Upper Class Women In The Great Gatsby

F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, set in New York during the 1920's, represents the social changes accompanying the Jazz Age. Nick Carraway, the narrator, describes Jay Gatsby's opulent lifestyle and some characters’ attempts to break through societal barriers. Fitzgerald uses Daisy Buchanan to represent the struggle of upper class women in the 1920's to shatter society's expectations. Daisy acknowledges her dissatisfaction of the norms around her, but adheres to them anyway. She represents the frustration 1920's upper class women felt and their eventual acquiescence of the gender roles society assigned to them. The 1920's were a time of breaking social norms and overhauling the chauvinistic paradigm, the Jazz Age brought American women

Initially, she is described as an intellectual who is able to discern societal norms. Yet later, she accepts them after noticing it might be in her best interest to conform. Daisy was considering to shatter the tacit rules within society when she was thinking of leaving her husband Tom for a bootlegging newly rich man, Jay Gatsby. But, the vision deteriorates as she resists her urges and returns to her role as the passive wife. Her inability to react to Tom's extramarital affairs indicates that she understood her position as a wife required that she accept her husband's unfaithfulness, despite her internal turmoil. In the climax of the novel, Daisy must choose between Tom and Gatsby. Remaining married to Tom would imply she accepts the norms, while running off with Gatsby would mean breaking them. When Gatsby asks Daisy to profess their love in front of Tom, she stops and thinks without acting the same instant. An aggravated Gatsby orders her to continue, despite her "perceptible reluctance." (132) Gatsby's demand reveals the lopsided power dynamic in their relationship. Gatsby is domineering, while Daisy is treated like property. Soon afterward, Tom interrogates a "trembling" Daisy (132). Likely due to the gender roles at the time, the men control Daisy, forcing her into a position of submissiveness where she cannot make decisions for herself. She begins to sob,

Daisy represents individuals who see the walls put in place but are too frightened to knock them down. She reveals her understanding of the norms imposed on her when telling Nick that she hopes her daughter will,"be a fool—that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool.”(17) The ironic tone Fitzgerald integrates in Daisy's dialogue shows her understanding of her gender role. She describes her desire for her daughter to be a “beautiful little fool” as expected of upper class women (17). Daisy, although recognizing the existent problems with 1920's New York, perpetuates the same standards that were imposed on her. Contrastingly, during her wedding, a drunk Daisy reveals her desire to break free from the confines of society when proclaiming, "Tell ’em all Daisy’s change’ her mine. Say: ‘Daisy’s change’ her mine!” (76) Her true desires are ironically only obvious when she is inebriated, which would be considered unbecoming of a woman of her status. Even with her newfound realizations, she carries on with the wedding, subduing her conscience and locking herself into a role society has relegated her to. Nick details this as, “The loneliest moment in someone’s life is when they are watching their whole world fall apart, and all they can do is stare blankly.” (68) Because she cannot break free of the misogynistic society