Beyond Woman, Mystery, and Myth: A Study of Daisy Fay Buchanan in F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby"

Abstract

Over the last one hundred years, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby has become one of the most popular American novels in the literary canon. Though thousands of critical articles have circulated concerning one of American’s greatest tragic heroes, Jay Gatsby, it is the object of his desire that is often neglected. By applying the theories of feminist thinker Simone de Beauvoir, it can be shown that Daisy’s status as mutable anti-heroine is representative of the patriarchal ideologies of the novel’s time. Equally ripe for analysis is Daisy’s film legacy, as four major motion pictures have been adapted for the big screen. In this project, I argue that Daisy represents the treacherous dichotomies often imposed on women, whether through idolatry, illusion, commodification, or slavery. I also seek to prove that Daisy is part and parcel of the American New Woman and how this further distorts America’s identification with her. The ability to identify with characters is compulsory, which is perhaps why the story of Jay Gatsby has been adopted as a telling of the American Dream. As a contrast, however, the women in The Great Gatsby are difficult to identify with. If Daisy Buchanan is confined to a strict set of misshapen stereotypes, and we as Americans celebrate this novel as one of our Greats, how do we time and time again read women in the Great American Narrative?