In the 1920s, a character from The Great Gatsby portrayed herself as a flirtatious, used, and pushed around woman who took advantage of millionaires. None of these qualities strike me as what a woman really is, especially in today’s terms. We are essentially smart women and we are in no circumstance of being pushed around by misogynistic men. Commonly, women today also show no intention of marrying or teasing men for their money. In this case, the woman did both. She portrayed no discipline, money driven qualities, and a stature that led her husband to push her around.
In the novel, Daisy Buchanan had no discipline. She was often flirtatious, erratic, and unreliable. Her cousin, Nick Carroway, told us of the many times she said teasing comments such as, “Are you in love with me, or why did I have to come alone?” Some of these comments were small remarks, but when she fell in love with Gatsby while she was married, her character developed into an entirely different persona. While women make mistakes, many show self- discipline especially in their marriages. However, Daisy relied on Nick to cover up her emotional affair and keep it from her husband, Tom. Another trait she carried, that modern women try not to show, is unreliability. While she developed a love triangle between her, Gatsby, and Tom, she forgot to mention that she loved them both. In the end, this hurt not only her marriage, but Gatsby as well. After the incident, she drove Gatsby home, and accidentally ran over a woman and left the mangled body for someone else to find. If this had been the case now, most women and most people would have stopped, called the police, and taken the blame yet Daisy drove away and was willing to let Gatsby take the blame.
Daisy was also a “gold digger,” considering she had money driven thoughts. She married Tom Buchanan for his wealth, and didn’t wait for Gatsby who was her summer sweetheart. In theory, she didn’t wait for him because he had no money at the time, which in turn motivated him to become a millionaire. Fortunately for her, Tom’s wealth paid off and she was featured in many newspapers at many parties. In some ways she can be described (quoted by Randy Scherer) as the “Paris Hilton” of the 1920s. However, she does not represent women today, whatsoever, considering the majority of women is now working. They also support and mother their children, and in the novel, Daisy did not seem to have a strong connection with her daughter.
One major issue that stood out to me, though, was the fact that she let her husband push her around. He was a racist, sexist, and an abusive man that had an open affair with Myrtle Wilson. Today, women have enough self respect and the idea of a mistress is completely outdated. If any context of an affair came into a marriage today, major conflict would occur, and might possibly lead to a divorce. In Daisy’s marriage, divorce never came into her mind and maybe that can relate to her “gold digger” personality. When it was convenient for him in the end of the novel, Tom said he was still in love with Daisy. She later confessed she loved him too, even though she had said he was “repulsive” at one point.
In my opinion, women just have so much more self respect that is not shown throughout this novel. The feminine characters are incredibly degrading to today’s women. They lack the strong and motherly essence, and show flighty tendencies. One of the main characters, Daisy, definitely does not depict women today, especially since she portrayed no discipline, money driven qualities, and a stature that led her husband to push her around.