What did Daisy say she hoped her daughter would be?

Q: What does Daisy say she hopes her daughter will be?

I hope shell be a fool—thats the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool. Daisy speaks these words in Chapter 1 as she describes to Nick and Jordan her hopes for her infant daughter.

Q: What does Daisy want her daughter like?

I hope shell be a fool, she says, thats the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool. Clearly, she has some experience in this area and implies that the world is no place for a woman; the best she can do is hope to survive and the best way to do that is through beauty rather than brains.

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The Great Gatsby discussion
What does Daisy say she hopes her daughter will be?
What does Daisy want her daughter like?
What did Daisy say she hoped her child would be why is this important what does it tell you about Daisy?

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Home
My Books
Browse ▾
- Recommendations
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- Fiction
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- Historical Fiction
- History
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The Great Gatsby discussion

what does Daisy mean when she says that she hopes her daughter will be a pretty little fool

what does Daisy mean when she says this? it's something i don't quite get. wouldn't she want her daughter to be smart and able to make good decisions and not be like her?

She`s being ironic.

Monica wrote: "what does Daisy mean when she says this? it's something i don't quite get. wouldn't she want her daughter to be smart and able to make good decisions and not be like her?"

It could be an allusion to Daisy's own life, in effect admitting that she's been "a fool" to marry for his money Tom Buchanan, a man who has had serial affairs and otherwise treats her poorly.

It suggests that beauty is an essential strength a woman can use to barter for a desirable (i.e., resourceful or wealthy) mate.

Monica wrote: "what does Daisy mean when she says this? it's something i don't quite get. wouldn't she want her daughter to be smart and able to make good decisions and not be like her?"
What Daisy means when she says this is that she hopes her daughter will be oblivious to the guys around her and not get hurt like Daisy did.
In this Daisy is Talking about Tom and how he was cheating on her!!!!

Brianna wrote: What Daisy means when she says this is that she hopes her daughter will be oblivious to the guys around her and not get hurt like Daisy did.i"

Exactly what I was going to say!

It means she hopes she'll never come up against anything that would require her to wise up and not be a fool.

She thinks the only result of intelligence and experience is sadness.

I think she's reiterating the idea that ignorance is bliss. The world Daisy is living in--which I beleive she sees for what it is--is careless, empty, lonely, etc., and she hopes that her daughter is not capable of being aware of those parts of it as she is. Daisy's conflicted about her role in that world, but she still lives with/and is a part of its principles and values, including the state of her marriage. If she wasn't aware of it all, how happier she would be.

I think she's relenting how awful the world is. She can see that, even if she pretends she doesn't. Love, from her experience, is just a fool's dellusion. Everything inevitably falls apart, and the only way to cope is to be numb to it. The liquor helps, but it inevitably wears off.

She can't change her daughter's future, but she can hope her daughter will never realize how awful the world she lives in is.

Give her looks to get her by and give her ignorance so that she never knows how little she is worth.

katie wrote: "It means she hopes she'll never come up against anything that would require her to wise up and not be a fool."

Marci wrote: "I think she's relenting how awful the world is. She can see that, even if she pretends she doesn't. Love, from her experience, is just a fool's dellusion. Everything inevitably falls apart, and ..."
I think you are right Katie.

i think she is wishing that upon her daughter so her daughter doesnt have to live through the pian she has, if her daughter is a fool and pretty then she will be able to marry into money but never really be able to comprehend how strict the rules in her life have been because she doesnt know any different and unable to realise that she is being used.

There is a saying 'Ignorance is Bliss' and I feel she hopes her daughter will not have to realize all the issues in society. I also think Daisy realizes it is easier to be a woman when you beautiful and unintelgiant. Smart women intimidates people because it breaks gender roles, and I think she is hopping her daughter can grow up and marry, have kids, be wealthy, and live what must may think is the American Dream. When a woman is inteligant the whole concept of the American Dream and Happily Ever AFter is put into question.

I have always taken it that she will be an attractive woman that will marry well, but be sufficiently naive not to realize he´s a philanderer.

Scarlett wrote: "There is a saying 'Ignorance is Bliss' and I feel she hopes her daughter will not have to realize all the issues in society. I also think Daisy realizes it is easier to be a woman when you beautifu..."

^True. In those days, a beautiful, frivolous and unintelligent woman made the perfect adjunct to her husband. But Daisy wasn't born a fool, she chose to be one. Daisy she wanted her daughter to be a natural fool so that she would be both financially secure and happy.

Maybe her consciousness of what comfort is relative to love is what has put her (Daisy)in the entire predicament. She has let her head rule her heart.

Perhaps she wants her daughter to be pretty enough to attract the finest of suitors, those who will idolize her, and give her the best. Yet, at the same time she wishes that her daughter would not be so much about convention, letting her head rule her heart; and thus be a prisoner to conventions. Rather her daughter be frivolous and a fool when it comes to such matters as love. Where her daughter will choose love over the convention of what is deemed right.

