A Character Analysis of Winterbourne in James “Daisy Miller” The story of Daisy Miller is about the social upheaval of the late nineteenth century as the growing American wealthy middle class tussled against the European aristocracy. It also shows how Winterbourne never fully understood Daisy Miller because his class-consciousness and greed got in the way. The latter is what I intend to develop in this paper. Winterbourne is a young American man that has “lived …showed first 75 words of 1131 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1131 total…on her just as Mrs. Walker once did. Had Winterbourne pursued his interest in Daisy instead of rejecting her, the story would have turned out differently. Winterbourne rejected Daisy because of the social standards of the European society. Winterbourne's opinion of Daisy changes from acceptance to condemnation as his tolerance of cultural standards is clouded by the prejudices of the European aristocrats. He chooses his aunts social standing and money over a life with Daisy.