Daisy Buchanan Character Traits in The Great Gatsby

Daisy is a rich, beautiful woman who originated from Louisville, Kentucky. She is Nick Caraway's cousin who is the story's narrator. Set in the 1920s, Daisy is one of the most renowned characters from the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald.

1. Scott Fitzgerald’s used her character to talk about the elite class, the death of relationships, dissatisfaction and comparison of money and love in a changing stage of America. Let us dive in deep to see who she was and if the interpretations of her character are wrong or right.

Who is Daisy?

Daisy Fay Buchanan was a young, beautiful woman born into a wealthy family in Kentucky. Coming from an elite background, her family has old money, placing them in a reputable and prestigious societal position. Although highly rich, she fell in love with Jay Gatsby, who was from a humble background. This relationship was not encouraged by Daisy's family.

Eventually, Daisy marries Tom Buchanan, who is from a wealthy family just like Daisy, who Daisy's parents approve of.

Life ambitions

It isn't easy to narrow down Daisy's life goals and ambitions in one direction. At one time she appears to be someone who would love to fall in love and be happy with it. Then again, she seems to pursue a worldly and fake socialite life over what she desires at heart.

She might seem shallow, but as the story progresses, we see a soft side of her. Fitzgerald uses her character to portray the picture of females in the early era. Or it could also be depicted as how often we choose a lifestyle we do not want, but it matches societal exepvcatiosn of us. Daisy has a lot of love for Gatsby, but she is still married to Tom Buchanan and continues with her loveless marriage.

Although Gatsby fills her heart with love and fulfilment, societal norms, constraints, and expectations lead her to have a loveless life as a superficial being.

Daisies relationship with Gatsby

Although Daisy is aware of the societal pressure on her, she deeply longs for a man like Gatsby. Her love affair with Gatsby is one of the central themes of the novel. She was in a marriage where she was unhappy and was bound to stay. The reunion with Gatsby rekindles old feelings driven with excitement, leading to their love affair, which has many brutal consequences in the future ahead.

Daisies relationship with Tom

Tom Buchanan was the husband of Daisy. He was abusive, rude and openly unfaithful to her. Daisy was aware of his toxic masculinity traits, yet she was faithful to him, probably due to her lack of financial ability or power to sustain her status in society. This shows the women of her era and how they were assumed to stay happy with materialistic needs rather than relying on filling the hole in their hearts.

Daisy's loyalty was convenience and a sense of duty for social and financial stability. She makes her own life decisions based on her pleasure and benefits. Gatsby made his entire goal to win her back, but Daisy leaves him hanging with a simple affair rather than fully committing to him. She may be beautiful and charming but has no sense of loyalty or genuine care.

In the final ending, we see Gatsby taking over the crime of Daisy, yet Daisy shows no concerns about him. Rather she and Tom move further away without leaving any address forward to be seen or heard.

Physical Analysis of Daisy

Daisy is portrayed as a young, charming, and very beautiful woman. In the movie, she is seen wearing beautiful, wealthy dresses, which mark her status and reflect her admirable beauty. She seems to be in love with the colour white. Her car is white, she has white roses in the house, and in general we see a lot of white in her character.

This could mark her as a pure symbol in her marriage with a cheating husband. Or it could also reflect about the peace for which she longed in her life.

Character Analysis of Daisy

Although Daisy seems to be a loving girl with whom the audience would fall in over with very quickly, we see more of who she is as the novel unfolds. Just like any other normal human being, she also longs for affection, however is not strong willed to pursue.

She is a girl who had it all from the beginning, and when life offered her something new, she seemed very confused not knowing what to do. She is not in love with his husband, but she feels safer behind hiding her bullying, hulk-like husband who makes the decisions for her rather than making it herself. It is safe to presume that she goes for a mapped out life rather than pursuing her heart.

In the novel, she was seen as confused, shallow and materialistic. But is she that confused or has no power to stand by her decisions? Gatsby does have the opportunity to offer her a luxurious life which she would have wanted, but she has that now with Tom, which makes it unjustifiable for her. She already has wealth and love does not seem enough reason for her to leave everything behind and start fresh.

To pursue a life just for love is something, which she loved in idea but did not have the drive to continue. Although as an audience we clearly seems to fascinate her, and some even sympathise with her, we see her selfish and shallow character little by little later in the story and eventually at the end, which brings a  tragic ending to all.

Even her relationship with her daughter seems so superficial. Her daughter is more like an object to show to society and just a casualty in the marriage. Her daughter spends more time with the nanny than her own mother. Daisy pays little to no attention to her and is more concerned about her life desires begetting fulfilled.

Conclusion

Although the novel is named the great Gatsby, it won’t be wrong to say that it is Daisy’s plot and which makes the novel move forward. Daisy, the love of Gatsby's life, is the main object of his existence. Daisy has all the psychical traits which make her infamous amongst many men, but she lacks any values regarding love, affection, care and loyalty.

She is a multifaceted, complex, delusional socialite who seems to know what she wants but does not have the strength to pursue it. From a different perspective, it can be seen as a woman of the early eras who is torn between following her passion for love, and following societal norms which she is bound to follow and facing harsh consequences.

She’s materialistic, but maybe her meaningless life and marriage turned her into this. Maybe it was only material wealth which filled her cup of happiness. The tragic ending shows the life of so-called wealthy elites and how their actions proceed to make judgments in their life and those who come in contact with them.