Female Characters in ‘The Great Gatsby’ and Cormac McCarthy’s ‘No Country for Old Men’?

The novel, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is about societal difference between men and women the 1920s. Throughout the novel this theme is played through our main characters: Tom, Myrtle, and Daisy. Fitzgerald uses the possessive relationships between these characters to enlighten the reader about women’s social ranking. He demonstrates how men were able to control women by making them feel inferior. The author describes the importance of social class for women in the 1920’s through the possessive and ultimately destructive relationship of Tom and Myrtle.

Society’s expectations of gender roles in the 1920s impacts men and women’s lives, but the expectations have a much larger impact on women. These gender roles are especially important in the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The story focuses more on the men which is a direct reflection of the patriarchal society that the characters live in. Daisy, an important female character, is a victim of society’s discrimination against women. Society’s perception of Daisy overlooks her true value. In Daisy’s time, the men, like Tom and Gatsby, have looser morals but are still superior to her. This leads to the creation of stereotypes causing her to be objectified by the men throughout the book. Once readers see the societal norms from the 1920s, they will begin to understand why Daisy is treated unfairly. The patriarchy that drives Daisy’s community creates the social norm of women being subordinate to men making it seem as though she is a possession rather than a loving companion.

F. Scott Fitzgerald tackles numerous grave themes in his renowned novel The Great Gatsby, one of the most prominent being sexism and the disparities of gender equality in the 1920s. The novel tells the story of several upper class men and women navigating prohibition and their own personal drama in their otherwise almost wholly uneventful lives. Every character, regardless of their gender, ends up dead, alone, unhappy, or some combination of the three by the end of the story. But as with most literature, the journey is paramount in comparison to the destination. The way Fitzgerald frames the outcomes of each character varies significantly based on their gender. It is not as simple as “all of the men continue without consequences and get the girl while all the women are either hit by a car or stay in unfaithful marriages” or vice versa. No one gets an entirely, or even mostly, favorable ending. It is instead the reason why one’s finale is inauspicious that must be examined. Men are nearly exclusively characterized in older fiction as being aggressive doers; they are the ones that the story is about and they drive their stories forward. Women, on the other hand, are passive reactors; they are the secondary plot devices to be used to propel the story forward. The men of the novel end up miserable because of things that happen to them, while the women of the story have cheerless conclusions because of actions they took that actively landed them in that place. The Great Gatsby

In "The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald, he shows women, treated and presented as worse than men, and are rather disregarded and neglected by the male characters. Even Fitzgerald describes and creates the traits of the women in the book in a negative manner.

In the early 1900s, women were just beginning to live as they wanted. Being able to have a paying job and women being able to vote for certain things was a huge change. What did not change as much, however, was society as a whole. Many men and some women did not like the idea of women being able to do these things. Two books that show the struggles of women in that time are The Great Gatsby and Their Eyes Were Watching God. In The Great Gatsby, a novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald, it follows Nick Carraway as he goes through life in New York during the 1920s. During his time there, Nick reconnects with his cousin Daisy and sets her up with Jay Gatsby, who she was in a past relationship with. Eventually she breaks things off with Gatsby and leaves New York with her husband and daughter, leaving Gatsby to take the blame for a crime he did not commit. On the other hand, in Their Eyes are Watching God, a novel by Zora Neale Hurston, it follows Janie Crawford, a woman living in Florida in the early 1900s, as she goes through life trying to find her true love. Her quest for love began when she was a young girl, her Nanny forcing her into a loveless marriage at the age of sixteen. Throughout both books, the vast majority of female characters have been judged by others for going against societal norms by doing what they want, not what their husband or significant other told them to do. In both of these books’ time periods, women were expected to do whatever men said or told them to do,

Feminism is the advocacy of women’s rights on the basis of the equality of the sexes. F. Scott Fitzgerald portrays women in a light that does not follow this ideology. The characters contain viewpoints that showcase how during that era women were thought to be lesser than men. Throughout the novel, The Great Gatsby, the job and attitudes of women were determined by men not the women themselves. We see this in the several different aspects. These aspects include: Daisy's hopes and wishes for her daughter, Myrtle's death and cadaver, and the stereotypes that surrounded Jordan Baker's career and physical appearance.

“People share a common nature but are trained in gender roles” (Blake, Lillie). Women and men are assigned specific jobs and are told at a young age what their futures should look like. Women are taught to be beautiful and dependent on a man. It is accepted more by society for men to take on many mistresses, while not for women. Gender roles are a set of rules of the social norms in the society specifically made for each gender. In the 1920s, women and men had specific roles in the house and in workplace. Throughout The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald argues that in some aspect of life men are superior to women, but on the other hand he asserts that women make important decisions for themselves. Through a multitude of actions and lies between characters, Fitzgerald portrays the social norm in the society, where both men and women are shown to take charge at varying times.

