English FA

Character comparison between Daisy Buchanan from ‘The Great Gatsby’

and Paulina from ‘The winter’s tale’

From the reader’s point of view, Paulina and Daisy seem to be polar opposites.
Daisy is one of the most enigmatic and thoroughly disappointing characters of
the novel. She’s is beautiful and elegant in appearance but is just a selfish,
narcissistic, shallow and hurtful woman on the inside. Gatsby idolizes her
completely and paints a beautifully innocent and oure picture of her. But judging
from her actions, she is a complete opposite.
Paulina on the other hand is a fierce young woman who stands up for what she
believes in and for her friend Hermoine. She is outspoken and smart and she
loves fiercely. She stands up for what is right and what is true and she is not
afraid of Leontes, not even in the least. She is like a firecracker from the start to
the end. She doesn’t believe in letting things go just because the situation is hard.

The only similarity between Paulina and Daisy seem to be their status. Both
come from higher rank families and both have as much power as they can have.
But what is most ironic is that although the Winter’s tale took place long before
the Great Gatsby, during a time in which women were dramatically more
oppressed than in the Jazz age, Paulina still seems to be more of a feminist than
Daisy. At least she stood up to Leontes, to her king, who could have very easily
ordered her death for her friend, for the baby, for what she believes is right. But
Daisy couldn’t even stand up to her own husband concerning his infidelity with
Myrtle. Not to mention, she does say one of her famous lines in the book where
she mentions her daughter and she says that it’s better for a woman to be
beautiful and dumb rather than have brains. She thinks of herself and women in
general in such a morose manner. She snuck around behind her own husband’s
back and cheated on him with Gatsby. She succumbed to his threats and gave
him the upper hand just because she was scared. But it is not in Paulina’s nature
to be scared. She tried to convince Leontes that Hermione hasn’t been cheating
on him even after he threatened her greatly. It is a major reflection on their
characters and the kind of people they are and the kind of people the readers are
perceiving them to be.

Another significant difference between them is the way they view themselves. Of
course both of them have pride, but what is most intriguing is that, it seems to
come naturally to Paulina. No matter where she is and what she’s doing, her
actions and her words seem to make everyone around her just pay natural
attention to her, to give her the respect she demands and deserves. But with
Daisy, it kind of seems like she will no anything and everything in her power to
hold on to whatever dignity she has left. All she cares about is how the rest of the
world sees her and what they think of her and what they will think of her if she
propagates a scandal, she will lose her reputation and status. She won’t risk one
single bit of any of it for the man she claims she is in love with. She doesn’t even
care about it when he dies. For her, his death just cleared up the entire problem.
But Paulina, she doesn’t care who listens to her and what they think of her if
they hear her, all she cares about is getting the point across. She doesn’t care
what the court or even Leontes himself thinks when she’s telling him off for his
absurd accusations against one of his closest friends, his own wife and an
innocent baby who had no part whatsoever to play in the scandal that he’s
cooking up. She stands up for the people she loves and cares about and what she
believes is right.