Daisy's Role In The Great Gatsby

In F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby women were recognized as a big influence on American culture during the roaring 20s. Fitzgerald uses women in this book to build up the ‘American Dream’ by showing off woman's beauty, status, and their personality. Daisy, Myrtle, and Jordan each have roles within The Great Gatsby that show the different roles of women in the 1920s. Many times their roles were defined by their relationships, such as their husbands being rich, or poor, or any people that they know that are rich or poor. Daisy, Myrtle, and Jordans lives are all defined by their relationships, and their status is determined by who they marry. Daisy Buchanan loved Gatsby, but at the time, he had no money and left for the war, leaving Daisy to find someone new. She then married Tom Buchanan because he had “ensured prosperity and status” (Fitzgerald, pg 131), something that Gatsby did not have at the time. Daisy is a smart, beautiful woman, but her life is run by Tom, so she acts dumb. Daisy is basically a trophy wife, and does not care that Tom has cheated on her, even though they have a child. Daisy used her beauty to her advantage though, she used it to reach the …show more content…
Myrtle longs for a life that is fun and rich, but being married to a mechanic means that she has no status. This led to her having an affair with Tom Buchanan so she could have somewhat of a status. Myrtle would do anything to have a status, being in the upper class, without caring about the consequences. There is a part in the book where Tom hits her, breaking her nose but she stayed with him so she could live the lavish life, “in this fantasy she so eagerly wanted to become real (Fitzgerald pg 37) Tom hitting her shows that he doesn't care for the lower class, but he never hits Daisy because that would ruin him. How Myrtle contributes to this ‘American Dream’ is because she has beauty that men want, but can't have because she is lower