Metaphor of Plague ｜ daisy miller： Died of Rome Fever and Identity Anxiety.

[Introduction]

In 1978, susan sontag, who suffered from cancer, finished Metaphor of Disease. The skin-cutting experience and daily experience of the disease gave her an observation angle to examine and analyze the disease discourse in the literary tradition. Fifty years later, an infectious disease came unexpectedly in China, and the long and painful tug-of-war seemed to be an immersive tragicomedy being staged. Everyone had to be involved in it, and had to face up to complex social problems and taste the subtle life situation. This gives us an eagerness to re-examine the expression of plague in various literary works at different stages, and the personal experience from real life will also bring a different perspective to literary interpretation.

Daisy miller, Henry James/Happy, Zou Hailun/Translated, Zhejiang Literature and Art Publishing House, September 2011.

Daisy miller is perhaps the most popular and popular work of American writer Henry James. It was written in 1878, serialized in magazines at first, and published as a book in 1879.

Henry James was born in new york in 1843. Before he wrote daisy miller, he had repeatedly crossed the Atlantic and traveled in Europe for many years. Since childhood, Henry James has traveled in Europe with his parents, and stayed in hotels all over Europe in Switzerland, France and Italy. As described in daisy miller, "Except hotels, they are hotels". James’s father, eager for Europe, not only explored and appreciated Europe’s long-standing culture, but also out of a cultural impulse of the United States in the 19th century. As an educated American, it seems necessary to go to Europe and the old world to find American spiritual ancestors. What Americans really look like and what they should look like, it needs a different culture to be distinguished. It can be said that for upper-class Americans, Europe is a touchstone of identity, whether their identity is noble, whether their tastes are elegant, whether their behavior is decent, and whether their morality is pure. European standards are the yardstick for Americans to define themselves.

In the 1970s when daisy miller was written, with the end of the American Civil War and the great development of industry, railroad tycoon, mining tycoons, speculators and adventurers were born overnight. Although the affluent class in the United States still yearns for Europe tirelessly, the purpose of going to Europe has quietly changed. The trip to Europe is no longer just a spiritual journey to pursue noble culture, but more a way of enjoyment. More generally speaking, European travel has changed from a unique fashion of the upper class to a fashionable way of spending money by the new rich. For a time, American beauties wore eye-catching luxury clothes, lived in expensive high-end hotels, and entered the European upper-class social circle with amazing wealth and self-confidence. The upstarts not only hit Europeans, bringing them dramatic surprises and surprises, but also hit American groups living in Europe.

This is the background of the birth of daisy miller. As a representative of American upstarts, daisy miller, a beautiful girl, met all kinds of Americans when traveling in Europe. Her simplicity, openness and naturalness have been severely accused by American compatriots, and Winterbourne, the hero, is puzzled between Daisy’s simplicity and debauchery. Finally, daisy miller died dramatically of Roman fever, an infectious disease thought to be related to miasma in ancient Rome. (In fact, it may be Malaria spread by mosquito bites. In English, malaria malaria comes from the medieval Italian word "mala aria", which means miasma, and is named because malaria occurs mostly in swamps. )

Researchers usually regard daisy miller as one of Henry James’ representative works during his "international theme" creation period. The works of this period often focus on the acclimatization of Americans when facing the impact of European culture, and the simplicity and openness of American style are vulnerable to the complexity and sophistication of Europe. Obviously, daisy miller is a microcosm of the pure and open America, but in the novel, her opponents are not sophisticated Europeans, but Americans who have lived in Europe for a long time. Europe’s long history, complexity and gloom are conveyed by these Americans who already know the way of Europe. In addition to the wrestling between Europe and the United States, there is also an internal contest in the American circle. As mentioned above, the upstarts come to Europe to stir not only the air in Europe, but also the restless nerves and identity anxiety of the upper-class Americans living in Europe.

