Is innocence an acceptable excuse for behavior at odds with societal norms? In the Henry James’s novella, Daisy Miller, we see Daisy behaving in very controversial ways for women of the mid-1800′s. She looks directly at men without blushing, speaks bluntly about her life, travels alone with Mr. Winterbourne after only knowing him for half an hour, and cavorts regularly (unchaperoned) with a handsome, but common, Italian man named Geovanelli. Daisy performs all of these scandalous behaviors with hardly a thought to how they may besmirch her reputation in a European social hierarchy. Although she is unaware of the repercussions, she blatantly disregards warnings and attempts to educate her on the social norms of that European society that she may have been a member of if she behaved more respectably. Daisy’s innocence may have been used an excuse for her incongruous behavior, but her indifference to the rules of society made her look disreputable to everyone.
Winterbourne seems to contend, although half-heartedly, that because Daisy’s behavior is all innocent that she should be excused from the laws. When confronted by her improprieties in their early interactions, Winterbourne states, “The poor girl’s only fault is that she is very uncultivated” (41). His feelings that she should be excused because of lack of training continues until he finally sees her at midnight in a private moment with the Italian man. In this regard, Winterbourne seems to reflect the views of the author who writes, “Poor little Daisy Miller was, as I