What Is Daisy's Role In The Great Gatsby

On August 18th, 1920, the 19th Amendment to the Constitution was ratified and women were granted the right to vote. The 19th Amendment began the expansion of women’s rights throughout the 1920’s, which gave way to the popular group of women known as “Flappers”. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, written in 1925, includes the story of Daisy Buchanan, a flapper who displays the freedoms and experiences that women had throughout the 1920’s. “‘Herstory’ and Daisy Buchanan” by Leland S. Person, Jr. discusses how Daisy embodies many different roles throughout the story. Fitzgerald uses Daisy to show how the dreams and American dream of the 1920’s changed due to the altered expectations of women. Also, Fitzgerald shows the role that money had in Daisy’s life, and moreover, in a woman’s life in the 1920’s. Fitzgerald also highlights Gatsby’s and Tom’s roles throughout the story in order to show the change in Daisy’s opportunities and choices. Fitzgerald uses Daisy Buchanan’s character to show how the opportunities of women were growing throughout the 1920’s and the changing role that women

Daisy, in talking about her daughter being born, says to Nick, “...I hope she’ll be a fool—that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world…” (Fitzgerald 17). Fitzgerald shows the reader that Daisy, although she knows her happiness is at stake, can’t wait for Gatsby to have enough money and it was better for her to be a “fool”. In the 1920’s, the power of money was endless but also corrupted, and in this case, it led to Daisy giving up the life she once dreamed about with Gatsby. The classic American dream is based on having a family and having money to support that family. Daisy gives up her “radical” American dream of a life with Gatsby only to realize, in the end, that Gatsby would just attempt to show her the same kind of money that Tom can provide for