Character analysis of Myrtle and Daisy in The Great Gatsby
Two of the main characters in “The Great Gatsby” are Myrtle and Daisy. There are definition connections between Daisy and Myrtle. For instance both of them are unhappy with the person that they are married to. This is because they are both in love, in different ways, with Tom. Myrtle attempts to appear as a high class citizen but the reader notices that there are many holes in this disguise.
Myrtle wishes to emulate the appearance of a high-class citizen but the reader see a clear disparity between her ideal vision of herself and reality. Myrtle does not have the figure of a high-class woman. She is neither skinny nor beautiful.
” …her face contained no facet or gleam of beauty”.
Unlike Daisy Myrtle is not a physically attractive person. The book makes reapeated references to her being “stout” or “thick figured” All of the high-class people that live on East egg come across as physically attractive. This quality comes though very clearly in Daisy. Myrtle clothing is one of the ways that she tries to project this upper class image. At one point in the book she changes her clothes three time in one chapter. This repeated changing of costume is her attempt to be seen as though she os wealthy and can afford to have many different dresses. The material that her dresses are made out of is also very expensive and this is one of the ways that the author makes it look like she is attempting to emulate a wealthy status. This contrasts with Daisy. She displays all of the qualities a high-class person that would inhabit East Egg. She is attractive and wears expensive clothes as if they are an everyday item.
“I like your dress remarked Mrs McKee…Its just some old crazy thing. she said I just slip it on when I don’t care what I look like”
Myrtle attempts imitate this my wearing expensive clothes and saying that she doesn’t think much of them. They also dress in different ways Daisy wear mainly white while Myrtle dresses with more colour.
Myrtle says this in order to keep up her image of being rich.
The reader can observe a noticeable disparity in the myrtle’s environment when compared to Daisy’s. This is principally due to the difference in wealth that they have. Myrtle live in an old dusty house that doubles as a garage that here husband runs. This is located in the valley of ashes with is described as “…a fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hill and grotesque gardens.” From this description, it is lucid to the reader that the valley of ashes in an undesirable and unsightly place to live. There is a reason that they the author has chosen for Myrtle to live in such unpleasant surroundings. It could possible be because it her soundings reflect the way in with she uses people in order to climb the social ladder. This is in sharp contrast with Daisy who has a “cheerful red-and-white Georgian mansion, overlooking the bay.” They also live on East Egg, which is the one of the most fashionable parts of the island. She also has numerous luxurious items at her disposal. For instance, they have “a snub nosed motor boat” and expensive cars as well as lots of horses.
Another way that they differ is in the enjoyment that they get form life. Daisy is very bored with her life doesn’t seem to have much fun even though she has lots of money. ” I’ve been lying on that sofa for as long as I can remember.” This helps the reader form an image of her a person that has very few tasks to carry out. Throughout the course of the book it surfaces that although she has a comparatively meaningless existence. Myrtle on the other hand takes great pleasure in attempting to climb the social ladder. Although she makes attempts to appear bored the reader can see though these. It is apparent that she is delighted by the attention and complements that she gets while in the company of Tom.
Daisy and Myrtle are discontented with the person that they are married to. However they are so for different reasons. Daisy discontent stems from Toms love for another woman Myrtle, while Myrtle is dissatisfaction is there because he has married a man that she sees as a loser. “He (her husband) is not fit to lick my shoe”, this sums up that way that she fells about her husband. Daisy takes the opposite view of the way the Tom is treating her. “It couldn’t be helped” is her response when she finds out that Tom has another woman. She sees it as if it where fait that he would in the end love someone other than her.
Overall the reader can see that there is a sizeable difference between Daisy and Myrtle. These two characters are not entirely dissimilar because they both share some dissatisfaction with their husbands but have different ways of handle there discontent.
