How Is Daisy Ideal In The Great Gatsby

A thorough analysis of The Greats Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzegerald, demonstrate that not every woman was to be molded by the current era. Daisy is displayed as an ideal woman from a quick glance, however she is far from the current standard and she contains flaws that do not come from the mold a woman is expected to be shaped from in the current era.

It becomes obvious in a statement from Gatsby that Daisy priorities wealth over love. “’She never loved you, do you hear?’ he cried. ‘She only married you because I was poor and she was tired of waiting for me.” (pg.137) For Gatsby, Daisy is a perfect woman whom he has strived after for years and shaped his life around getting her back. It is due to the fact that Gatsby holds Daisy as ideal that

makes it clear to the reader that she places wealth higher than her own love. A woman role in society was often to be considered to place her husband and family above all ells. By portraying Daisy as a woman that loves Gatsby, yet hold materialistic things in high regards that take priority over the husband, it shows that women are not only there to please the husband, instead they have their own thoughts and what to priorities.
The pressure from the current era the book is written in is displayed when Daisy face the decision to get married to Tom. “Take ‘em downstairs and give ‘em back to whoever they belong to. Tell ‘em all Daisy’s changed’ her mine. Say: “Daisy’s change’ her mine!” ‘ She began to cry – she cried and cried.” (pg.83) Even though Daisy do not wish to go through with the marriage, the pressure from the social and economic standpoint become too overwhelming and she decide to go through the marriage anyway. It was uncommon to cancel marriage and hard for women to make a living of their own in the era the book is written and by adding this statement it shows that women do not always want to get married to the husband they are to be wed to and instead they might feel the need to do it as a result of the pressure from outside sources.
In addition to seeing how Daisy is unwilling to commit to marriage because of social standard, the reader gets to see just how dependent she is on others.

“If he left the room for a minute she’d look around uneasily, and say: ‘Where’s Tom gone?’ and wear the most abstracted expression until she saw him coming in the door. She used to sit on the sand with his head in her lap by the hour, rubbing her fingers over his eyes and looking at him with unfathomable delight.” (pg.83) The way Daisy is described waiting on Tom can be compared to that of a dog waiting on his owner. A dog often sits and whimper looking sad, while waiting for his owner to return and is lost without him. A dog is dependent on his owner taking care of him and commanding the dog on what to do and by making the waiting and delight when being with him similar. By portraying Daisy as extremely dependent it shows that she is not a woman that is completely alienated from the norm of the current era of women, instead it shows that while she displays different thoughts from the current norm. She is still a woman who loves and depends on her husband, making it easier for the targeted audience to relate and connect to the

woman.
While Daisy have affection for others it becomes clear to the reader that she places herself above all ells when she says “She told me it was a girl, and so I turned my head away and wept.

“All right,” I said, “I’m glad it’s a girl. And I hope she’ll be a fool – that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool.” (pg.24) Here the newborn is used as a symbol to display that she considers herself first. A mother and child have always been regarded as having a special bond and a mother is supposed to place her child above all there is in the world. Daisy is aware that Tom is cheating and when she says that she hopes the child will grow up to be a fool she is engrossed with herself and thinks that if she herself would have grown up to be a fool, she could have lived in unknowingness of Tom cheating and lived a wonderful life. By reading this, the reader understands that not every wife priority and life goal is to place the family first, instead it shows that some women are complete different and do not abide by the standard that have been set throughout

history.
In addition to seeing herself in the newborn instead of her child, she shows that she holds no desire to educate or help the child grow. This become evident in the conversation between the child and Daisy. “I got dressed before luncheon,’ said the child, turning eagerly to Daisy. ‘That’s because your mother wanted to show you off.” (pg.123) A woman job was often to care for the children and educate them into becoming adults, Daisy choose to pay no heed to proud child accomplishment and soon after try and get the child to compliment Gatsby. By doing so it becomes apparent that Daisy holds no desire to either compliment the child for growing up nor pay attention to her if it was not to show her off.

F. Scott Fitzengerald create Daisy to be the perfect women from a shallow outside perspective, however he displays her as a flawed and different character. He shows the influence from the Roaring Twenties and that women are not simple housewives with one mindset, instead she differs greatly from the perfect women by the times standard and shows that women might want something ells than what is given to them.
References:
The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald 1926.