Henry James

Warwick: the Back Garden of the Puritans

The beginning of the novel is very distinctive. The story is told by an omniscient narrator who takes readers to the resort town of Wowei near Geneva, two or three years after the unfortunate events in daisy miller. After describing the lakes, mountains and tourist sights of the town, the author fine-tuned the time axis forward and introduced the hero of the novel, Winterborn, an American boy who was deeply educated in European culture. After that, the story is narrated through the omniscient third person, and Winterborn’s subjective perspective is introduced as a filter.

Winterborn met daisy miller, a beautifully dressed American lady, in the garden and recommended herself as a tour guide for Miss Miller. Winterborn felt that the behavior of traveling with single women was not in line with European tradition, but this little deviance made him excited. However, Winterborn found that the young lady was "not embarrassed at all" and "not angry or upset", as if it was normal to associate with men. The attitude of the Millers also puzzled Winterborn, and Daisy’s mother was completely free from the nervousness of her guardian. Although Winterborn is fascinated by Miss Miller’s nature and beauty, she can’t help wondering whether Miss Miller is an honest lady or a rude girl. Is her frankness a national trait or a personal upbringing?

After daisy miller and Winterborn traveled alone for 30 years, E·M· Forster described the proper way for "educated" European men and women to get along in the novel Room with a View published in 1908. When George’s father warmly invited Miss Lucy to change a room with a view, Miss bartlett, Lucy’s companion, became so angry that she couldn’t believe that a man would make such an unreasonable conversation. Perhaps in 1908, Miss bartlett’s anger was somewhat outdated, but in Europe 30 years ago, I’m afraid American girls did their own thing.

Henry James’s novel style is often awkward, ambiguous and full of implications and hints. Although daisy miller is unusually vivid and lively, it does not prevent Henry James from burying subtle clues in the novel. It is no accident that the novel begins in the small town of Warwick near Geneva. Geneva, as the center of Calvinism, represents a rigorous and conservative European atmosphere, and also represents the self-admonition of Americans who carefully seek identity in Europe. In order to get rid of the reckless, vulgar, lack of integrity of the American impression, upper-class Americans do not hesitate to strengthen their Puritan rigor and defend the tradition more fiercely to prove themselves.

But Warwick is different. The beauty and laziness of this resort town, the surprisingly blue lake and the mild moonlight all soften the Puritans’ serious temperament, so that young Americans like Winterborn can temporarily escape from the suffocating air, tentatively break the rules and take social risks. For the Millers who lack social experience, Wowei’s lakes and mountains distract their attention. At this time, they have not yet noticed the hidden contradictions in the circle of Europeans and Americans.

Rome: Ambiguous and Complicated Space

Winterborn’s strict aunt, Mrs. Kostrov, hinted to him that although the Millers looked elegant and rich, their position in the social hierarchy was not too high. This is daisy miller’s first evaluation in the circle of European and American people.

In January, Winterborn came to Italy as promised, and the location of the story changed from a simple holiday town to a broader, complex and ambiguous space: Rome. Different from rigorous Geneva, Europe represented by Rome is divided into two dimensions. On the one hand, ancient art and tradition are admirable, on the other hand, it is chaotic and full of unknown risks. In this field, several kinds of Europeans and Americans, represented by Daisy, Winterborn and Mrs. Walker, began to collide.

The first new figure to appear is Mrs. Walker, who has lived in Geneva for many years and is spending the winter in Rome. This is also a hint, another American who disciplined himself under the European tradition. Mrs. Walker can be regarded as a supplement to the strict and conservative Aunt Costello, because the arrogant Aunt Costello has sternly refused to meet Miss Miller, and the appearance of the slightly gentle Mrs. Walker aims to make readers feel the confrontation between the old and the new nobles.

In the social arena, Miss Miller’s wildness and her own way are a whirlwind. Not only does she not abide by the code of conduct of upper-class women, but this time she introduces a more dangerous factor-foreign men with suspicious identities-than traveling alone with upper-class American men in Warwick. "I casually made friends with half a dozen Roman men who specialize in chasing rich women and took them everywhere." If the Millers’ rural nouveau riche background triggered a subtle but unobtrusive rejection from the upper class, Daisy’s association with the lower class was an intolerable and dangerous act, like introducing a virus into the stable and closed upper class, which made people fidgety.

