I'm interested in the gender dynamic in this piece because we have two Americans--a male and a female--acting within a foreign/Italian sphere, which offers, I think, a unique opportunity to consider the way the author treats the opposing genders. Clearly, the female gets the unfortunately awful end of the stick. Her flirty, flighty ways result in disease and death, while he--levelheaded and responsible-- warns against it. She becomes broken down, too, reduced to a series of body parts throughout the narrative: she has "a singularly well-shaped ear," and later she is "still showing her pretty teeth."
The question, of course, is how Italy factors into all of this. We could easily claim that Italy kills the wild, uncultured American. However, she begins to adopt Italy, too: Giovanelli is frequently described as "the little Italian." Immediately after Winterbourne sheds his interest in her after finding her at the Collosseum, the narrator describes Daisy as "the little American flirt" (while Giovanelli becomes "the fourtunate Italian"). So, does Italy kill her, or does she possess Italy? And, because the narrative often highlights the story-telling aspect, is the author, in a larger sense, damning Italy by killing the girl? I have no idea what to do with all of that--but given our interest in ownership, it's worthwhile to note.
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