How Does Fitzgerald Present Jealousy In The Great Gatsby

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.

Daisy's superficiality extends to her personality. She is fragile, unstable and a confused character. While talking to Nick she said: “...I woke up with an abandoned felling 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. 'Alright,' 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 fool” (Fitzgerald 21). They also married their husbands for different reasons. Myrtle says she married George because she thought he was a gentleman. She also thought he knew about good “breeding.” On the other hand, Daisy married Tom because rich girls had to marry into money and good social status.

Both Myrtle and Daisy are portrayed as inferior through their continued isolation throughout the novel. Firstly, Myrtle is emotionally isolated in her relationship with George Wilson. This can be evidenced when she expresses that “he wasn’t fit to lick my shoe”(37). This quotation is said by Myrtle, to her sister Catherine, while at Tom’s apartment. Myrtle is explaining her disappointment in herself for marrying Wilson, due to his extreme poverty, and her subsequent unhappiness in her marriage. Myrtle’s disdain for her husband clearly demonstrates her feelings of isolation in her relationship, and her lack of emotional intimacy. Due to the fact that emotional isolation can often cause feelings of desperation or lead to unhealthy relationships,

Daisy sees this as does almost the exact same thing, only with Gatsby. By expressing this carelessness for each other, one can only begin to imagine the carelessness they have for other human beings. Tom treats Myrtle even worse than he treats Daisy, but Myrtle doesn’t seem to care, because she is mainly interested in his money. Tom doesn’t seem to worry about anyone but himself. In his own spite he ruins his life, as well as Daisy’s, Gatsby’s, and Myrtle’s. Daisy shows her carelessness during the time where Jordan, Tom, Daisy, Nick and Gatsby go to town. Her and Gatsby act like they are in love and make Tom incredibly jealous even though he is having his own affair. Tom accuses Gatsby of trying to start trouble in the Buchanan house, and they begin to fight. Daisy yells at Tom and tells him that she no longer loves him and is in love with Gatsby. Tom proceeds to tell everyone how Gatsby came across his money, and once Daisy finds out it was by illegal gambling and crime, she seems much less interested in him. Daisy appears to be more interested on what is on the outside of people, rather than the inside.

Myrtle is unhappy with her standard of living and George. A quote to support this is, “I married him because I thought he was a gentleman” she said finally. “I thought he knew something about breeding, but he wasn’t fit to lick my shoe” (2.34). It is shown in this quote that Myrtle overestimated George’s money because he’s a mechanic and is unhappy she is living over a garage. In addition, that’s where Tom comes in and she has an affair with him. A quote to assist this would be, “Wilson? He thinks she goes to see her sister in New York. He’s so dumb he doesn’t know she’s alive” (2.26). In analysis of this quote, Myrtle uses Tom to get away from George and because Tom is wealthy and buys things for her. There was more than one reason to Myrtle’s affair with

Myrtle values the wealthy lifestyle greatly. She would even go so far as to create a facade of what she believes those of high societal class would act like in order to achieve that, and ironically, mocks the poor in the process. In Chapter 2 she exclaims toward Nick, “ I told that boy about the ice...you have to keep after them all the time”(32). here it is proven that Myrtle believes in order to give everyone the impression that she is high class, she must act in a snobbish manner. Whereas Daisy who was born into wealth, values convenience majorly over the latter. Some may disagree and say that she values love, and it is true that she does search for love; However, this is contradicted when at the end of the day she stays with Tom Buchanan rather than Gatsby, as is shown in the last scene with them together, “ Daisy and Tom were sitting opposite of each other at the kitchen table with a plate of cold fried chicken between them, and two bottles of ale” (145). She stays with Tom only for her own societal convenience, and she is willing to follow through with it even though he is a generally abusive

First, Tom and Daisy demonstrate their carelessness through their insensitiveness. When Tom is visiting his mistress, Myrtle, she taunts Tom by repeatedly saying “Daisy! Daisy! Daisy!” (Fitzgerald, 39). This causes Tom to get aggravated and strike Myrtle in the face, breaking her nose. Tom physically abuses Myrtle and while he is under the influence of alcohol, he has the intent of hurting her, not caring if she gets injured. Tom also lies to Myrtle, telling her that he would marry her if is wife wasn’t Catholic. Tom does not care about the feelings of his mistress, seeing her as an object and not a human. Myrtle is nothing more than a way for Tom to feel powerful due to her low social status and insecurities. It is mentioned that Tom has cheated on Daisy before with a maid, further proving that Toms motive for having an affair is power. It also proves that Tom is not cheating on Daisy because he is bored, but because he does not truly love her or care for her. Tom’s lack of concern for those around him proves his insensitiveness and overall carelessness.

Fitzgerald characterizes Daisy as a stereotypical stay-at-home mother who is soft and submissive in her relationship with her wealthy husband. However, on further examination, Daisy also rebels in her own way, primarily within her marriage to Tom. From the start, it is apparent how Daisy’s marriage to Tom is not based on love, as Fitzgerald describes their relationship as “impersonal eyes in the absence of all desire,” (Fitzgerald 10) which shows how their relationship is comforting and convenient but not loving. Tom is described as a very powerful man with “a cruel body” (Fitzgerald 7) with “two shining arrogant eyes (that) had established dominance over his face,” (Fitzgerald 6). This description of Tom is of a self-absorbed man who overpowers