The dramatic scene took place outside Mrs. Walker’s apartment. Daisy is going to the nearby Pinzio Park for a walk with her "suspicious" Italian friend Chovan Neni. At this time, the threat of Roman fever first appeared in the novel. First, Mrs. Walker tried her best to persuade her, because it was easy to catch fever during the rush hour. Daisy miller didn’t listen to advice, and then Mrs Walker hurried out with the carriage, trying to finally save the wild girl. "Tell her to get on the bus and walk around here with her for half an hour, so people will find that she is not too wild, and then send her back to the hotel."

This is not so much a threat of infectious diseases as an identity anxiety of strangers. What makes Mrs Walker nervous is the chain reaction caused by daisy miller’s lack of education. Her carelessness will make Americans look suspicious and vulgar in front of European traditions, and will make Americans living in Europe encounter a collective identity crisis. Daisy seems to be a suspected infected person. She rashly broke through the boundaries of class and came into contact with the rude virus of the lower class. If she is not isolated and exiled in time, she will endanger the health of the whole upper-class American.

Stills of the movie of the same name (1974) adapted from the novel.

Colosseum: the punishment of plague

In a sense, Winterborn’s hesitation, confusion and delay in daisy miller constitute the tension and structural advancement of the whole novel. In the face of the slander thrown at Daisy, he sometimes dismissed it, thinking that Daisy was sincere and simple, and sometimes it was difficult to convince himself that Daisy’s repeated behavior of breaking through class boundaries was a proper lady’s behavior.

Winterborn’s feelings for Daisy are divided along two tendencies: one is to try to find proof of Daisy’s innocence, so that when he claims to be in love with her, he won’t make a "fatal mistake" on class issues; The second is an impulse to belittle Daisy’s class, so that he can return to the stable and unified values of American upper-class compatriots without any worries.

At the hesitant stall in Winterborn, American immigrants gradually gave up daisy miller. Winterborn "never saw her again in those acquaintances’ homes", "They no longer invited her as a guest, but also said that they would solemnly announce to keen Europeans that although Miss daisy miller is an American girl, her behavior is not representative, and even her compatriots think that her behavior is very abnormal". Daisy miller, suspected of being infected with the dangerous virus of the lower class, was gradually isolated from the American social circle.

But daisy miller seems unconcerned and still goes his own way. Finally, when Winterborn saw daisy miller and Chovan Nene enjoying the night scene in the Colosseum in the middle of the night, he made up his mind to define daisy miller as a frivolous woman, and no longer had any respect for her. At this time, the miasma of disease in ancient Rome revived again, turning into a moral admonition and punishment, engulfing women who did not obey social rules and protect themselves, and making careless girls die in infectious diseases. This social rule not only includes the correct way of communication between men and women, but also includes whether women choose the right communication object. It should be noted that just six months ago, in the small town of Warwick, Winterborn also politely invited daisy miller to go boating for a night outing. However, under the double guarantee of Puritans and upper-class status, such a night outing was obviously not in danger of getting sick.

More than 50 years later, Roman fever in the Colosseum in ancient Rome has a more gloomy meaning in Edith Wharton’s works. A woman set a trap to compete for her husband. She used an impostor love letter to let her rival go to the Colosseum for a tryst, with the intention of exposing her rival to Roman fever in dangerous air and dying. Like the daisy miller incident, the miasma in the Colosseum never spared any women with moral defects. But unlike Miss Miller, who was bent on her own way, this reckless woman learned from a bitter experience after being infected with fever, abandoned the past dust, seized the opportunity of her last marriage and returned to the upper class again. She was seriously ill, but she survived.

Judging from our compatriots in daisy miller, daisy miller may have died of recklessness, misconduct and moral defects, but we can also say that daisy miller died of the curse and murder of our compatriots in the United States who were eager to get rid of it.