Eva Smith and Betsy D'Amido are both described as young and beautiful. However, they have quite different styles of beauty. Eva is blonde and is said by Butterworth to look like a Greek goddess, suggesting that she is tall and statuesque. Betsy is described as "a dark little beauty with the fine crystal gloss over her that, in brunettes, takes the place of a blonde's bright glow." Moreover, although they are both young, Eva is twenty-six, whereas Betsy is eighteen, a considerable difference so early in life.

Eva is a natural introvert. She is not lacking in confidence, but she does not particularly enjoy the company of those she does not know. Betsy, in contrast, is forward to the point of shamelessness. She tells Adrian as soon as they meet that she fell in love with him the first time she saw him. She is similarly confident in pursuing their affair.

Although Eva's seasickness is not a permanent state of affairs, it certainly heightens the contrast between her and Betsy at the beginning of the voyage, particularly as far as Adrian is concerned. Betsy is glowing with health, to the point that Fitzgerald describes her as "blatantly well." While Eva hides away in her cabin, Betsy, quite apart from her pursuit of Adrian, revels in the attention she receives from the men on board. She is perfectly aware of being "the pretty girl of the voyage, the cynosure of starved ship's eyes."