V: Elite Women; marry to power

A choice lies at the heart of both The Great Gatsby and The Glory, the choice by a wealthy, indulged and morally flawed woman between a man who is rich, powerful but undesired and a man who is superficially wealthy, very attractive yet whose position in society is far too tenuous to protect her. The female characters who face these decisions are Daisy Buchanan in the novel and Park Yeon-jin in the series. They both revel in the trappings of marriage with their excessively rich husbands, even while they forge intimate relationships with their lovers; they act as if the rules of society do not apply to themselves while expecting others to obey those same rules. They are dishonest and selfish, abandoning their lovers in favour of money, security and social position. Jordan Baker, as Daisy’s friend, also represents some aspects of this social stratum. Ultimately, the actions of Daisy and Yeon-jin directly cause the deaths of others. The invited readings of these two characters are a major point of difference between the novel and the television series, and the repercussions they face differ significantly.

1. Love the wealthy life

Both these characters enjoy the benefits of the established wealth and social authority of their husbands. Daisy has no employment other than social engagements; she has a household staff who manage day to day arrangements, including a nanny to look after her daughter. Throughout the novel, readers observe her entertaining visitors, drinking, and dining with family and friends. Daisy is someone who requires ‘taking care of’ financially; the appropriate ambition of someone of her gender, class and race, according to the text, is to marry and be dependent on a man of wealth and standing. She begins the relationship with Gatsby when and perhaps because she believes “he was a person from much the same strata as herself – that he was fully able to take care of her” (p.142). When Gatsby is absent due to his involvement in the First World War, Daisy is pursued by Tom. The wedding of Daisy Fay and Tom Buchanan is described as an event of “more pomp and circumstance than Louisville ever knew before” (p.74). The guest list of one hundred includes those from the highest echelons of society. The groom’s cavalcade includes four private cars, and for the reception Tom hires one whole floor of the Muhlbach Hotel. Daisy knows her worth to Tom is founded on her family background and her beauty. When musing on her daughter, she cynically notes that “the best thing a girl can be in this world [is] a beautiful little fool” (p.22), ‘beautiful’ because that is the only attribute a woman can have that has worth, and a ‘fool’ so that she doesn’t realize either that her husband has no respect for her or that her married life is ultimately a gilded cage. In the first chapter Daisy “helplessly” asks Nick, “‘What do people plan?’” as if having goals or even a schedule is foreign to her. Her “indiscreet voice” (p.115) is described as “full of money” (ibid) by the enthralled Gatsby. In The Glory, the vengeful Dong-eun is aware of Yeon-jin’s fortunate position in life: she notes, “you have it all. You are scared of no one” (ep1). In episode 1, Yeon-jin lists her ambitions: to be “a wise mother and a kind wife… [to have] a job that’s not too shabby…Then I’ll get married when I’m young and pretty. Pick out an eligible bachelor and have one or two kids”. Like Daisy, Yeon-jin does not value her own independence, in fact she intends to be almost totally dependent upon her husband’s wealth, in return – and in a sense, as payment – for her physical beauty and acceptable social background. Yeon-jin has ambitions for her daughter, but again these do not involve independence: resenting her mother-in-law’s expectation that her daughter will ever have to work in order to succeed, she vows: “I’ll make sure Ye-sol never has to try her hardest for anything” (ep5). Yeon-jin’s ambitions are that Ye-sol will have wealth and social position given to her by virtue of her father’s status, not due to her own efforts. Yeon-jin’s education of her daughter includes teaching her that, “Expensive jewellery, watches, handbags and cars are all heavy. And expensive coats, dresses, and heels are all light” (ep6). Yeon-jin instructs the young girl to request “stocks [in] Samsung Electronics or Kakao” (ep7) if anyone asks her what presents she prefers. Yeon-jin uses her family’s status – and her mother’s connections – as protection against the consequences of her violent bullying when she is a student at high school. In The Great Gatsby and The Glory, both Yeon-jin and Daisy live lives of entitlement and privilege, and are presented as epitomizing wealth and the highest social class. Their appearances and living arrangements are the best that money can buy; their treatment of others is largely dependent on whether those ‘others’ are equal in status or, if not, how far beneath them these ‘others’ are. 