Hodges wrote: "She thinks the only result of intelligence and experience is sadness."

I agree. Sometimes the more you know the less happy you are. Knowledge comes with a price. There are many a happy fool.

This was actually taken from Zelda, who said it when Scotty was born.

Daisy wants her daughter to remain oblivious to the "trials and tribulations" that come with knowledge. She believes that if her daughter can just remain silly and vapid, she will always be happy because she'll basically never truly know what's going on. Daisy's knowledge of "true love" (Gatsby) and Tom's infidelity have taken her happiness.

She hopes that her daughter will remain forever innocent and not be changed by the harshness of the world.

She knows that a pretty naïve girl will feel less pain and loss then a smart woman.

A pretty little fool: Meaning she wants her daughter to be frivolous, charming and dainty. She doesn't want her to be a strong independent woman because life is always hard for those girls. She wants her daughter to coast through life by hypnotizing men and not thinking too much about anything.

It's an understandable desire for her to want that for her daughter.

Daisy is flaunting a calculated cynicism about the world because it is a fashionable pose to adopt among her social circle. Part of the cynicism is directed at the new independence and political power of women in the 1920s. Fitzgerald is highlighting a mood among upper class women who disdain greater freedom and political rights because they believe it demonstrates too much vulgar optimism about the future.

If she's a fool, she'll not realize how empty and meaningless a live like Daisy's can be, and will not suffer for knowing that.

There is a part in This Side of Paradise (Or was it The Great Gatsby?) where he meets a female friend of his at night in a field, and I think it explains really well and sums up nicely how impossible and hopeless the situation of any woman with half a brain at that time was.

You were not allowed to have your own dreams, at least not in their social class, you had to find a man while you were still young and give your whole life up to him. Only a fool could live a happy life in that kind of situation. Only a fool could not feel the emptiness of it.

Women's soul gets less distorted in the real world than men did, though women is forced to live by the expectation of men with part of their soul flying away from them .

Geoffrey wrote: "She`s being ironic."

no, she's not being Ironic! she wants her daughter to be a pretty little fool so that she doesn't have to deal with real problems.

Or perhaps that she will attract the men but once landing one on a permanent basis will never learn about his extramaritals. I like that explanation better.

If anyone can tell, Daisy is a very intelligent woman. She knows Tom is cheating on her; she knows how 'life for a woman during the Jazz Age' works. She feels that being that "educated" is more harmful than helpful for a woman because there is nothing they can do with that education instead let it wallow inside of them (women's rights was little to nothing back then). So, what she's saying is that she wants her daughter to just be beautiful and innocent; to have fun like everyone else during the 20s. She doesn't want her daughter to be smart and miserable like she is.

What I noticed at least, she does is ironic about his life, which she's not completely happy, even though he likes the luxury and good style wearing. Some live in ignorance is better to know everything and many know that Daisy is good to forget things just to pretend that all is well.

We recently talked about this book in my English class. We finished the book and the movie. Daisy meant by hoping her daughter will be a fool is to keep her from getting hurt by pretending to not know what's going on.

Stenedria wrote: "We recently talked about this book in my English class. We finished the book and the movie. Daisy meant by hoping her daughter will be a fool is to keep her from getting hurt by pretending to not k..."

I know. Although the way she says it's not nice.

Natàilia wrote: "Stenedria wrote: "We recently talked about this book in my English class. We finished the book and the movie. Daisy meant by hoping her daughter will be a fool is to keep her from getting hurt by p..."

I agree.

Stenedria wrote: "Natàilia wrote: "Stenedria wrote: "We recently talked about this book in my English class. We finished the book and the movie. Daisy meant by hoping her daughter will be a fool is to keep her from ..."

Because if we look closely, both in the book, like in the movies, Daisy has made her mistakes for no reason, no one forced her to marry Tom Buchanan and leave Gatsby or let him blame for the death of Myrtle.

Yup, this tale is the story of a bunch of fuckups. She can´t wait, gets married to the wrong guy for the wrong reasons, the hero only writes one letter in 6 months which arrives when she is about to get married, she inadvertedly kills her husband´s lover in a hit and run driving accident, the victim´s husband mistakenly murders the wrong guy, and on and on it goes.

Geoffrey wrote: "Yup, this tale is the story of a bunch of fuckups. She can´t wait, gets married to the wrong guy for the wrong reasons, the hero only writes one letter in 6 months which arrives when she is about t..."

In other words, she run away.

Geoffrey wrote: "Yup, this tale is the story of a bunch of fuckups..."

What's scary is how accurate that summary of the novel is.

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What does Daisy say she hopes her daughter will be?

I hope she'll be a fool—that's the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool. Daisy speaks these words in Chapter 1 as she describes to Nick and Jordan her hopes for her infant daughter.

What does Daisy want her daughter like?

"I hope she'll be a fool," she says, "that's the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool." Clearly, she has some experience in this area and implies that the world is no place for a woman; the best she can do is hope to survive and the best way to do that is through beauty rather than brains.