A Narratological Approach To Daisy Miller

Daisy Miller is one of the influential works of Henry James. It provides an invaluable resource for numerous scholars and students to study Henry James; moreover, it has a great value in thought and art, which makes an important development of modernist literature in the20th century. For Daisy Miller is rich in content, the critical circles have paid much attention to the novel. According to precedent researches, more critics have studied the novel from the literary field to explore its literary merits; however, few from the narratological field.The thesis, based on the precedent study of the novel, analyzes the characterization of the two protagonists’with the narratological theory of speech and though presentation and focalization. Through the analysis, Winterbourne’s and Daisy’s distinguishing characteristics, as well as the effectiveness of the usage of narratological theory are clearly presented.Through the analysis of the characterization of Winterbourne and Daisy, on one hand, their rich and colorful characteristics are presented; on the other hand, it may contribute to the study of Henry James and his time. In addition, the study of Daisy Miller by using the narratological theories has enriched the approach to the study of the novel, and thereby it has achieved a new exploration of the textual analysis.