Prisoner Of Chillon?

Journal No. 14
English 48B
Dr. Scott Lankford
Author I Chose: Henry James

From "Daisy Miller: A Study"

I. "I would much rather go to Chillon with you."

II. Winterbourne is telling the new young lady that he has just met, Daisy, that he would be more than happy to be her guide to the castle across the lake from where they are standing.

III. Daisy has just finished telling Winterbourne that she has failed to find a good candidate for a guide to Chateau de Chillon. Winterbourne of course finds this so hard to believe that she hasn't found another suitable fellow to accompany this dear young lady. After inquiring, he admits that she cannot go alone or with her mother, who really does not want to go without Randolph. So, of course, Winterbourne would be the best person to take her to Chillon, right?

I find it interesting that James has perhaps used Chateau de Chillon as a symbol that was almost imperceptable at this point in the story. However, upon doing some research about the castle, I found that it indeed does seem to hold some meaning that would have otherwise remained undetected in my wee little brain. It seems that Lord Byron has written a poem about the exact same castle. The title is "Prisoner of Chillon." Hmmm... interesting, no? Well, I read bits of the (loooooong) poem and found that it was similar in some ways to the situation that Winterbourne later finds himself in. I thought that there might be more than just coincidence here. In "Prisoner of Chillon," the prisoner finds that he has become accustomed to and dependent on the very walls and chains that hold him there:

At last men came to set me free;
I ask’d not why, and reck’d not where;
It was at length the same to me,
Fetter’d or fetterless to be,
I learn’d to love despair.
And thus when they appear’d at last,
And all my bonds aside were cast,
These heavy walls to me had grown
A hermitage—and all my own!
And half I felt as they were come
To tear me from a second home

Winterbourne's fate seemed to be destined to end the same way as the Prisoner of Chillon's was. He had wanted to be free of Daisy's hold on him - so much that he convinced himself that he was disgusted by her behavior. But in the end, she had such a strong hold on him that when he heard of her own true behaviors with Giovanelli, he was devestated to know that even in death, she still had a strong hold on his love for her.

If you are interested in reading more of "The Prisoner of Chillon," please visit the Pennsylvania State University’s Electronic Classics Series.

Singularly Honest And Fresh

Journal No. 12
English 48B
Dr. Scott Lankford
Author I Chose: Henry James

From "Daisy Miller: A Study"

I. "...he saw that this glance was perfectly direct and unshrinking. It was not, however, what would have been called an immodest glance, for the young girl's eyes were singularly honest and fresh."

II. Henry James is describing what Winterbourne finds unique and refreshing about this new young lady that he has just met. Winterbourne finds that her behavior is unexpected at first, but certainly admired by her observer.

III. Ms. Miller is introduced to the reader as a young lady who dresses in all of the "latest" fashions and trends while not seeming to mind one bit if someone steals a glance her way. She is presented as a material woman who prefers to have a young man tripping over his own words just to get closer to her. At this point in James' story, Winterbourne is learning a very small part of Daisy's personality. She has so much more complexity than jus the direct stares and the "honesty" in her eyes. Winterbourne might have seen these things in the beginning as a symbol of how complex she might become later on in their strange relationship. If he had been able to figure out more of who she was, he might have saved himself many days of confusion and hurt. Winterbourne, however, is absolutely enamored with the young lady right from the start, noticing that her pretty features were nothing below the standards of feminine beauty. If Winterbourne had been able to see anything beyond Daisy's superficial offerings, he might have at some point noticed that Daisy really wanted his affection more than anyone else's. I wonder what might have happened if Winterbourne had realized that she "wanted" him in the beginning. Would she have been off galavanting with Giovanelli? She might have never even met him. Instead, she might have been inside on the sofa next to Winterbourne in front of a warm fireplace on the night that she caught the Roman fever.

An Aged Expression Of Countenance

Journal No. 11
English 48B
Dr. Scott Lankford
Author I Chose: Henry James

From "Daisy Miller: A Study"

I. "...a small boy came walking along the path - an urchin of nine or ten. The child, who was diminutive for his years, had an aged expression of countenance, a pale complexion, and sharp little features."

II. Henry James is describing a little boy whom the main character, Winterbourne, sees while he is sitting at his hotel-room patio. The little boy is wandering around the hotel grounds and trying to find things to busy himself with. As he wanders over to Winterbourne's table, he is poking a walking-stick at various objects just for the fun of it.

III. James describes his characters in long, sometimes drawn-out detail. In describing the little boy that we soon learn is named Randolph, he uses contrasting words such as "diminutive for his years" and "aged." These two word-choices show the reader that the boy is small and almost meek appearing, but he has perhaps seen or experienced more than other boys his own age have. While Randolph is certainly a little boy in many ways, he seems sometimes to have knowledge that his own behavior can be quite immature. He appears to be conflicted within his own self. It is unclear to me as to what might have caused Randolph to be so knowledgable about behavior since his own sister is quite immature in her behavior. I don't know if the family's travels was supposed to be the basis for Randolph's own awareness of people's behaviors or if he just learned from watching his sister meet with so many different gentlemen, but he has certainly picked it up from somewhere. My guess is that it is the latter: Daisy seemed to have met such a variety of young fellows not only throughout their travels abroad, but at "home" in Schenectady, New York as well. She played hostess to many young, American men who had hopes of winning over her heart. Randolph, being the ever-so-curious boy, had of course played witness to many of these charmed meetings, I'm sure. Either way, Randolph is indeed both a little boy and a little man in the same body. While he cannot help but run and skip and poke at dresses with his stick, he also cannot help but learn from the life - and death - of his own sister, Daisy Miller.