Histrionic Personality Disorder in the Great Gatsby
Katie Bell
Abnormal Psychology
Dr. Casada
2 December 2014
Histrionic Personality Disorder in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby
In The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby spends his life building wealth in order to earn the love of Daisy Buchanan, a woman he loved in his younger years who could not marry him due to his lack of wealth. Daisy, though not a character with many appearances in the book (since Gatsby is the main character), is an extremely emotional character that just seems a bit off throughout the book. I believe that if Daisy were to visit a psychiatrist, she would be diagnosed with Histrionic Personality Disorder. To prove my assumption, I will cite instances where she exhibits symptoms of this and explain how they come together to form the disease. According to DSM-V, a person must indicate five or more of the eight listed criteria.1 In Daisy’s case I found that she exhibits criteria 1-7, allowing her to be diagnosed with this condition.
In DSM-V, criterion 1 describes people with Histrionic Personality Disorder as people who are uncomfortable in situations where they are not the center of attention.2 If a person with this disorder notices that they are not the center of attention, they may do something dramatic or elaborate to gain attention, often attempting to charm others with enthusiasm, apparent openness, or flirtatiousness.3 Through careful analysis of the book, I will demonstrate Daisy’s thirst for attention. She is constantly doing things to gain attention and this catches the attention of the narrator, her cousin, Nick Carraway. In his description of her in the first chapter, he notes that “Daisy’s murmur was only to make people lean towards her”4 This indicates that Daisy not only desires attention, but she commands it. She speaks in a murmur so that those who want to speak with her are required to hang on her every word. She also expects that she is the center of everyone’s world. When Nick mentions that he had been to Chicago, the town
Abnormal Psychology
Dr. Casada
2 December 2014
Histrionic Personality Disorder in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby
In The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby spends his life building wealth in order to earn the love of Daisy Buchanan, a woman he loved in his younger years who could not marry him due to his lack of wealth. Daisy, though not a character with many appearances in the book (since Gatsby is the main character), is an extremely emotional character that just seems a bit off throughout the book. I believe that if Daisy were to visit a psychiatrist, she would be diagnosed with Histrionic Personality Disorder. To prove my assumption, I will cite instances where she exhibits symptoms of this and explain how they come together to form the disease. According to DSM-V, a person must indicate five or more of the eight listed criteria.1 In Daisy’s case I found that she exhibits criteria 1-7, allowing her to be diagnosed with this condition.
In DSM-V, criterion 1 describes people with Histrionic Personality Disorder as people who are uncomfortable in situations where they are not the center of attention.2 If a person with this disorder notices that they are not the center of attention, they may do something dramatic or elaborate to gain attention, often attempting to charm others with enthusiasm, apparent openness, or flirtatiousness.3 Through careful analysis of the book, I will demonstrate Daisy’s thirst for attention. She is constantly doing things to gain attention and this catches the attention of the narrator, her cousin, Nick Carraway. In his description of her in the first chapter, he notes that “Daisy’s murmur was only to make people lean towards her”4 This indicates that Daisy not only desires attention, but she commands it. She speaks in a murmur so that those who want to speak with her are required to hang on her every word. She also expects that she is the center of everyone’s world. When Nick mentions that he had been to Chicago, the town
Bibliography: American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition, Washington, D.C., American Psychiatric Association, 2013. Comer, Ronald J. Abnormal Psychology, 8th Edition. New York: Worth Publishers, 2013. Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. London: Wordsworth Classics, 1993.