2. Do as I say…

Yeon-jin, Daisy, and Daisy’s friend, Jordan Baker, are reliant upon everyone else obeying the rules that they themselves break indiscriminately; these characters are careless but remain safe from the consequences of their carelessness as long as everyone around them, in contrast, takes great care. Jordan, a childhood friend of Daisy’s and close to her social equal, “felt safer on a plane where any divergence from a code would be thought impossible” (p.58). In the final chapter of The Great Gatsby, the narrator muses that, “They were careless people, Tom and Daisy – they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made” (p.170). In episode 5 when Yeon-jin discovers that her nemesis, Dong-eun, is the new teacher of her daughter, she hands Dong-eun a piece of paper on which Ye-sol’s teacher is to write and sign a promise never to see Yeon-jin and, by implication Ye-sol, again. It does not seem to occur to Yeon-jin that Dong-eun may be dishonest – that she may sign this ‘document’ then ignore it. This suggests Yeon-jin expects absolute honesty from an adversary despite her own lack of integrity. She is dishonest but safe only if everyone around her plays by her rules. 

3. …Not as I do

These characters routinely break societal expectations, although this is far less significant in the novel. Daisy is prepared to be propositioned by Nick when she is invited to his place but warned not to bring her husband: “‘Are you in love with me,’ she said low in my ear, ‘or why did I have to come alone?’” (p.83). In chapter 7 readers learn that Gatsby and Daisy have been conducting an affair when Nick comments on the change of staff at his neighbour’s house and Gatsby tells him: “’I wanted somebody who wouldn’t gossip. Daisy comes over quite often – in the afternoons’” (p.109). Later in the same chapter, Daisy seems to deliberately acknowledge the affair because “As [Tom] left the room again [Daisy] got up and went over to Gatsby and pulled his face down, kissing him on the mouth. ‘You know I love you,’ she murmured” (p.111) in front of both Nick and Jordan Baker. Even on Tom’s return, Daisy and Gatsby make their feelings obvious as “their eyes met, and they stared at each other, alone in space” (p.113). Jordan is referred to as “incurably dishonest” (p.58) in the novel, with her “pleasing contemptuous expression” (p.23) and “bored haughty face” (p.58); the suggestion that she probably cheated in a game of golf is initially described as “a critical, unpleasant story” (p.23) but later readers are encouraged to suspect that “she had moved her ball… [in] her first big golf tournament” (p.58). Yeon-jin is likewise not constrained by the need to be either fair or honest. She routinely uses poor and disadvantaged young women to perform parts of her job with which she struggles – for example, writing the scripts for her weather broadcasts. As Yeon-jin admits, “I can pay you to get a script like this” (ep2), offering an overseas holiday as payment; thus “With some pocket money, I just became her God” (ep2). Even her so-called friends are not safe from her: in episode 2, Yeon-jin likes Sa-ra’s handbag, so she simply takes it. This character, like Jordan Baker, seems ‘incurably dishonest’; she is a shameless liar throughout all 16 episodes, and a great deal of satisfaction is derived by the viewer when, gradually, Yeon-jin is forced to face the consequences of her dishonesty. When Yeon-jin is accused of having bullied an unnamed So-hee at school eighteen years before and is questioned by her husband’s legal team, she asks “Can they prove it’s me? If not, it isn’t” (ep13). In episode 15 Ye-sol accuses her mother: “Did you bully your friend? Did you put something hot on her body? Mom. Get out… I’m not proud of you anymore.” This is the first time viewers observe Yeon-jin showing shame at her actions. It is only now that she publicly admits to even witnessing the younger student’s death all those years ago; however, not only does Yeon-jin lie about her own culpability in the death, but she also blames the victim, So-hee, saying that it was suicide because the teenage So-hee was pregnant. A bare-faced Yeon-jin announces to the media in her press conference: “In fact, I’m the victim” (ep15). She uses false alibis to protect herself from accusations of involvement in the deaths in 2004 of So-hee and in 2022 of Myeong-o. When she is at high school, she convinces Jae-jun to tell authorities that they were together and at the school when So-hee dies. In Episode 14, Yeon-jin demands that Jae-jun again protects her, this time from being implicated in Myeong-o’s death: “You have to save me. You’re our only hope now, Jae-jun … So…I was with you that day. Right?” Far more significantly, Yeon-jin is a violent and vindictive bully: when it is her turn to clean the school bathrooms, Yeon-jin forces first So-hee and then Dong-eun to do it for her. Their resistance or even hesitation gives her all the excuse she needs to target them. Yeon-jin sees to it that they are beaten, punched and hit to the point of losing consciousness; their educations are undermined such that Dong-eun is forced to leave school; their arms, legs and bodies are burned by her with a heated hair-straightener, leaving painful, life-long scars. Neither Jordan Baker, Daisy nor Yeon-jin expects to be held accountable for her wrongdoing.

