Daisy Buchanan is negatively portrayed as the epitome of a shallow, selfish socialite trophy wife in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. She seemingly marries money and status at the expense of forgoing true love. Daisy is not in a position to choose for love or money; both Tom and Gatsby offer material wealth, but neither is equipped to provide her with love. She merely becomes a victim of her own insecurities and the intentions of the men in her life, as she desperately searches to fill the empty void she feels in her heart.
At a glance, Daisy does appear to fit the mold of a trophy wife. She is enchanting and loves to find herself at the center of attention at social gatherings. Her most distinguishable characteristics are wrapped up in her charming appearance and magnetic mannerisms. Her personality is delightful; she has “an absurd, charming little laugh” and an excitement in her voice that “men who had cared for her found difficult to forget” (14). She conforms to society’s expectations of her, as these attributes are viewed as greatly important to a woman in her position. She avoids serious discussions and makes light conversation, entertaining her guests with trivial matters such as the longest day of the year and gossiping about the butler’s nose.
Daisy is a much more complex character than she seems to be on the surface. Although she is a pretty girl, her face suggests a degree of sadness that is often overshadowed by her loveliness with “bright eyes and a bright passionate mouth” (14). This sadness is only briefly mentioned; however, it poses a vast contradiction to her overall description, raising questions concerning her past and her true feelings about her current situation in life.
Once upon a time, Daisy was very much in love with a man named Jay Gatsby. However, their young romance comes to an abrupt end when he leaves her behind to serve in the military overseas. Although she promises to save herself for Gatsby, Daisy becomes overwhelmed with feelings of loneliness and finds that she is unable to sit alone and wait for her so-called Prince Charming to return someday that may never come. She heals her broken heart as her insatiable appetite for attention takes control, driving her into the company of many boys who are all ineligible to follow in the footsteps of her former flame.
By the following autumn, she meets Tom Buchanan in her pursuit for companionship. Tom exhibits a number of characteristics commonly associated with young, eligible bachelors; he is successful, handsome and athletic. His family is affluent and well established. He courts her properly, smothering her with the attention she craves. He spoils her, offering her financial security and all of the best things that money could buy. He proposes and she eagerly says yes, as she is caught up in the whirlwind of the lifestyle, the excitement and the attention.
Over the course of their engagement, Daisy develops reservations concerning her commitment to Tom and the day before their wedding, she breaks down in an inebriated state, crying hysterically. She fervently clings to a mysterious letter, of which the contents are never revealed. Some may assume it is a declaration of love sent by Gatsby from overseas; however, a mere letter is out-of-character for Gatsby, who hosts lavish parties upon his return, in order to attract Daisy’s attention. In addition, Daisy does not mention Gatsby during her drunken outburst. A more likely theory may explain the letter as a piece of correspondence between Tom and another woman. Daisy’s silence in the matter may be due to feelings of shame and embarrassment.
Never-the-less, Daisy’s mother and Jordan Baker settle her down and the following day, she and Tom walk down the aisle and vow be faithful and love one another other for the rest of their lives. Shortly after the couple returns from their honeymoon, Tom is caught having an extramarital affair with a chamber maid in Santa Barbara.
Daisy had previously related a story, reflecting back on the birth of her daughter, in which she gleefully expresses her wishes that Pammy will grow up to be “a beautiful little fool” contending that “this is the best thing a girl can be in this world.” She strongly values naïve and innocent qualities, but bitterly states that she knows better because she has “been everywhere and seen everything and done everything” and that “everything’s terrible” (30).
The course of events surrounding her wedding and honeymoon, Daisy quickly becomes uneasy in her marriage, as her previous insecurities and fears of abandonment return. She is more aware and increasingly assertive, as she constantly questions Tom’s whereabouts and appears anxious and suspicious in his absence. She is filled with doubts and distrusts her husband, but she lives in an era in which divorce is virtually unheard of and she is hindered by the expectations of society to make the most of her situation. She plays the role of his wife well, portraying Tom and herself as a happy, rich and popular couple among their friends. However, underneath the surface, their relationship is a turbulent mess as Tom exposes his true nature as an impatient, aggressive philanderer.
