黛西·米勒：一只替罪羔羊

【摘要】作为亨利·詹姆斯的一篇著名的中篇小说，《黛西·米勒》自出版以来就引起学界的一阵轰动。小说描写了美国姑娘黛西·米勒游历欧洲时的遭遇，她天真浪漫、热情开朗的性格招来了许多误解和麻烦，最后客死他乡。正是美国和欧洲之间的道德文化冲突，酿成了黛西·米勒的悲剧故事。本篇论文旨在运用原型批评的理论集中探讨女主人公黛西·米勒的悲剧成因，并指出她其实是两种文化冲突下的替罪羔羊。

【关键词】黛西·米勒；原型批评；替罪羔羊

1. Introduction

Daisy Miller， a story which is developed around the protagonist Winterbournes confusion as to how to evaluate the heroine Daisy Miller， is simple but meaningful. Winterbourne encounters a beautiful American girl Daisy Miller who is traveling with her mother and her brother in a little town of Vevey in Switzerland and is attracted by her charming appearance and strange behavior. Later， he finds out that there is much rumor about this girl， who is said to be always going around improperly with men. Winterbourne is puzzled， for the girl seems to him an extraordinary mixture of innocence and audacity. After seeing Daisy Miller going around frequently with a third-class Italian Giovanelli， especially their improper visit to the Colosseum at midnight， Winterbourne makes his final judgment that the girl is a disrespectable one. But after Daisy dies unexpectedly of “Roman fever” contracted that midnight， he discovers regretfully that she is the most innocent in the world.

2. Archetypal Criticism

According to Jung， the collective unconscious is “a part of psyche” （42） and it is a second psychic system of a collective， universal， and impersonal nature which is identical in all individuals. This collective unconscious does not develop individually but is inherited. It consists of pre-existent forms， the archetypes （43）. “Scapegoat” is just a kind of archetype. The word “Scapegoat” originates from Tindales Bible. It is the name of one of a pair of sacrificial goats. According to the famous psychologist Erich Neumann， there are usually three kinds of scapegoats. The first kind is the alien； the second kind belongs to those who are the “ethically inferior”， that is to say， those people who fail to live up to the absolute values of the collective； and the third class of victims consists of personalities who are actually superior among others. Usually， it is a custom to sacrifice some people， especially the alien， the ethically inferior， and the superior to purify the community through the scapegoat ritual in human history （Neumann 124）.

3. Daisy Miller： A Tragic Scapegoat

In the novella Daisy Miller， the heroine is just a character that owns such three features. As a representative of American girl， she is enthusiastic， innocent and charming. She sticks to her own personalities when traveling in Europe， doing some unusual things that shock those Europeanized American ones. Her living style forms a sharp contrast with those Europeans. Therefore， she is banished and unaccepted. At last， she becomes the tragic victim of their scapegoats.

Throughout the whole novella， Daisy Miller is depicted to be as a girl of extraordinary beauty， innocence and grace. At the beginning of the novella， when Daisy first appears at the backyard of Hall， Winterbourne is immediately attracted by her， she is dressed in white， with all kinds of “frills”， “flounces”， “ribbons”， making her look like a flower in full bloom. Apart from her physical beauty， she is also unique and has a graceful behavior，“she sat in a charming， tranquil attitude. She had a soft， slender， agreeable voice， and her tone was decidedly sociable” （James 5）. Here the simplicity and grace of Daisy is presented vividly. Besides， in the later plot of this novel， we also get that she ignores those who are staring at her and casually goes around with men in public， which makes her criticized by many. Actually， in her simple mind， she does not think there is anything improper in her going out with a friend. And she has no idea what rules she is violating in doing so.

However， to Mrs. Costello and Mrs. Walker or even paradoxical Winterbourne， they are all Europeanized Americans and guardians of the social norms of European society. In front of them， all the innocence， beauty and grace of Daisy are twisted and misunderstood. To some degree， this just fit for Jungs archetypal theory， according to Jung， “the concept of the archetypes…indicates the existence of definite forms in the psyche which seem to be present always and everywhere” （Jung 42）. To those American expatriates， they try hard to enter into European culture and abandons their native culture， however， just as Jungs explanation， culture exists in a form of various kinds of archetypes and its impossible for them to completely escape from their original culture. Therefore， they try hard to build and defend their identities， and are hostile to every factor that may challenge their identities. Correspondingly， Daisy， who fails to do things according to their norms is criticized and isolated， becoming the alien. A lovely， innocent and unique girl， however， is misunderstood by people and finally dies of ill. In this sense， Daisy actually serves as the scapegoat of those Europeanized Americans.

4. Conclusion

In some way， from the beginning， Daisy dooms to be the victim and be the scapegoat. Just as one word goes， “only those recognizable excellences are real excellences.” However innocence and beauty Daisy is， if no one recognizes her， all will be in vain. In this novel， under the circumstance where the majority American is deeply Europeanized， Daisys persistence to be herself will unavoidable be a failure.

【References】

[1] James， Henry. Daisy Miller. London： Penguin Classics， 1879.

[2] Jung， G. G. The Archetypes and The Collective Unconscious. Beijing： China Social Science Publishing House， 1999.

[3] Skrupskelis， I. K. The Correspondence of William James. United States： University of Virginia Press， 1878.

[4] Neumann， Erich， ed. The Origin and History of Consciousness. Princeton： Princeton University Press， 1954.

【作者简介】

李可（1990—），女，汉族，陕西省西安市周至县人，现就读于西安外国语大学研究生部2013级英语语言文学专业。主要研究方向：英美文学。