Thesis: In The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald portrays Daisy as the classic American girl, thus Fitzgerald uses social expectations of white women to characterize Daisy as a two dimensional stereotype. In the beginning of the novel, Daisy is introduced as the wife of Tom, together creating the exemplar of American couples; however, these social expectations limit the identity of Daisy as she is served as a complimentary character to Tom. Daisy demonstrates Tom’s power and authority when by diminishing her dignity.
As Gatsby is saying goodbye to Daisy after seeing her for the first time in 5 years, Nick makes the observation that perhaps Daisy had not lived up to Gatsby’s standards. Of course, Gatsby’s standards had been inflated, due to time and obsession. He had made her into something she wasn't. Instead of loving her for her, he loved her for the idea of her in his head. These idealistic standards that he had been pursuing for five years were not representative of who Daisy really was.
Daisy Buchanan, the female protagonist of F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel "The Great Gatsby," is a complicated character whose motivations and actions are often unclear. Throughout the novel, Fitzgerald presents Daisy as a woman who is both desirable and dangerous, a woman who is trapped by her own social position and unable to break free. Daisy is a woman of great beauty and charm, with a voice that is "full of money" (Fitzgerald 127). She is often seen as a symbol of the American Dream, representing the ideal of wealth and status. However, beneath her charming exterior, Daisy is a woman who is deeply unhappy and unfulfilled.
His disregard for reality is how he formulates his dream to rewrite the past and reunite with Daisy, according to his belief that sufficient wealth can allow him to control his fate. He establishes an immense fortune to impress Daisy, who can only be won over with evidence of material success. As Gatsby attempts to make his ideal a reality, things do not run as smoothly as he plans because Daisy can never live up to his dream. When Nick is reflecting on Gatsby's idea of Daisy he notes, "He wanted nothing less of Daisy than that she should go to Tom and say: 'I never loved you'" (105). Gatsby’s ideal life is not a realistic expectation because Daisy is already married and has a family to take care of.
In Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, Daisy is portrayed as a modern woman; she is sophisticated, careless and beautifully shallow. Daisy knows who she is, and what it takes for her to be able to keep the lifestyle she grew up in, and this adds to her carelessness and her feigned interest in life. In all, Daisy is a woman who will not sacrifice material desires or comfort for love or for others, and her character is politely cruel in this way. Daisy’s main strength, which buoyed her throughout her youth and when she was in Louisville, is her ability to know what was expected of her and feign cluelessness.
Character Ambiguity in “The Great Gatsby” Throughout a large majority of fictional literature, the characters are constructed to act and react upon however the author fabricates them to be. Within the novel “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Daisy Buchanan’s character can be interpreted in a variety of connotations; her attitudes and behaviors reflect on her morality. Throughout the narrative, Fitzgerald displays Daisy as a controversial character with examples of her ambiguous personality qualities and actions.
Gatsby knows that Daisy is a high-class individual who cares very much about status and wealth, so his entire life has been dedicated to being the best so that she will notice him. When Daisy, Gatsby’s one desire, and Nick, Gatsby’s
But there is a danger for Gatsby in this redeeming purposefulness. When he buys his fantastic house, he thinks he is buying a dream, not simply purchasing property (Lewis 51). Obsessing over the certain attraction that links Daisy with Gatsby, muttering the words, "Her voice is full of money" (120), Gatsby emphasizes his growing belief that money, indeed, will entice Daisy. What Gatsby, with surprising consciousness, states is that Daisy 's charm is allied to the attraction of wealth (Lewis 50); he regards materialism as fine bait to lure Daisy into his arms. When Nick
Gatsby has spent his whole life trying to prove to Daisy and everyone around him that he is worthy of her. The only way to be on the same social level as her is to turn himself into new money. Since this is not possible, he has to try to convince to others that he truly is old money. To do this, he becomes rich, and lies about his past, but the only way for him to complete this idea is if he is with Daisy. She is the final piece in his American dream.
The view of the American Dream is different for everyone. The Epic Journey, by James Truslow Adams, views the American Dream as a dream of attaining one’s fullest stature regardless of one’s social status. Similarly, in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s book, The Great Gatsby, Gatsby’s American Dream relates to Adam’s dream but limited to materialistic wealth- a dream that seeks for motor cars, higher wages, and to impress the people of high status. Both Adams and Gatsby believe that everyone has an equal chance of achieving their dream. Adams says “The dream is that dream of land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement”.
Daisy does not care for others, and she values Tom 's money over Gatsby 's love. The materialistic values that Daisy holds, therefore, ultimately corrupt her. Her corruption is further proven when Gatsby later describes to Nick Daisy 's car accident, "Well, first Daisy turned away from the woman toward the other car, and lost her nerve and turned back... Daisy stepped on it." (151).
In an attempt to win Daisy back from her lifestyle of “Old Money”, Gatsby becomes excessively greedy with his money. While he himself may not care about wealth, he knows Daisy does. Therefore, when Daisy comes to his mansion, he flaunts his expensive shirts. “‘They’re such beautiful shirts,’ she sobbed, her voice muffled in the thick folds. ‘It makes me sad because I’ve never seen such—such beautiful shirts before.’”
In the novel, The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald portrays women in an extremely negative light. The idea Fitzgerald gives off is that women are only good for their looks and their bodies and that they should just be a sex symbol rather than actually use their heads. He treats women like objects and the male characters in the novel use women, abuse women, and throw them aside. I believe that Daisy, Jordan and Myrtle are prime examples of women in The Great Gatsby being treated poorly.
When Daisy appears for the first time in the book, the author associates her character with light, purity and innocence. With her dress, “they were both in white, and their dresses were rippling and fluttering”(8), she
To start off, it is known that Daisy chooses to contradict many things going on in her life. In this time period, it was not uncommon for married men to have affairs with other women, while the other way around was not acceptable. When reading this novel, we