Résumé
Résumé de Daisy
À qui s’adresse-t-il ?
Readers who like a young heroine with a strong conscience, an American setting before the Civil War, and a story told in a warm first-person voice about faith, friendship and the ties between family wealth and right living.
De quoi parle ce livre ?
Daisy is a novel by Susan Warner, an American writer who died in 1885. It follows Daisy Randolph, the only daughter of a wealthy family, from the age of ten into her teens, and she tells her own story in looking back. The book belongs to the years before the American Civil War, and it shows how a thoughtful girl comes to see what her family's comfort rests upon.
Daisy's father is hurt in a riding accident, and her parents sail abroad for his health. She is sent south to Magnolia, her mother's rice and cotton plantation, in the care of her bustling Aunt Gary and a stern governess named Miss Pinshon. There she meets hundreds of enslaved people who have no church and no voice to speak for them. Later she goes to a fashionable school in New York and then to the military academy at West Point.
You will meet a girl who takes the Golden Rule seriously and pays a price for it. The book gives you a sharp picture of plantation life, school life and the lead-up to war. Let us begin with Daisy's first weeks at Magnolia.
Dans ce résumé
- 1A lonely arrival at MagnoliaFree
- 2The house, the quarters and the graves
- 3The multiplication table and a first ride
- 4What Daisy learns about slavery
- 5Letting her light shine
- 6Four winters and a rescue
- 7New York, school and a costly choice
- 8West Point, the hops and a soldier's friendship
- 9The country divides
Point clé 1 sur 9
A lonely arrival at Magnolia
Daisy begins by telling us that at ten she became a Christian, and that this faith has run through her life ever since. Her happy childhood ends when her father is thrown from his horse and injured. The doctors send him abroad, and Daisy is sent south to Magnolia with her Aunt Gary. She travels by slow train through pine forests and swamps, worn out and homesick, and calms herself by thinking over the twenty-third Psalm.
Her cousin Preston meets her at a lonely station. He is Aunt Gary's son and a kind, teasing young man who dotes on Daisy. He tells her that she will have a governess, Miss Pinshon. Aunt Gary says Daisy must be educated because she is a great heiress. Preston jokes that he hates educated women, and Daisy says that women and men should be equal.
On their last free afternoon in Baytown, Daisy sees a Black funeral procession and asks Preston whether there are many Black people at Magnolia. She buys a large parcel of candy. Then she meets Miss Pinshon and knows at once that her play is over. The governess has heavy black eyes that never seem to blink, and she tests Daisy on what she knows.
Daisy cannot answer, because she has never learned the multiplication table. Preston calls the governess Medusa and says she will turn Daisy to stone. Daisy begs him to be quiet, because she must obey her mother's orders through Miss Pinshon.
That’s 1 of 9 key points.
The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
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Questions about Daisy
What is the book Daisy by Susan Warner about?
Daisy follows Daisy Randolph, a young heiress who is sent to her family's Southern plantation. She sees how enslaved people live and tries to help them by reading the Bible and giving gifts, then faces new tests at school and at West Point.
Who is Thorold in Daisy?
Mr. Thorold is a cadet at West Point from Vermont, with bright hazel eyes and a frank, merry manner. He becomes Daisy's close friend, and he and his aunt, Miss Cardigan, matter a great deal to her story.
Why is Daisy compared to Egyptian glass?
Dr. Sandford calls her a delicate vessel of Egyptian glass because she is a fragile child asked to do the work of an iron furnace. Her frail body carries a strong conscience and heavy burdens.
Is Daisy a true story and when was it written?
Daisy is a novel, not a true account. Susan Warner wrote it in the nineteenth century, and the story is set in the years before and at the start of the American Civil War.
What is the main message of Daisy?
The book argues that faith should shape daily choices about money, dress and pleasure. Daisy tries to follow the Golden Rule, even when it costs her comfort and popularity, and she puts the needs of others first.