Walking as a Gendered Practice: Travel and Transgressions in Henry James's Daisy Miller (1878) and The Wings of the Dove (1902).

This essay examines the gendered practice of walking as an act of self-assertion in Henry James's works *Daisy Miller: A Study* (1878) and *The Wings of the Dove* (1902), focusing on their female protagonists, Daisy Miller and Milly Theale. It argues that walking in unfamiliar European cities—Rome for Daisy and London for Milly—symbolizes a challenge to restrictive nineteenth-century gender norms that limited women's mobility and freedom. While Daisy’s walks provoke social ostracism and ultimately lead to her demise, reflecting the rigid constraints of her era, Milly’s solitary strolls embody a more complex, introspective negotiation of identity and autonomy amid personal illness and social expectations. The essay highlights how James’s portrayal of female walkers evolves over time, with Milly granted greater narrative agency and self-definition compared to Daisy, illustrating shifting cultural attitudes toward women’s independence and transgression in travel.