Daisy has been described as selfish and shallow. How far would you agree that this is how Fitzgerald portrays her?

Although in the beginning parts of the novel Fitzgerald portrays her positively, the reader gradually realizes her shallow personality, through her love of materialism. When visiting Gatsby’s house, she has overdramatic reactions to his possessions, even bursting into tears over “such beautiful shirts”. This shows that she is happy for the material possessions and wealth Gatsby can provide, rather than for rekindling lost love. The fact that she chose Tom over Gatsby heavily implies that she prefers “old money” wealth and high social status over true love. Gatsby describes to Nick that “her voice was full of money”, representing her materialistic, money-obsessed mind. Although “money” can purchase physical objects, it cannot provide abstract things such as happiness and satisfaction, explaining why she is so “sad” and “cynical”, despite her wealth. Daisy’s materialistic shallowness represents people’s obsession with money in the Jazz Age, and the corruption of the American Dream through the misuse of wealth.

As well as materialism, Fitzgerald further portrays Daisy’s shallow nature through her lack of moral values. When she drives Tom away to kiss Gatsby, Jordan describes her as a “low, vulgar girl”, showing her inability to be loyal to one person in relationships. She represents the larger, morally deprived American society described in the novel, shown by how many other characters also commit adultery. Her laugh is “artificial” and she is shown to be living in an “artificial world”, depicting her superficial life and lack of care for the world. This brings doubts in the reader’s mind, as Gatsby may be devoting his life to an artificial person, showing the impossibility of him to achieve his dream. Nick “had heard” that “Daisy’s murmur was only to make you lean towards her”, portraying her as an attention seeker and a tease, without having any genuine feelings for the other person. Daisy’s immoral lifestyle makes her a lesser character and reduces her worth in the reader’s eyes.

Ultimately, Daisy’s shallowness leads to narcissism and selfishness. She, along with all of the upper class, seems to not care about anyone apart from themselves. Near the end of the novel, Nick reflects that Tom and Daisy were “careless people, they smashed up things and creatures and left others to clean up the mess they had made”. This presents their complete disregard for other people’s struggles and hardships, and their apathy for how they might be affecting other’s lives. Perhaps Fitzgerald is saying that an excess of wealth leads to moral emptiness and an obsession with oneself. Daisy doesn’t even leave a message for Gatsby or attend his funeral at the end of the novel, instead moving to an unknown place and abandoning him forever, bringing the novel to its tragic close. This conveys that she was never in love with Gatsby himself, but instead in love with his possessions and the idea that he loves her. After he has passed away, she has nothing to do with him, emphasising her cruelty and carelessness. Her inability to choose between Tom and Gatsby also shows her weak will and selfishness, as at one point she says to Tom she “never loved him”, then a few moments later she abandons Gatsby for good.. Fitzgerald’s clear portrayal of Daisy’s selfishness shows the hollowness of the upper class and their lack of empathy for anyone else.

Daisy starts off as a promising character, but as the novel progresses her shortcomings- shallowness and selfishness- are made clear. In the end, she is the novel’s most disappointing character, and an unworthy goal for Gatsby to strive for. Fitzgerald’s overall negative portrayal of Daisy adds tragedy to Gatsby’s hopeless, but incorruptible dream.