit slow, sometimes overly difficult sentences, but in the end nice to read.

[Cameron · Rating 4 out of 5]

These novellas explore two sides of the modern young American woman of Henry James's day. The beautiful title character of Daisy Miller laughs at the traditional proprieties of good society, choosing to spend her time with whoever takes her fancy. We see her through the eyes of Winterbourne, a Europeanised American, who oscillates between his attraction for her and his disapproval of her behaviour. His question is the one the reader shares: is Daisy a naïve innocent or a vulgar flirt?

While Daisy Miller follows American characters in Switzerland and Italy, its counterpart tale An International Episode follows first a pair of Englishmen in America and then a pair of American women in England. The divide between the "old world" and "new world" is highlighted in the courtship of Lord Lambeth, an English peer, and Bessie Alden, a curious but inexperienced Bostonian.

While perhaps not the most highly acclaimed of James's stories, these novellas are at the same time lighthearted and poignant; studies of human character and social trends wrapped up in tales of love and loss.

[Marina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Daisy Miller: I wasn’t sure how I would feel about this novella as it was my first foray into James. I enjoyed it for several reasons. I found the inner conflict Winterbourne experiences regarding Daisy interesting to observe and I liked her carefree nature, flying in the face of societal expectations. The narrative style was also used in an interesting way. It is third person but as we see events through Winterbourne’s eyes, it could almost be first person. Not being able to get to know Daisy’s inner world, we can only judge her through Winterborne and the comments of others as it is hard to know whether, when speaking, she is revealing her true self. This is both frustrating but puts the reader in Winterbourne’s position, thus experiencing the same conflicting opinions about the ‘real’ Daisy.

[Sabrina Davis · Rating 2 out of 5]

Kind of a misogynistic book. Classic trope of "Fallen Woman" but Daisy is presented in such a fake way. Winterbourne is not that satisfying as a narrator -- he left me wanting more. Disappointed with the ending.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

"daisy miller" is brilliant because of its subtlety; "an international episode" is brilliant because of its total lack of subtlety. both together are just lovely.