4.3.1
Daisy Buchanan
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Background to Daisy Buchanan's Character
Daisy Fay Buchanan is a distant cousin of the narrator, Nick Carraway, and is the epitome of ‘old money’. She was previously a society debutante.
Love life
- She enjoys a privileged life with her husband, Tom, but is also in love with Jay Gatsby, with whom she had a brief affair in her youth.
Significance of Fay
- Fay is an old-fashioned word for ‘fairy’ or ‘faery’ and this seems appropriate since Daisy appears to have a magical hold over Gatsby.
- She is also mythical and an ‘invention’ of his mind: something that, at the end of the day, is ‘not real’.
Age and place in society
- Although Daisy has a child of her own, it often feels like she is not an adult herself.
- We question if she has actively made poor choices in her life, or if she is victim to a society that restricts the lives of women.
Sound of Daisy's voice
- In the novel, there is a lot of discussion about the way her voice sounds: at times it is seductive, but also sounds like ‘old money’ and is therefore unattractive.
Daisy Buchanan - Privileged Upbringing
Daisy Buchanan has ‘old money’ status and we know this from the fact that she is a distant cousin of Nick Carraway.
Reaction to other characters
- Daisy recognises that Jordan and Nick are of the same class and so sees the two of them together in privilege.
- We know that she and Tom ‘had spent a year in France’ (Chapter One).
Marriage to Gatsby
- We know that Daisy is privileged because her parents would not allow her to marry Gatsby because he was ‘below her’ socially and because he had no money.
Lack of total confidence
- The awkwardness of Daisy’s lunchtime meeting with Gatsby shows that her upbringing has not made her fully confident as a young woman. She knows privilege but is still amazed at Gatsby’s riches, which he hopes will impress her.
1Specification Overview
1.1Specification Overview
2Context
3Plot Summary
3.1Chapter One
3.2Chapter Two
3.3Chapter Three
3.4Chapter Four
3.6Chapter Six
3.7Chapter Seven
3.8Chapter Eight
4Character Profiles
4.3Daisy Buchanan
4.5Minor Characters
5Key Ideas
6Writing Techniques
6.1Structure, Genre & Narrative Voice
7Love Through the Ages - Thematic Analysis
7.1Love Through the Ages
Jump to other topics
1Specification Overview
1.1Specification Overview
2Context
3Plot Summary
3.1Chapter One
3.2Chapter Two
3.3Chapter Three
3.4Chapter Four
3.6Chapter Six
3.7Chapter Seven
3.8Chapter Eight
4Character Profiles
4.3Daisy Buchanan
4.5Minor Characters
5Key Ideas
6Writing Techniques
6.1Structure, Genre & Narrative Voice
7Love Through the Ages - Thematic Analysis
7.1Love Through the Ages
Practice questions on Daisy Buchanan
Can you answer these? Test yourself with free interactive practice on Seneca — used by over 10 million students.
- 1What does Daisy's voice sound like at times?Multiple choice
- 2What do we know about Daisy Buchanan?True / false
- 3What is Fay an old-fashioned word for?Multiple choice
- 4What is Daisy amazed at, despite her privileged upbringing?Multiple choice
- 5Why did Daisy's parents forbid her from marrying Gatsby?Multiple choice
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