Role Of Women 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.

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.

In his 1925 novel, The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald, chronicles a story of complicated relationships between a group of men and women as they go about their lives in New York during the “roaring 20s”. Narrated by character Nick Carraway, the story exposes and endorses gender based stereotypes as the characters attempt to achieve their American dream. In 1920, women were granted the right the vote, which was a substantial step forward in the equal rights movement for women. Yet, even during the twenties, women still struggled to find an equal place in society and were often blocked from having the same chances of achieving the American dream as men. In the novel, F. Scott Fitzgerald not only exposes sexist values of the time, but

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.

“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.

Throughout literature women are often displayed as idealized characters. Women in the eyes of society are plagued with the stereotype of being kind, nurturing, and tender individuals while men are established as ambitious, assertive, and tough. However, when the time comes for women to possess the qualities of men and men of women, a turnaround of events can occur. Women were the individuals that then shape the males into their ending personna. Shakespeare's Macbeth, George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four, and F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby demonstrated the reversal of gender roles through portraying women as the instigator of the male character’s ultimate demise.

During the 1920’s, women were objectified in society, yet began to show signs of independence by striving for equality between genders. In this time known as the Roaring Twenties, women began to use their voice desiring to live their lives how they chose. F. Scott Fitzgerald, a renowned author, displayed his perception of women attempting to prove their worth through his new book. One of the protagonists in the novel, Daisy Buchanan, challenges the gender barriers and threatens to paint a new image for women by choosing love over wealth. In The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald displays the modern women’s inability to obtain independence as they were perceived as incapable of making their own decisions and relied on traditional gender

Women empowerment is one of the biggest standing issues in society today. Women being mistreated or viewed differently from men has been a problem for as long as anyone can remember. In both The Great Gatsby and My Antonia the women were viewed differently in both social classes. Being rich and poor both had its advantages and its disadvantages. Due to women's social classes, different actions were viewed differently, and the outcomes were exceedingly different. Women in social classes were both viewed, treated and ended up dissimilar from each other. Both Antonia and Daisy faced different challenges throughout the book, clearly seeing the contrasting outcomes.

F. Scott Fitzgerald, author of The Great Gatsby, illustrates most women in his novels in a incredibly negative light. He portrays them as dependent upon men, selfish, and completely amoral. Jay Gatsby is in love with the wealthy Mrs. Daisy Buchannan and tries to win her love by proving that he is wealthy. However, no matter how wealthy he becomes, or how many gigantic parties he throws, he is still never good enough for Daisy. The story ends in tragedy as Gatsby is killed and dies utterly alone. Fitzgerald's characterization of Daisy, Myrtle, and Jordan in The Great Gatsby demonstrates women who are objectified by men and treated as their trophies, while also

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

Societal ‘norms’ surrounding gender have continuously remained prominent internationally. Although these standards and expectations continue to shift, women still face oppression today. The novel, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, demonstrates the expectations of women and their relationships to men in 1920’s New York City through one of the main characters, Daisy Buchanan. A vast majority of Daisy’s actions are to entice and cater to the superior men of the novel. Through this, I was able to reflect upon the evolution of society’s stereotypes surrounding women from the 1920’s. Initially, from reading the novel, I learned about the period of the roaring twenties and how the aspect of class affects the

During the Jazz Era, almost every women was depended on men for their money. Wealth should not considered as important as respect and respect is something everyone deserves, not only men. The Great Gatsby is a novel written by F. Scott Fitzgerald about rich people that lived in New York during the Jazz Era. The Great Gatsby is about a rich man named Jay Gatsby who tries to win his love back from someone through his power and wealth. The role of women in The Great Gatsby is important because it talks about the amount of freedom and power they have compared to men. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby, women are given no respect, controlled by men, and are treated like trophies to win over.

Fitzgerald reflects on societies opposing principles through very different women, Daisy, Jordan and Myrtle, in order to display various aspects of the feminist philosophy. Each represents feminism in contrasting ways. They challenge the roles of pre-WW1 traditional housewives. Before the war, women had limited freedom and were socially compelled to live by male ideals. However, in the 1920s, they demanded more freedom with drinking and smoking like men, which was demonstrated by these female characters. Jordan is direct in her feminism - she is more masculine and is dominant when she is expected to be compliant. Although Jordan is restricted by the social standards women were forced to live in, she

Furthermore, women in The Great Gatsby are marginalized by the social patterns of the Jazz Age resulting in a deprivation of their own identity. Despite their recent liberation, women are replicas of each other; nothing more than impersonal, faceless objects. In August, 1920, the 19th Amendment, granting women the right to vote, gave way to the emancipated women. Women or flappers, as they are referred to, with their short hair and shiny dresses are identical in appearance, with little or no individuality. While reflecting on the attendees at Gatsby’s parties, Nick infers, “Benny McClenahan arrived always with four girls. They were never quite the same ones in physical person, but they were so identical one with another that it inevitably seemed they had been there before” (Fitzgerald 62). As Nick observes, due to their similarity it makes it difficult to determine if it is a woman’s first time at one of Gatsby’s parties. This exemplifies women’s conformity to an unwritten social code and their morphism into undistinguishable beings, simply an object of men’s desires. Additionally, Nick’s nightmare after Gatsby’s death illustrates another example of women’s marginalization as a result of their adherence to the social standards of the times. He dreams about a drunken woman in a white evening dress being carried home by four men. “Gravely the men turn in at a house – the wrong house. But no one