THEME: Women

Question 1

The fact that Daisy is introduced after Tom.

Answer 1

• CH1
• immediately shows that men are considered more important than women in this time period.

Question 2

“two young women were buoyed up as though upon an anchored balloon.”

Answer 2

• CH1
• “Anchored” - the lack of movement represents the lack of freedom women have in the Jazz Age. They needed a husband if they wanted to get anywhere.
• “Buoyed” - gives them a very idle characterisation. Maybe a suggestion by Fitzgerald that women have very little to do in the society of the time, as everything lies to men. However, it is more likely a criticism of class.
• comparison to balloon is dehumanising.

Question 3

“They were both in white, and their dresses were rippling and fluttering as if they had just been blown back after a short flight around the house.”

Answer 3

• CH1
• Suggests they are angelic with “white dresses” as well as “fluttering” and “flight”. This suggests women are supposed to be pure and almost fragile.
• Suggestion they are not of this world. They aren’t real women, just the ideal. Most women aren’t like that.
• Nick isn’t reliable when it comes to women, hence why he describes them as otherworldly beings.
• Perhaps this fantastic imagery almost creates an image of witches.
• white goes into this idea of old monet

Question 4

“I’m p-paralysed with happiness”

Answer 4

• DAISY CH1
• May be symbolic of how women are paralysed by the expectations society puts on them.
• May reflect how Daisy is stuck with Tom as she has become so reliant on him as her husband.
• This idea of disease almost.

Question 5

“There was a flutter of a dress and the crunch of leather boots, and Tom and Daisy were back at the table.”

Answer 5

• CH1
• The use of “flutter of a dress” brings back this angel imagery and that idea of purity.
• The contrast between “crunch of leather boots” (a very harsh, masculine image) and the “flutter of a dress” (a very soft, feminine image) shows the difference between men and women of the time. It was a complementarian society, if not misogynistic. No room for egalitarian ideas.
• “Boots” are typically associated with work, while “dress” is reminiscent more of outer appearance and looking pretty. This sums up the gender roles of the time.

Question 6

“She was a slender, small-breasted girl with an erect carriage”

Answer 6

• CH1
• An example of the “flapper” woman, which breaks from the traditional norms of society (e.g. shorter hair, more masculine, prouder).
• A contrast to Daisy who is in a more traditional role in society, while Jordan is a more modern, “new” woman.
• One of the only women in the novel with freedom (e.g. Daisy trapped with Tom, Myrtle with George and poverty). Why do you have to be masculine to be free?
• “Erect carriage” - typically associated with horses. Horses are controlled by men. Also a specific term referring to the value of a horse (associated with training and breed), perhaps going to this idea of how everyone is measured by how pure their breeding is.

Question 7

“I’m glad it’s a girl. And I hope she’ll be a fool - that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool.”

Answer 7

• CH1
• Daisy is saying there is no hope for women to make a change in society. They must deal with the cards that they’ve been dealt, and therefore, it’s better to be foolish and not question society.
• “A beautiful little fool” - this is the exact ideal of a woman of this time. Also, it is what Zelda Fitzgerald said about their daughter. This idea that if you go through life conforming, you will be more successful than those who dare to dream.
• This is an example as though she may not seem so Daisy is by no means ignorant. She understands the flaws of her situation as well as society (which arguably got her into this situation), and she knows that ignorance is bliss.

Question 8

“there was an immediately perceptible vitality about her as if the nerves of her body were continually smouldering.”

Answer 8

• CH2
• “Smouldering” - fire imagery. Perhaps allusion to hell, perhaps showing the fact that she is sexually promiscuous (unlike Daisy) immediately means she is morally corrupt in the society of the time.
• “Nerves” - the part of you that experiences sensation. Women shouldn’t be allowed to feel? They should remain calm and in their box?
• Daisy and Jordan were described as angelic and godly, whereas Myrtle is being described as incredibly human (e.g. with “nerves” and “vitality”). Maybe a suggestion that most women can never dream to live up to that expectation society thrusts upon them. Myrtle is a realistic picture of a woman of the time.

Question 9

“but she carried her surplus flesh sensuously as some women can”

Answer 9

• CH2
• Objectifying description
• Her body is all she has. Nick has no respect for her as a person, similarly to Tom.
• “carried” - this idea of control. She can control and weaponise her sexuality for her gain.

Question 10

“Making a short deft movement, Tom Buchanan broke her nose open with his open hand”

Answer 10

• CH2
• The use of monosyllabic words for the “short deft” makes the movement appear insignificant or effortless, showing how little effort needs to go into powering women.
• “An open hand” is typically a surrender or a welcome even. In this case, it is not. Emphasises the action.
• As soon as a woman is outspoken, they are silenced by men.

Question 11

“the day before the wedding he gave her a string of pearls valued at three hundred and fifty thousand dollars.”

Answer 11

• CH4
• “String of pearls” - a chain or collar. This alludes to the idea of men having control over women, specifically Tom over Daisy. The symbolism of its alikeness with a collar may even suggest that Daisy is a dog rather than a human. This animal imagery is significant because the whole idea of a dog is for them to be controlled and owned by man.
• “Valued at three hundred and fifty thousand dollars” - a reminder of Tom’s wealth, and how society has pressured Daisy into falling into this comfortable wealth, favouring it over freedom. It is the value that Tom judges Daisy to be.

Question 12

“It excited him too that many men had already loved Daisy―it increased her value in his eyes.”

Answer 12

• CH8
• Daisy’s value is given to her by other men.
• Why are women only valued by the opinions of men?
• Conditional power. Daisy has so much power over all the men in the novel, but that is only because men give her this power by desiring her.