Daisy Miller is a young American woman of about seventeen who is traveling in Europe with her mother and young brother. Her father, a wealthy financier, remains at home in New York. Because of his wealth, Daisy is able to wear the finest fashions from Paris, although she favors girlish frills and ruffles. Daisy's mother is in poor health and prefers not to accompany her daughter on her many outings. She seems to implicitly trust Daisy's integrity and virtue. In European society, integrity and virtue are beside the point — appearances are what matter.