What Is The Objectification Of Daisy Miller

In the novella, Daisy Miller, written by Henry James, Winterbourne views Daisy Miller as a simple and beautiful American flirt, and he uses her beauty to increase his status, ultimately objectifying her to just something he is able to control and use for his own benefit. While in Switzerland, Winterbourne meets an American girl who is often seen as a flirt, which is extremely uncommon in Europe, and frowned upon by many. Winterbourne has been in Europe so long that he is not aware if this is the cultural norm for young American girls, as he is taken aback by Daisy’s manners. However, he finds Daisy’s beauty to always draw him back in and he looks at her as if she is a prize to be won. Girls like Daisy are a foreign concept to him and “Winterbourne was almost grateful for having found the formula that applied to Miss Daisy Miller… he wondered what were the regular conditions and limitations of one’s intercourse with a pretty American flirt” (James 10).
This implies that Winterbourne sees Daisy as an object rather than a person, as a simple formula can’t be applied to humans; they are much too complex to be reduced to a single formula. Also, the objectification of Daisy is furthered by Winterbourne calling her “a pretty American flirt”, demonstrating that the motive of impressing Daisy is because of her beauty, as if that is the feature of most importance of a woman. While conversing, Winterbourne and Daisy decide to go to the castle de Chillon by themselves, much to the surprise of Winterbourne. He invited Daisy’s mother, but she declined, and allowed for Winterbourne and Daisy to