of romantic pedestal.

Additionally, the way Daisy is described in the novel embodies a realistic description of a typical, everyday woman much more accurately than the other female characters mentioned above;

this young girl was not a coquette ...; she was very unsophisticated; she was only a pretty American flirt.

Ouch. No sugar coating there! Now, see this other very realistic description of Daisy by potential love interest, Winterbourne:

It was impossible to regard her as a perfectly well-conducted young lady; she was wanting in a certain indispensable delicacy.

We know, as readers, that Daisy is a somewhat naive and immature girl.

However, what is a girl from Schenectady, New York to do while traveling through Italy with her American family?

Clearly, the social manners, expectations, and behaviors of the Americans will clash at some point with the much more traditional Europeans. Yet, many people found Daisy's faux pas quite charming because they did appreciate her American ways. After all, she is not there to try to make rank among Europeans; she is just a young, charming woman enjoying herself.

Another way in which realism is depicted in the novel is illustrated in the situations that occur. Part of the definition of literary realism also reads:

[Realism] depicts familiar people, places, and stories ... about the middle and lower classes of society. [It] seeks to tell a story as truthfully as possible instead of dramatizing or romanticizing it.

We witness this in the novel, as well. Henry Jamescleverly illustrates Winterbourne as the typical American who has lived in Europe long enough to adopt all the behaviors and mannerisms of the continent.

He is furthermore shown as an expatriate who seems to believe that his adopted European behaviors make him automatically superior to Daisy in terms of class and sophistication. It may be so—in Europe.

James throws another realistic hit at Winterbourne's character by showing how the latter goes as far as thinking that he should try to "save" Daisy from her "indiscretions," which he sees as social flaws.

However, most everyone else sees Daisy's cheeky ways as the actions of a young, pretty visitor who is used to a lifestyle that is quite flexible in comparison to her European acquaintances' more stuffy and formulaic lifestyles.

This is realism at its best: Winterbourne does not romanticize or idealize Daisy.He is conflicted because he does not get why she behaves without a care in the world. Eventually, he sees her as a "lost case" and gives up. He is in no way a knight in a shining armor fighting for his love.

We, as readers, know that if Winterbourne had not been such as snob he would have enjoyed the company of Daisy. He always looked for rare and unique women, and yet, he was witnessing the most enigmatic woman he ever saw, but he was too stuck in his ways to see it. There is no romantic ending for them.

Finally, there is the fact that, in literary realism, there is no providence or miracle that could save the characters from their fates. Daisy dies from malaria, which is typically caused by a mosquito bite. Her death came as a result of a rendez-vous with Giovanelly at the Colosseum.

While Daisy's death is a tragedy, since it happened to a young, beautiful, charming woman, the circumstances surrounding her death were as commonly known as they were preventable. Roman fever was a reality in Italy, and people actively avoided exposure to it. Daisy died as a result of her own choices, and Winterbourne lost a chance in a lifetime to meet the woman he searched for as a result of his choices.

Therefore, the flawed characters, frustrating situations, and the circumstances that could have prevented a tragic ending make this novel quite realistic in every sense of the word.

The setting of this story in the cities of Geneva and Rome is important for a number of reasons. Geneva is important because it was the birthplace of Calvinism, which is of course the Protestant sub-group that had so much influence on America's religious identity. Geneva as a city is spoken of as "the dark old city at the other end fo the lake," and is also where Winterbourne chooses to dwell. Rome is also significant because of the way that is symbolises destruction and also alludes to both glory and corruption. Rome is shown to be a city that had its own destruction brought about by its very success and glory. Rome also seems to symbolise a particularly Machiavellian level of sophistication. In this sense, the setting of Rome stands in opposition for the character of Daisy Miller, and her naivety, youth, freshness and innocence. The setting of both capital cities therefore helps reinforce the dynamic qualities of Daisy Miller as a protagonist in the way that she does not fit in to the world of which she is a part.

This is something that is reinforced by the significance of the location where she contracts the fever that kills her. The Colliseum was an arena where innocents were slaughtered and sacrificed. It is therefore particularly fitting that Daisy contracts her fever in this location. She is an "innocent" who must be sacrificed in the face of society.