Although Fitzgerald prominently believed that women were unable to provide for themselves, he does recognize their attempts at becoming more independent. As Daisy desires importance in her mundane life, she begins to challenge the societal views of gender by having an affair with Gatsby. Daisy takes a small step forward when her friends come over and she orders Tom to “make [them] a cold drink” and as he left the room “she got up and went over to Gatsby and pulled his face down, kissing him on the mouth”(Fitzgerald 116). Fitzgerald’s recurring use of alcohol foreshadows the coming prohibition where only those of a high status were able to obtain the substance. Although Daisy was of a high status, alcohol was generally prohibited to women, and by using it, Fitzgerald portrays how she transitions from housewife to a woman who is not afraid to assert her dominance by doing what she desires. Breaking gender norms, Daisy takes control by pulling Gatsby down to her level to kiss him, which promotes her dominance as she uses her power

Women haven’t always had the freedom that they have today. Women were supposed to live a certain life even though sometimes they didn’t want to. They had to tend to their husbands at all time, stay home and do housework while still taking care of their children or being pregnant. Women were abused physically, emotionally, and psychologically. Although women were perceived to act and present themselves in a certain way, some young women went against the cult of the true woman hood not only to be different, but to escape he physical, emotional, and psychological abuse that they will or have encountered. In novels, The Bell Jar, by Sylvia Path and Lucy, by Jamaica Kincaid both young women have the similarity to rebel against the cult of true

The role of gender can be found in various perspectives. If we consider the role of Daisy as a mother, she becomes very unhappy giving birth to a daughter as females are inferior in the society. Women like her and Myrtle Wilson live to fulfill their husband’s needs and desires instead of leading a life of their own. Daisy’s comment “… I hope she’ll be a fool — that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool” (Fitzgerald 14), is a reflection of the way of the world for the women in the American society.

The Great Gatsby was written in 1925 to depict the American Dream. During this time, there was an ideal lifestyle for men and women. Ideally, women were meant to be housewives and men were meant to be the providers. Characters such as Daisy, Myrtle , and Jordan all represent different lifestyles and ways of obtaining the American dream. Daisy Buchanan, who uses her beauty to get what she wants. Myrtle Wilson is the mistress of Tom Buchanan, who is at rich man and she is poor ,but she was still able to use his money. Jordan Baker represents the “new woman” who does not live dependent upon a man and begins to dress in a different style.

In cases of social injustice, there are the oppressors and there are the oppressed. Such is the case in the world of The Great Gatsby, where gender norms shape the dynamic of all romantic relationships.Fitzgerald’s novel reflects pervasive gender norms that are still in place today. One of these constructs is the role of women versus men in marriage. Husbands are supposed to be violent and commanding, and their wives are supposed to be quiet and happy. Male characters see opportunity in this construct -- they use it to their advantage or as a way to establish power and reputation. Characters like Gatsby and Tom want relationships with women that reflect their relationship with money and success. When Myrtle tries to manipulate her affair

The narrator, Nick is grouping together the women of the party and describing their persona all in the same way. The men of the party are comforting them, as they are providing protection and masculinity to the “swooning” and “puppyish” women. The women are following the social norm/stereotype that men must be their protectors because they are such frail beings and must be accompanied by a man. These societal standards were represented through the specific character, Daisy Buchanan and her actions throughout the novel. Daisy has intentional ignorance of her husband, Tom’s multiple affairs showing her lack of empowerment and fear of disrupting the gender roles. The woman was meant to be the housewife, caring for the children, and staying home. Daisy believes women should not be intelligent and applies these expectations to her own daughter: "I woke up out of the ether with an utterly abandoned feeling, and asked the nurse right away if it was a boy or a girl. She told me it was a girl, and so I turned my head away and wept. 'All right, ' I said, 'I 'm glad it 's a girl. And I hope she 'll be a fool—that 's the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool” (Fitzgerald 116-118). It is evident that Daisy was disappointed by the gender of her baby, and thinks little of what a woman can be in

This film caters to the suburban ideals that were being advertised to the American populace during the late 40s and 50s. These ideals promoted the suppression of women’s rights and freedom, by confining them to the domestic. The social norm of this period essentially described men as having the power in a relationship. Contrarily, Women had to be submissive to men, making sure that the home and family was taken care of, while the ‘man of the house’ went out and worked to provide money for his family. In addition to this, men usually had the final say in any dispute within the household, while women were expected to accept the man’s decision, passively. These old

An example of this notion is shown in Hope Leslie when Governor Winthrop, the landlord, reacts to Hope, the tenant, coming home late and refuses to reveal her reason why: “...Winthrop was not accustomed to have his inquisitorial rights resisted by those in his own household, and he was more struck than pleased by Hope’s moral courage” (184). Evidently, Winthrop’s reaction proves that women with “moral courage” are unladylike because moral courage is a manly trait. On the other hand, Esther Downing, another character in Hope Leslie, embodies the cult of true womanhood. Esther’s mere look at her love interest Everell is described as “a look of...pleased dependence, which is natural... and which men like to inspire, because --perhaps -- it seems to them an instinctive tribute to their natural superiority” (219). So, “Esther’s look … of dependence” confirms that the expectation that all women are supposed to have the same behavior, gestures and personality is meant to not only please men but to also hide their true form. Therefore, the cult of true womanhood presents an internal battle in female writers and Sedgwick presents this womanly struggle through the contrast between Hope and Esther. Society wants women to be quaint housewives but publishing a book defies the cult of true womanhood. Thus, defying the qualities rooted in the cult of true womanhood causes high risk of