A Study of the Gilded Age

A Study of Social and Economic Aspects of the Gilded Age Henry James and Abraham Cahan lived in the turn of the twentieth century, where social and economic corruptions were gilded by the extreme wealth of the few. This period also marked the beginning of a distinction between the European and American culture. Both authors artistically create in their stories the tragedy and drama of Americans in Europe and Europeans in America. James lived comfortably in both America and Europe, and it showed in his work "Daisy Miller: A Study" in which he creates a fairy tale land full of extravagant hotels, beautiful sceneries, sparkly blue lakes and well dressed people. Cahan was an immigrant living during the time of mass Americanization of European immigrants working in the difficult sweatshop conditions. James and Cahan were different writers inspired by different aspects of life, "Daisy Miller: A Study" presents the social outer appearances and the hypocrisy of society, while "A Sweat Shop Romance" focuses on the inner realities of the hard economic struggles that society forced immigrants into that forced them to deprived themselves of their freedom to maintain their culture, but both authors endorsed a sense of realizing one's true culture and consequences if one would lose it. Winterbourne was struck with Daisy's outer appearances in the end he suffered a major lost. Winterbourne judge and got a sense of Daisy's personality through her looks "her complexion, her nose, her ears, her teeth" (James 1504), he is more occupied with her beauty than the person she is. Notice he was more struck by her beauty than love. Winterbourne asks himself what kind of person Daisy is, whether is innocent "or she was also designing, and audacious, and unscrupulous young person" (James 1507) James hints to the readers through those words that Winterbourne was scare of her personality, her social status and of how people will view him, if he accepts Daisy. Throughout the story