Character analysis of Myrtle and Daisy in "The Great Gatsby".

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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.
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"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 ...

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