Mrs. Miller Character Analysis

Daisy’s mother, a small and thin woman with frizzed hair and a delicate constitution—she suffers from dyspepsia, or indigestion. She is not very friendly with Winterbourne initially, but opens up when she has the opportunity to talk about her ailments and about her Dr. Davis, whom she holds in great respect. Mrs. Miller is clearly quite wealthy, and dresses lavishly, though it is intimated that she and her husband are “new money” Americans, unlike the respectable European families that have similar wealth. Her character escapes total parody thanks to her ambivalent relationship to her daughter; sometimes Mrs. Miller seems embarrassed by her behavior, as when Daisy asks Winterbourne to take her out on a boat late at night, but other times she remains oblivious to the subtle social judgments on her daughter. Either way, Mrs. Miller believes that Daisy’s actions are out of her hands, a laissez-faire attitude to mothering that astounds and confuses Winterbourne, among others.