In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, the two main female characters, Daisy Buchanan and Jordan Baker, embody the concept of the new American woman that came about in the 1920s. Society in the 1920s was full of corruption and greed. Previously, women were bound to taking care of their families but this notion was no longer true in the 1920s. Through the characters of Daisy and Jordan, The Great Gatsby demonstrates how the lifestyles of American women transformed in the 1920s as they broke out of their traditional domestic roles and started behaving with more freedom, gained a more egotistic and haughty attitude, and occupied their time with more leisurely activities; however, despite these changes, gender typecasts and male domination
Women throughout history are clever and conniving. Cleopatra who risked her life for a country she loved put her heart in the hands of men to get what she wanted. That tale does not have a happy end, and the story plays itself out again for the women of The Great Gatsby, who played the same cards and lost what they were playing for. Myrtle and Daisy place everything in men; baker did not but still suffers loss at the hands of men. Fitzgerald shows how far women will go for men through Baker's cheating, Daisy’s lying, and Myrtles fatal deceit.
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.
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.
The 1920’s was a time when the United States economy had a 42% increase (Amadeo). The United States had this increase in the economy due to industrial factories being built, and new inventions being made, which raised wages. Women during this time period gained many rights, but were still not as equal as men. African Americans were discriminated against and segregated during this time. Fashion in the 1920’s was brand new. Women had new styles of clothing and new hairstyles, and men started wearing athletic gear. In the 1920’s, and in the novel, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald wealth, women and racism, and fashion were big social beliefs that impacted lives in the United States.
Growing Independence of Women in The Great Gatsby The 1920’s were characterized as a time of wild parties and entertainment that both men and women enjoyed freely. These years were known as the Roaring Twenties because they were a period of shifting societal norms amidst a booming economy. Previously, in the nineteenth century, women were seen as submissive and weak, but during World War I, they began taking over jobs that traditionally belonged to men; this led towards the fight for equal rights in other areas of their lives, such as suffrage, or the right to vote, and a higher degree of personal freedom. Set during the 1920’s, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby describes the reactions of the narrator, Nick Carraway, to women of different backgrounds and social statuses, detailing how those women are influenced by the changing society around them. Two of the women that Nick meets are Jordan Baker, a single woman with her own job, and Myrtle Wilson, who is in an extramarital affair with Tom Buchanan. The American Dream, for these women, is the ideal of equality to men in order to become self-sufficient. The difficulties women faced in achieving the American Dream is illustrated through the emergence of the economically independent woman in conflict with the traditionally dependent stereotype depicted in The Great Gatsby.
The Views of Women in The Great Gatsby Since society has existed, women have been known as different from men. For the longest time, women have been known as the “weaker sex” when compared to the male. There purpose, especially in the olden days is to obey and please the men. However nowadays there seems to be a more equality between the two genders. But even today discrimination between male and female takes place all over the world. In The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, you can see a lot of discrimination between the two sexes. The story takes place in the 1930’s and it has a bad view on women, they just got the right to vote for presidents, mayors, and senators. However most men thought that the women should only stay home and raise children, that they should not be involved in politics, and their ideas were not valuable. Women were treated as “house slaves” at times when all what they did all day, every day, was work around the house trying to improve the living for their husband and kids.
POINT 1: Women are treated like objects TS: Fitzgerald uses many different techniques throughout the novel to show that women are a product of their men and are objectified by society.
Iconic literary works often share common grounds that can be detected by readers and literary critics. Such similarities can be discerned from Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice and F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. These classic novels can be effectively juxtaposed in regards to their portrayal of the role of women, the cruciality of setting, and the display of the issues of the eras.
The Simple Life of the Gatsby Women Feminism, the advocacy of women's rights on the basis of the equality of the sexes. In The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, there is an often ignored view of the women’s perspective. It brings attention to how women have no expectations to go far in life, or have a reason for live beyond being used to reproduce. The most absurd thing is that the women in the story don’t have any interest to break out of the stereotype, and try to make a life for themselves. Throughout the story, Daisy Buchanan, Jordan Baker, and Myrtle Wilson are treated as possessions rather than humans.
The society that exist in today’s day and age greatly differs from the era of the past. The epitome of today’s time include the internet, legal gay marriages, smart phones and the existence of feminists. Clearly, people have evolved quite a significant amount since the dawn of time, especially when compared to the roaring twenties. From that point and further back in time, women were seen as inferior to men and were treated second to them. However, historically speaking, women of the 1920’s were beginning to slowly even out the playing field when they were given suffrage. Despite that fact, many women were still viewed as a pawn for men, which was seen the book, the Great Gatsby. Even though the narrative focused greatly on male characters,
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 Portrayal of Women in The Great Gatsby Since society has existed, women have been known as different from men. For the longest time, women have been known as the “weaker sex” when compared to the male. There purpose, especially in the older days is to obey and please the men. However nowdays there seems to be a more equality between the two genders. But even today discrimination between male and female takes place all over the world. In The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, you can see a lot of discrimination between the two sexes. The story takes place in the 1930’s and it have a primitive view of women, they just got the right to vote for presidents, mayors, and senators. However most men thought that the women should only stay home and raise children, that they should not be involved in politics, and their ideas were not valuable.
Fitzgerald uses women as a foundation of the American dream by showing their beauty, status, personality,and power, Beauty in the novel was an important component which was flaunted by women in the 1920’s which was being shown through Daisy, Jordan,and Myrtle. Daisy is a symbol of beauty and sophistication. She is described as a captivating young woman that leads on others with her personality. Daisy builds the American dream by showing the beauty and happiness that the dream is intended to have. Daisy is the male fantasy of woman, which shows why she was shown to act the way she does, she uses her beauty to her advantages, to get away with things and to live the glamorous life that she intends to live. “ her face was sad and lovely with bright things in it, bright eyes,bright passionate mouth” (Fitzgerald,14). This quote from the novel represents how Daisy is a part of the American dream as beauty,how she catches men’s attention with her attitude. She portrays, personality and Beauty. She portrays the American dream as a happy ending. For jordan her beauty is different from Daisy’s, Jordan beauty is her mysterious features that causes others to be intrigued by it, and her ability to fit in with her neutral attitude. She seems
Looking at F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby through a feminist perspective, it’s apparent the text supports and challenges the assumptions of a patriarchal society. Interrogating this text with a critical feminist viewpoint reveals the men and women appear to be victims of social and cultural norms of the 1920s,