Although Winterbourne, like Daisy, is American, he has lived so long in Geneva that this city serves as his point of reference for evaluating the behavior of Daisy and others. Geneva is referred to as “Calvinist,” suggesting a kind of rigorous, even severe, Protestant work ethic and buttoned-up attitude. Girls in Geneva, we learn, are reserved, polite, and always proper. Geneva in the novella comes to stand in for European attitudes to women’s behavior in general, attitudes espoused in particular by Mrs. Walker, who has lived in Geneva along with Winterbourne—and attitudes that contrast sharply with the “American” way of life, or at least with Daisy’s own actions. When Winterbourne wonders if he and Mrs. Walker have lived too long in Geneva, in fact, his doubts are another way of wondering whether his own attitudes and prejudices have come to cloud his judgment, when they may simply stem from a particular place’s customs.
Geneva Symbol Timeline in Daisy Miller
