Great Gatsby Essay

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St. Thomas Aquinas Secondary School The Great Gatsby Essay Aneela Chaudhry ENG3U-02 Victoria Bazely Wednesday, July 14, 2021

Societal constructs have much weight in shaping a person's character and altering who they are negatively. In the novel "The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald, women play an essential role in portraying how society's expectations and social norms changed following the events of World War I. Women were liberated and strayed from the idea of the traditional and homely women to instead evolve and emerge as the "New Women". The New Women were females who chose to pursue a career path and become independent and self-reliant. Furthermore, actions once deemed to be inappropriate such as openly smoking and drinking, become socially accepted, and encouraged for that of the new women. This liberation caused characters in this novel to question who they are and their place in the new modern era. The social construct of both "New Women" and "Traditional Women" caused a range of conflicts for each of the women in this novel, explicitly concerning society's expectations of them. In the novel “The Great Gatsby ” by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the characters Daisy, Jordan and Myrtle each face conflicts within society. Women as a whole are all objectified by the gaze of men in society, this creates an impactful internal struggle within each of the characters and they strive to find their place within the era of the “new women”, but constantly fall into a place of purgatory that only accentuates their flaws and bad behaviours. The roles of the female characters are confined to the rules of patriarchy as a sexual entity, and are objectified consistently throughout this novel. The first example of this is how Tom Buchanan domestically abuses Daisy and Myrtle. Tom is described as a "brute", and it is hinted that he has anger issues and is prone to fits of violence. This can be demonstrated on two occasions; firstly, Daisy claims that Tom bruised her knuckle in the first chapter. Secondly, Myrtle incites Tom's anger, and consequently, he punches her in the face and breaks her nose. Tom's violence is not characterized as a significant trait or event within the novel. His outburst was considered normal, as if they were used to this type of behaviour and expected it. This connects back to the idea that women are prisoners in their relationships and suggests that they are comfortable and tolerate the abuse. The women in this novel are also consistently sexualized and objectified, to the point where it becomes a significant character trait. Nick is a culprit of

embodying this, evident where he talks about Jordan. He states, "I enjoyed looking at her. She was a slender, small-breasted girl, with an erect carriage which she accentuated by throwing her body backward." (Fitzgerald 16). Like Jordan, Myrtle is also a victim of Nick's hypersexualization of the women in this novel. When Nick first meets Myrtle, he narrates that "...she carried her surplus flesh sensuously as some woman can…" (Fitzgerald 28). The author's use of imagery further intensifies the way men perceive women. Daisy can be held to this perception by her title as "the golden girl". Daisy's sole purpose is to act as a trophy wife and accessory to her husband. She is Gatsby's interpretation of the American Dream which is a persistent theme in the novel. This level of exploitation is a current issue in the media, where women in movies are used as sex appeal. Some examples of movies that have done this are Black Widow and Wonder Woman. Many women in the film industry have spoken up about how they are objectified and used in films, for example, Megan Fox has spoken up about this issue. For the vast majority of female actors, they are not used in actual plot lines but as clickbait. Daisy, Jordan, and Myrtle each experience a purgatory state where they struggle internally with the idea of New Women. Daisy wrestles with the choice of having true love versus conforming to societal norms and staying with her husband. Tom has a higher prestige and is ingrained into the inner circles of the community. Daisy feels pressured by expectations and returns to the safe and comfortable option of being a traditional wife and ignoring her husband's infidelity in return for a prominent and wealthy status. In Daisy, it is visible how she faces conflict externally through society and internally, how she battles with herself. Daisy's internal conflict can be related to Juliet Capulet in the famous Shakespeare tragedy, "Romeo and Juliet". Juliet faces the outside pressure of society and her family, similar to Daisy. Both Juliet and Daisy struggle to adapt to society's rules whilst remaining loyal to their true love. The only difference is yet again seen through the old and new women. While Juliet embodies the old women and chooses her true love, Daisy encompasses the new who favours wealth and status over true love. Jordan, on the other hand, fully embraces the concept of "New Women". She chooses a career path and is an independent and self-reliant individual who does not care what other people think about living life

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