4. Money – and safety – trumps romance

Although both texts are focused on the choice these married women face – whether to remain with their wealthy, powerful husbands or to shift their allegiances to their more attractive lovers – neither character intends to choose the more romantic path. That is not to say that Daisy and Yeon-jin are not interested in Gatsby and Jae-jun respectively; they are clearly attracted to their lovers. When Daisy meets Gatsby again after nearly five years apart, “her throat, full of aching, grieving beauty, told only of her unexpected joy” (p.87). She tells Gatsby, “I’d like to just get one of those pink clouds and put you in it and push you around” (p.91). In episode 2 of The Glory viewers see Yeon-jin and Jae-jun having sex in the public dressing room at Siesta. It is clear both Yeon-jin and Daisy are attracted by aspects of their lovers. Despite this, they are also revolted by qualities of their lovers, these men whose wealth is neither legitimate nor established. When Daisy finally attends her first (and only) party at Gatsby’s mansion, she “was appalled by West Egg…by its raw vigour” (p.103). Her lover is perceptive enough to realize, saying, “She didn’t like it … She didn’t have a good time” (p.105). Yeon-jin ensures that her relationship with Jae-jun is on her terms; as she tells him in episode 2, “Let me know if you ever want to get married. Because I don’t like to share with other women”. Theirs is predominately a sexual relationship; other than that, they see each other only when the whole group of former school friends gets together. Both Daisy and Yeon-jin, however, allow their lovers to assume they will eventually abandon their husbands. There are sufficient gaps in The Great Gatsby that readers can believe that even if for only a fleeting moment, Daisy toys with the notion of siding with Gatsby. When Gatsby forces the confrontation, however, “Daisy looked desperately” (p.123) from her husband to her lover. Daisy interrupts Gatsby, crying, “Please don’t!” (p.124) when he tries to tell Tom about their affection and affair. It is now “she realized at last what she was doing – and as though she had never, all along, intended doing anything at all” (p.126); this is when Daisy hesitates then refuses to reject Tom in favour of Gatsby. She begs Tom to put an end to the confrontation: “her frightened eyes told that whatever intentions, whatever courage she had had, were definitely gone” (p.128). Likewise, in episode 8 of The Glory, when Jae-jun tells Yeon-jin to leave Do-yeong, she responds, “You’ve lost your mind.” When Yeon-jin unexpectedly meets with her mother-in-law in episode 15, she is obsequious and full of excuses, dismissing her marital troubles by saying that “getting a divorce seems like a hasty decision, doesn’t it?”  This is said in front of her lover Jae-jun, and may in fact contribute to his announcement moments later that he is both Yeon-jin’s lover and the biological father of Ye-sol. Yeon-jin is horrified at this, crying, “Have you lost your mind?” and calling him a “crazy arsehole!” Rather than accepting Jae-jun’s offer and transferring her allegiance from her husband to her lover, she glares at him, indicating that she had no intention of choosing him over Do-yeong. The choices so central to both texts are made, with these characters choosing the comfortable and safe status quo of their husbands over love.

5. Killers

Daisy and Yeon-jin are directly responsible for the deaths of others; the significant difference is that Daisy avoids all consequences, whereas Yeon-jin does not – and is in fact held accountable for a murder she did not commit. After the awkward confrontation scene in chapter 7, an intoxicated and distressed Daisy insists on driving Gatsby’s car back from New York. During that journey, Myrtle Wilson “rushed out into the dusk, waving her hands and shouting” (p.130), in an attempt to get the driver (whom she assumes is Tom Buchanan) to rescue her. Clearly Myrtle has some culpability in this accident but so too has Daisy. As Tom Buchanan describes it near the end of the novel, Daisy “ran over Myrtle like you’d run over a dog and never even stopped [her] car” (p.169). Initially it is assumed that Gatsby was at the wheel of his own car but at the end of chapter 7, Nick Carraway works it out, asking Gatsby, “Was Daisy driving?” (p.137). In chapter 9, readers learn that instead of honestly accepting the consequences of her recklessness, Daisy flees with her family, thus escaping questions, censure and possible legal penalties. The lie that it was all Gatsby’s doing protects Daisy from any responsibility and costs Gatsby his life. 

