Comparing and Contrasting Social Issues and Formalities of Henry James’s “Daisy Miller” and Edith Wharton’s “The Other Two”
Comparing and Contrasting Social Issues and Formalities of Henry James’s “Daisy Miller” and Edith Wharton’s “The Other Two”
In Henry James’s “Daisy Miller” and Edith Wharton’s “The Other Two,” the narrators each disclose the complications of their party’s social formalities during circumstances within their own society. In both short stories, Winterbourne and Waythorn try to figure out their adored ones character and motives but for different reasons. In “Daisy Miller,” it’s noticeable that Mr. Winterbourne ends up longing for Daisy Miller as he tries to fully categorize the character she’s carelessly ruining. While in “The Other Two,” the narrator examines a society of how a married couple, Waythorn and Alice, adjust to an awkward situation in which Alice’s two ex-husbands happen to come in contact with their lives.
The form of society James portrays with Daisy and Winterbourne’s situation differs to an extent as to the social situation with Alice, Waythorn and “The Two Others” that Wharton describes. Mrs. Costello wrote a letter to Winterbourne purposely mentioning, “The young lady, however, is also very intimate with some third-rate Italians, with whom she rackets about in a way that makes much talk.”(James 521). In Mrs. Costello’s letter, we can get a good idea that the society Henry James implies, does not abide by unmarried couples being intimate in public. Unlike the society in “Daisy Miller”, the society Edith Wharton describes deals with circumstance that brings Waythorn and Alice to become proper during a time of awkwardness when dealing with two former husbands of Alice’s. For example, after Waythorn knows Alice spoke to Varick, Alice explains, “It’s the first time—he happened to be standing near me; I didn’t know what to do. It’s so awkward, meeting everywhere—and he said you been very kind about some business.” (Wharton 1035). In response, Waythorne reasons with Alice, “Yes—it’s better to speak to Varick.” (Wharton 1036). Although both short
In Henry James’s “Daisy Miller” and Edith Wharton’s “The Other Two,” the narrators each disclose the complications of their party’s social formalities during circumstances within their own society. In both short stories, Winterbourne and Waythorn try to figure out their adored ones character and motives but for different reasons. In “Daisy Miller,” it’s noticeable that Mr. Winterbourne ends up longing for Daisy Miller as he tries to fully categorize the character she’s carelessly ruining. While in “The Other Two,” the narrator examines a society of how a married couple, Waythorn and Alice, adjust to an awkward situation in which Alice’s two ex-husbands happen to come in contact with their lives.
The form of society James portrays with Daisy and Winterbourne’s situation differs to an extent as to the social situation with Alice, Waythorn and “The Two Others” that Wharton describes. Mrs. Costello wrote a letter to Winterbourne purposely mentioning, “The young lady, however, is also very intimate with some third-rate Italians, with whom she rackets about in a way that makes much talk.”(James 521). In Mrs. Costello’s letter, we can get a good idea that the society Henry James implies, does not abide by unmarried couples being intimate in public. Unlike the society in “Daisy Miller”, the society Edith Wharton describes deals with circumstance that brings Waythorn and Alice to become proper during a time of awkwardness when dealing with two former husbands of Alice’s. For example, after Waythorn knows Alice spoke to Varick, Alice explains, “It’s the first time—he happened to be standing near me; I didn’t know what to do. It’s so awkward, meeting everywhere—and he said you been very kind about some business.” (Wharton 1035). In response, Waythorne reasons with Alice, “Yes—it’s better to speak to Varick.” (Wharton 1036). Although both short
Cited: James, Henry. Daisy Miller. Ed. George McMichael and James S. Leonard. Tenth. Vol. II. Longman, 2011. Wharton, Edith. The Other Two. Ed. George McMichael and James S. Leonard. Tenth. Vol. II. Longman, 2011.