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Gender Roles In The Great Gatsby

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F. Scott Fitzgerald addressed the topic of gender roles of the roaring 20’s in his novel The Great Gatsby. Specifically focusing on women, he uses the female characters to demonstrate how women build the “American Dream”. The 1920’s were a time of change. Women began to challenge the government and societal customs to become more independent, which was when women started to be recognized as a major influence on American culture. Daisy Buchanan, Jordan Baker and Myrtle Wilson were the three women in the novel that Fitzgerald created to portray the role of women through each characters power and influence, social positions and claim to the “American Dream”. Daisy Buchanan, Tom Buchanan’s wife is a beautiful and charming woman who is typically coupled with purity and innocence. Even though she is …show more content…

She is not very bright and has an attraction to dominant men. Myrtle met Tom on a train and since then, started seeing him secretly. To get out of the undesirable “Valley of Ashes”, she believes being with Tom will allow her to inch her away out, but only results in being portrayed as a fool. By sneaking around behind her husbands back, Myrtle has influence over men. Being seductive, captivating and having alluring looks, she attracts Tom who cheats on his wife. Getting Tom to cheat on Daisy is being manipulative, but that raises a sense of hope for others because of how relatable she is. “A white ashen dust veiled his dark suit and his pale hair as it veiled everything in the vicinity- except his wife, who moved close to Tom (Fitzgerald 26). Described in the visual imagery, Myrtle is exciting compared to Wilson. Supporting her character traits, this shows that she is bold, clever and rebellious. The dust was covering everything in the shop except for her, which shows how she is her own individual, not being controlled by anyone. Independence is such a strong power to

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