Additionally, Daisy and Jordan use their opposing beauties to their advantages, Daisy takes her exceptional looks to live a life of wealth, choosing riches over love, expressed the night before her wedding “‘Here dearest’ . ‘She groped around in the waste-basket she had with her on the bed and pulled out the string of pearls. “Take’em downstairs and give’em back to whoever they belong to . Tel’s all Daisy’s change’ her mine’ …She wouldn’t let go of the letter…Next day she married Tom Buchanan without so much as a shiver…”(P.80-81). Jordan, Jordan uses her fair looks to be anything but fair, such as “At her first big golf tournament there was a row that nearly reached the newspapers — a suggestion that she had moved her ball from a bad lie in the semi-final round. The thing approached the proportions of a scandal — then died away. A caddy retracted his statement, and the only other witness admitted that he might have been mistaken.”(P.61-62). Similarly, Myrtle Wilson used her looks as a gate way into getting what she pleases. Although, she is on the opposite side of the spectrum; where Daisy and Jordan are upper class, elegant beauties, Myrtle falls between the lines of lower and middle classes. Class status does nothing to deter Myrtle’s gift in the looks department.Upon introduction to Myrtle, we are instantly aware of the many differences between her and the two girls, such as “

Although Tom acted as if he truly cared about Myrtle, he really did not. This is displayed when he claims that his wife is a Catholic, and that is why they could not get a divorce. The issue with that, would be that she is not Catholic, Tom was just making up an excuse. This shows that Tom has no real intention of actually being with Myrtle. Instead of being truthful, and telling her that he will never want to marry her, he is dragging her along, and lying to her, making her believe that he cares. By doing this to Myrtle, he is preventing her from actually trying to make something of herself, and further proving that the “upper class” is constantly affecting the lower classes. Gatsby and Daisy would be another perfect example of this idea. “I did love him once, but I loved you too,” Daisy said, proving to Gatsby he was never the only one she wanted. By saying that she loved them both, she is showing that Gatsby was never the only man on her mind. She proved that she did not have the purest intentions of being with him, because she was never fully committed to him. This was also shown when Gatsby was the one to tell Tom she loved him, not Daisy. Finally, upper class people tend to drag lower class people down, by abusing their money, power, and

Myrtle also adds to this stigma. She longs for a life that is fun and glamorous, but reality is she is the wife of a pump mechanic, meaning she will never have access to mobility in class or status. She is a lower class woman, which led her to engage in an affair with Tom Buchanan; it is the closest she will come to feeling higher up socially. Myrtle will do just about anything to be a part of the upper class despite the consequences. There was even a point in time when Tom physically hits her, breaking her nose and yet she still stayed with him just to continue lavishing in this fantasy she so eagerly wanted to become real (Fitzgerald, pg 37). That scene and the dynamic of her and Tom represent the subordination of the lower class and the mistreatment of women within the lower class.

Relationships, specifically romantic relationships, play a very important part in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. Upon reading Fitzgerald’s 1925 novel, one will notice that there appears to be a behavioral pattern present in the relationships between Gatsby and Daisy, Daisy and Tom, and Nick and Jordan. As I explain in this paper, these relationships suffer from a fear of intimacy, a fear of the inevitable mutual emotional pain that occurs when humans grow close to one another. In the interest of clarity, let us first take a closer look at the theory that humans cannot grow close without harming one another, the theory known as the “hedgehog’s dilemma.”

As Myrtle’s relationship with George Wilson deteriorates and she is disenchanted with his limited lifestyle, she desires more and thus when she meets Tom he offers her this. In some distorted way, Myrtle thinks that Tom will leave his beautiful wife Daisy and marry her, Tom doesn’t truly see the relationship between Myrtle and himself being a true relationship, he just believes she is someone he can call upon unannounced and use her for a sexual relationship. But Myrtle has other plans for the two of them. This is made clear when he breaks Myrtle’s nose we she mentioned his wife’s name: “‘Daisy! Daisy! Daisy!’ shouted Mrs. Wilson. ‘I’ll say it whenever I want to! Daisy Dai-‘Making a short deft movement, Tom Buchanan broke her nose with his open hand” (Fitzgerald, 1926)This harsh action implied by Tom, really puts Mrs. Wilson in her place, making her come to her sense of what she can and cannot say. This reaction from Tom signifies that it is not a pure love existing between them. Further, Myrtle’s desire for the material goods Tom can provide shapes her conception of their alleged love, which is evidently greatly distorted as shown through Tom’s treatment of her.

The idea of the wealthy thinking of themselves as being superior and having dominance over others can be seen: ‘literally forced me from the car. “We’re getting off,” he insisted.’ Tom’s dominant attitude can be seen, as Nick is forced into meeting Tom’s mistress, also giving the impression Tom wants to show off ‘his girl’. This also puts the idea forward that Tom thinks of Myrtle as another possession to be shown off, again tying in with the theme of the American Dream in accumulating as many possessions as possible. This attitude Tom has towards Myrtle can also be seen: ‘leaving her at the table,

In The Great Gatsby, Myrtle is given no respect and is being treated like an object. This happened in the chapter 2 when Tom takes Nick and Myrtle to party in a hotel in New York with others. Later in the party Myrtle and Tom comes out of a room arguing about Daisy.“Some time toward midnight Tom Buchanan and Mrs. Wilson stood face to face discussing, in impassioned voices, whether Mrs. Wilson had any right to mention Daisy's name. I’ll say it whenever I want to! Daisy! And Da-” Making a short deft movement, Tom Buchanan broke her nose with his open hand.” This quote explains how women like myrtle are being abused by Tom and he is treating her like an object despite not having a healthy relationship. This paragraph is important because it talks about how in F. Scott’s novel The Great Gatsby Myrtle is given no respect and is being treated like an object despite being a women.