When Gatsby re-emerges in Daisy’s life, he comes across as a hopeless romantic. However, his feelings do not indicate true love, but mere infatuation and perhaps even obsession. It is true that he absolutely idolizes Daisy and has spent the past few years building an extravagant new lifestyle, claiming to be driven by his desire to impress her. His intentions seem to be connected to completing his own selfish quest to achieve all facets of the highly coveted American Dream.
Daisy’s motivation behind her decision to stray from her marriage and engage in an intimate affair with Gatsby is not directly addressed, but may be attributed to a number of reasons. Tom is currently involved in an affair with a married woman named Myrtle Wilson. Perhaps Daisy feels the impact of her husband’s absence and the gaping void in her heart is yearning to be tended to. She is intrigued by the seemingly sincere interest Gatsby expresses in her and the former lovers’ romance is temporarily rekindled. Her fling presents her with an opportunity to return to a certain innocence she once possessed as a young girl; this was a time when her life was much simpler and she was carefree and happy.
Many truths surface on a hot, fateful day in New York, as Tom and Gatsby engage in an increasingly heated war of words. It quickly becomes apparent that their intentions are to embarrass one another; it is a childish competition between two men plagued by insecurities and neither one shows signs of being truly in love with Daisy. She is forced to witness this showdown in horror, as they demean their respective relationships with her into a competition, in which she is reduced to nothing more than a prize to be won. This portrayal is reiterated later when Gatsby tells the story of his earlier relationship with Daisy, relating how “it excited him…that many men had already loved [her] – it increased her value in his eyes” (161).
Just as Daisy was not in control of her situation the day before her wedding, she is equally helpless in this case. Although her behavior is often depicted as reckless, selfish and dramatic, she initially makes no effort to escalate Tom and Gatsby’s verbal sparring. She is hesitant to respond to Gatsby’s demands that she tell Tom that she never loved him. When she does become actively involved in their battle, her words convey her marital frustrations and pent up feelings of hurt and anger. Tom responds by revealing Gatsby’s criminal involvement in illegal bootlegging endeavors with which he acquired his vast fortune. This brings Daisy crashing back to reality; she reaffirms her commitment to her husband and retreats from the idealistic fantasies of her love affair with Gatsby.
Although Tom promises to “take better care of [her] from now on,” he does not display any degree of sensitivity to Daisy’s emotional state, which is overwhelmed with chaotic confusion (153). Instead, he insists that she return home in Gatsby’s car, a boastful gesture which serves the sole purpose of asserting his own confidence in her loyalty to him. Although she was driving the car that kills Myrtle Wilson, Gatsby assumes responsibility and she simply allows him to do so, in the same manner in which she permits the men in her life to make major decisions. Then just as they have done a number of times before, she and Tom pack up their lives and move away from their scandalous mess. They re-establish their façade of a happy, rich and popular couple in a new city with a new social circle. Once again, her actions do not reflect her own decision, but the return of her dutiful allegiance to her husband.
Although Daisy is often portrayed as selfish and status-seeking, in actuality she desperately pines for attention in the form of affection. Both Tom and Gatsby claim to love her; however, their actions clearly indicate that they value her as a prize to be won and nothing more than a trophy to be showcased. Daisy’s character is weakened by her insecurities, as she allows her self-worth to be determined by the men in her life.
Written in the summer of 2004 for a #2 TEXAS TECH (Guns Up!!!) course in American Literature. I recently got into a discussion about my position in Daisy's corner with a high school English teacher at my Team-in-Training practice. I stand by Daisy for personal reasons...or at least at the time this was written. My views have changed slightly to put more responsibility on Daisy for forfeiting her fate to others...but then again, in the 1920's, realistically speaking, what were her choices?? *SIGH* This piece makes me sad. Very, very sad.