In episode 14 of The Glory, in a flashback to 2004, viewers witness the death of So-hee, a long-time target of Yeon-jin and her group of friends. Yeon-jin is berating the poor girl for embarrassing her by wearing similar clothes, so orders So-hee to strip. When So-hee refuses and instead stands up for herself, Yeon-jin then ‘offers’ to remove the lint from her jumper – with a lighter. Yeon-jin holds the lighter to So-hee’s clothing and the material goes up in flames. So-hee screams and reaches out to Yeon-jin for help, grabbing her name-badge. Yeon-jin is frightened and pushes her violently away, so So-hee stumbles backwards, falling off the building to plunge to the ground below. Although it is clear that Yeon-jin is still bullying So-hee after the latter has moved school, it is unfair to view this death as deliberate, and wrong to see it as premeditated. The truth is that Yeon-jin pushed So-hee away, frightened by the flames and the younger girl’s panic; she meant to push her away, not push her off the building. The consequences that Yeon-jin eventually faces from this death start with being publicly shamed by online accusations of school bullying; video footage is released showing the confrontation which precedes the death, which in turn supports these accusations. It is now that Yeon-jin loses her job. The fallout of these public accusations turns Ye-sol against her mother, which is probably the catalyst for Yeon-jin publicly justifying her actions, although she lies about her involvement in So-hee’s death. DNA evidence putting her at the scene of the death is eventually found; it is unclear exactly what repercussions Yeon-jin faces for this death. This is not, however, the only death in which she is involved. At the end of episode 10, in a scene that takes place on 19^thOctober 2022, Son Myeong-o has a fraught conversation with Yeon-jin at Siesta. Spurred on by Dong-eun, Myeong-o has decided to blackmail Yeon-jin, threatening to reveal ‘proof’ of her responsibility over So-hee’s death. He belittles and threatens her, demanding an exorbitant amount of money; then he foolishly taunts her, offering to ask for less and less money if she performs increasingly intimate sexual acts. Yeon-jin then lashes out with a bottle, hitting him on the back of the head; this results in a significant injury and Myeong-o falls to his knees. When he attempts to stand back up, she hits him again.  At this point, he falls to the ground, bleeding profusely from a serious head wound. Again, it is clear that this assault and supposed murder happens spontaneously and is not premeditated. One could argue that Yeon-jin is at least initially provoked. In episode 16, the bottle that Yeon-jin used as a weapon reappears in the dressing room and, after an anonymous tip-off, is collected by the police; this evidence will implicate Yeon-jin as her fingerprints will be on the weapon as well as the blood of the victim. Near the end of the final episode of The Glory it is revealed that Myeong-o actually survived Yeon-jin’s assault and that he was in fact killed by yet another victim of bullying, Kim Kyeong-ran. This is the murder, though, for which Yeon-jin is convicted, a conviction that lands her in prison. The dramatic irony of her not being ultimately the person responsible for killing Myeong-o yet being held totally accountable for it is presented to the viewers as a form of long-overdue and ‘natural’ justice, which the audience is invited to applaud. Both Daisy and Yeon-jin are responsible for the deaths of others through their recklessness and selfishness – and in the latter’s case – her violent temper. None of these deaths is presented as deliberate. A significant difference between the texts is that Yeon-jin faces a lifetime in prison for a crime she did not commit while Daisy faces no consequences at all.

6. A final note…or two

It is also worth noting that one murder that is clearly premeditated is Yeon-jin’s husband’s murder of Jae-jun, a crime for which he faces no consequences. While the reader of The Great Gatsby is critical of Daisy Buchanan for avoiding penalties, the viewer of The Glory approves of Ha Do-yeong’s planning and determination in achieving the same result. 

Are viewers eventually moved to pity Yeon-jin? We finally see her being bullied in prison, staring vacantly while other inmates throw things at her; as soon as she is told to, she stands up, arranges her prison uniform to be more appealing, then delivers a weather report, smiling at her mocking audience while tears stream down her face. In focusing once again on the corrosive impact of bullying – regardless of who the target is – the creators of the series eschew a simple morality tale and instead offer a more nuanced text.