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Part 1

• Time of the novella is presumed from the publication date of 1878 to be in the mid 1800s, the Victorian era.

• Setting is Vevey, Switzerland, and the characters of the book are American expatriates.

• Winterbourne is the stereotypical American young gentleman with proper manners, if not totally honorable intentions.
• Winterbourne's first contact with the Miller family is Randolph, a rather spoiled American boy who symbolizes all that Europeans detest in Americans.

• Daisy Miller is introduced as a strikingly beautiful young woman, stylishly dressed, opinionated, headstrong, and disdainful of social convention.

• Daisy is the precursor of the modern American woman.
• Convention is first challenged by the suggestion of Daisy's going to the Chillon Castle unchaperoned with Winterbourne.

• Compounding the challenge to convention is the idea of going out on the lake at night for a boat ride.
• Mrs. Costello represents the snobbish American expatriates bound by Victorian mores and...

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