Daisy Miller: A Study Summary

On a beautiful June morning in the resort town of Vevey, Switzerland, a young man meets an American girl named Daisy Miller for the first time. The young man, Winterbourne, is twenty-seven years old and lives in Geneva, where he is rumored to be either a diligent student or the lover of a fascinating older, married European woman. He has come to Vevey to visit his aunt. Winterbourne is drinking coffee in the garden after breakfast one morning when a well-dressed small boy about nine years old wanders by on the path. The little boy asks Winterbourne for a lump of sugar, and when he agrees, greedily takes three. From his accent, Winterbourne can tell that the boy is American, like him. The boy's older sister Daisy comes to collect him. She is beautiful, with a lovely...