Clearly, the Buchanan marriage is a very unhappy one. We are made aware that the only reason Daisy chose to marry Tom Buchanan was because he was able to provide her with the fashionable, wealthy lifestyle she craved despite her being in "love" with Gatsby. This shows to us that Daisy is sucked into the superficial nature of the society of the time. However, later in the novel Nick is informed by Jordan Baker that she had "never seen a girl so mad about her husband." If I didn't know about Daisy's 'breakdown' before her wedding day and not marrying Jay because he was too poor I would have been more inclined to believe Jordan when she said this about Daisy. Although alongside the intended humor of the statement "That's what I get for marrying a brute of a man," Fitzgerald is laying the foundations for Daisy's future affair with Gatsby. I feel this opinion that Daisy holds is closer to the truth. Especially as when Jordan initially mentions Gatsby Daisy almost immediately replies "Gatsby? What Gatsby?" This shows she isn't even afraid to hide her feelings towards another from her husband.
Neither Tom nor Daisy ever really truly care for the others feelings as they both have quite serious affairs without even questioning what it would do to the other person. I feel that this is a comment on the society that Fitzgerald is attempting to make about the carefree nature of the society in the 20s; the women in the 20s were more worried about what expensive gifts their husbands could buy them (Daisy's pearls) as opposed to whether they actually love them. For example, his wife Zelda broke off their engagement when she thought he wouldn't be able to provide for her, but as soon as one of his novels got published she agreed to marry him. This seems a bit strange as surely marriage should be between two people who can't think of spending their life with anyone else than the person they intend to marry. It seems obvious to me that Fitzgerald does not have a positive view on marriage at all. I came to this conclusion as the two marriages presented in the novel are both ruined by affairs. Maybe this is because of his unsuccessful marriage to Zelda.
Regardless of the extremely negative view of marriage Fitzgerald has presented he does show us how powerful the emotion of love can be. Ever since the moment Gatsby laid eyes on Daisy he knew she was the ONE!! Now this is an extremely cliche phrase but I feel in Gatsby case this was true, Daisy was the one and only woman for him. Since the moment he had to let her go he has tried every effort to make himself seem like the kind of man Daisy craves, the rich kind. Jordan describes that Gatsby looked at her "in a way that every young girl wants to be looked at sometime." However, I feel Daisy was never full of the same kind of emotion. She was in love with the idea of Gatsby rather than the actual man himself. Again this brings up the idea of the superficial society that Fitzgerald was writing in.
Em
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Good work Em! This is a well written and insightful analysis of the themes of love and marriage and you explore lots of interesting aspects of the novel with some well-chosen quotations and references to the text.
ReplyDeleteYou also raise some interesting points about the difference between then and now. Fitzgerald seems to present love and marriage as a dichotomy (meaning that they are seen as very different, almost contradictory things) whereas we, in the 21st century, having a more idealised and romantic view of marriage, tend to view them as synonymous: if you are married then you are obviously deeply in love, and if you are in deeply in love then the next logical step is to get married. But this is not true of the world that Fitzgerald portrays as revealed when Catherine tells Nick that neither Tom nor Myrtle can ‘stand the person they’re married to.’
You also raise some interesting points about the autobiographical nature of the novel and Daisy’s rather shallow and flighty emotions.
I’d like you to further consider the following questions:
To what extent do you think the novel is autobiographical? Which character do you think represents Fitzgerald’s persona? Nick? Gatsby? Tom? Wilson? A mixture of some or all of these?
What is your personal response to Daisy? Do you feel she is ‘more sinn’d against than sinning’ (to borrow a phrase from ‘King Lear’)? Or does her own capriciousness and superficiality lead to her own downfall?
Thoughts below please.
Personally, i feel that Fitzgerald is feeding his thoughts into the character of Gatsby. Gatsby had to fight to prove he was worthy of Daisy and Fitzgerald had to do the same thing when trying to attract his own wife. Because of this i feel he doesn't posses any of Tom's characteristics towards love and marriage. Tom treats all his partners as if they were inferior to him because they have come flocking to him as opposed to him having to work to gain to get them.
ReplyDeleteI honestly think Daisy is in love with the idea of love as opposed to the actual reality of it. This is unfortunate as she will never really be satisfied when actually in love. I would have to agree and say that she is very superficial which is definitely a problem when Gatsby asks her to leave Tom. Tom is a more solid and sturdy choice financially so therefore the obvious choice for her.
That's a really interesting point about Daisy being in love with the idea of love as opposed to the reality as she clearly lacks the courage to take the risk of leaving Tom for Gatsby.
ReplyDeleteGatsby's love for Daisy certainly seems much more genuine as evidenced by the extreme lengths he goes to to try and win her back. Perhaps the ultimate irony of the novel is that, despite his deception and his attempts to conceal his past and his true identity, Gatsby is in fact the most genuine and sincere character in the novel.