Character Analysis Of Zelda In 'The Great Gatsby'

Stephen King once said, “the most important things are the hardest things to say. They are the things you get ashamed of because words diminish your feelings”. This quote is a complex way of saying that people need to share how they feel even though most of the time it is hard to be able to say how you feel, whether out of shame or just not wanting to share. When F. Scott Fitzgerald could not say how he felt about his dwindling marriage he turned it into fiction by writing his wife, Zelda, into Daisy Buchanan. Fitzgerald not only portrayed Zelda in Daisy but also displayed his relationship with Zelda in both Daisy’s relationship with Gatsby and Daisy’s relationship with Tom. Although Daisy is fictional she seems to be inspired by Zelda.
By pre-eminent belle Phelan is saying that she was beautiful and the boys in town wanted to be with Zelda. Daisy mirrored this idea because she was born in to a wealthy, southern family and was popular with the boys when she was eighteen. This shown on page seventy-nine in The Great Gatsby when Fitzgerald writes, “The largest of the banners and the largest of the lawns belonged to Daisy Fay’s house… She was just eighteen, two years older than me, and by far the most popular of all the young girls in Louisville” (Fitzgerald). By saying that Daisy’s house had the largest of lawns, Fitzgerald implied that she was from a wealthy family, just like Zelda. BY saying that Daisy was the most popular girl in Louisville, Fitzgerald was saying that, just like Zelda, the boys in Louisville wanted to be
Scott Fitzgerald also connected Daisy’s relationship with Gatsby back to his own marriage with Zelda. Both Zelda and Daisy made their loved one wait until they were wealthy before they got serious but they both ended up together at a time in their lives. It is known that Zelda made Fitzgerald wait because in Howard Greenfeld’s biography of F. Scott Fitzgerald, He stated, “Zelda knew what she wanted, and she believed that eventually Fitzgerald could provide the life she had envisioned for herself. But that life required success—financial as well as social—and Scott first had to prove himself” (Greenfeld). This shows that Zelda wanted to be with Fitzgerald but he was not wealthy enough to be a suitable spouse for Zelda at that time. Once Fitzgerald was wealthy after the first book of his was a hit, he went back to Zelda and they got married (Greenfeld). Fitzgerald showed this aspect of his marriage in the relationship between Daisy and Gatsby. Daisy had made Gatsby wait until he was wealthy to think about getting serious with him. This is shown when Tom had called Gatsby a “common swindler” on page 140 of The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald). This shows that Gatsby was not good enough for Daisy when he did not have his money to throw around. Gatsby throwing his money around and having his lavish parties is his way of showing Daisy that he is wealthy enough to deserve her. After Nick reunited Gatsby and Daisy she started spending afternoons at Gatsby’s house. This is shown on page