The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald

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.

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.

Everyone feels the need to be equal. Everyone wants to be recognized as equal to their peers, and during the 1920s, there was a huge push for equality between women and men in the form of women’s suffrage, with the Nineteenth Amendment extending voting rights to women as well. One 1920’s author, Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald in his novel The Great Gatsby, explored gender inequality and how it changed through his characters. In the book, Daisy Buchanan is a wealthy, upper class woman married to an upper class man, Tom. Their life is very stable, since they are both part of the upper class and have financial security. They provide room and board for Jordan Baker, a golf champion who is also part of the upper class, and both Daisy and Jordan represent how the 1920s changed the rights of women across America. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby explores major changes in society and historically significant shifts in gender and gender norms through the accessibility of the American Dream in the 1920s.

Many people dream about achieving the American Dream, especially immigrants from around the world hoping to start a new life. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby tells the story of one man’s journey, Nick Carraway’s, in obtaining the American Dream. His decision to leave the midwest and move to the east enables him to be able to learn stocks and make a living. Nick has not yet achieved the American Dream, but is eager to obtain this feat. Nick’s friend, Tom Buchanan, lives in East Egg and inherits money from his parents. Jay Gatsby, who lives next to Nick in West Egg, has worked for his money and was inspired to become wealthy. In The Great Gatsby, three main characters look for opportunities to gain the American Dream with numerous obstacles in their path. Jay Gatsby strives for opportunities to work for wealth and uses it to demonstrate his opulence; conversely, Tom Buchanan is the opposite of Gatsby, obtaining wealth from his parents and using his money to make a living. Nick Carraway is neither of the other characters, but instead is looking to possess the American Dream.

The joy that money can buy is temporary and fleeting. The Great Gatsby by Scott Fitzgerald demonstrates how wealth and the pursuit of internal gain often destroys morals. In order for Gatsby earn Daisy’s love, he needed to acquire wealth which led him to destroy his morals. In this novel relationships are destroyed by wealth and the misjudgments of morals. NEED SOMETHING ABOUT BEHAVIOURS AND MATERIAL WEALTH. This novel proves that money can only buy temporary joy and that wealth and internal gain wrecks morals.

As the Roaring Twenties emerge nationwide, a new sense of optimism and hopefulness begin to develop throughout all walks of life. Society is rapidly changing, and the 20’s create a time in which one believes they can create a new beginning and achieve their grand ambitions and aspirations. It was an era of liberation and many took advantage of the time to branch out and find themselves in a society that usually rejected change. Women often resisted against the social norm and eliminated their long held beliefs about proper roles for their gender. They began to embrace their sexuality by defying conventional attire and discarding the standard of how women should act in public. They began by cutting their hair into a short bob, wearing

The Gold Rush and the huge economic burst during the Roaring 20s offered diligent youths numerous opportunities to rise up in the social ladder and accomplish their dreams. Yet Fitzgerald suggests through Gatsby’s tragic demise that the American Dream is an unattainable illusion. This fantasy arises from the endless possibilities in America and pushes people to devote their lives to futile attempts of fitting into an idealistic upper class they do not belong to.

A symbol that most readers miss is that of time. Fitzgerald creates a” time symbolism” when Gatsby and Daisy meet again after five years. There were awkward pauses throughout their conversation, and during one of these pauses a clock that Gatsby was leaning his head on begins to tip over, as if about to fall. Gatsby gracefully catches the clock before it falls, and Nick proclaims that “I think we all believed for a moment that is had smashed in pieces on the floor” (#) thus creating a symbol of pressuring time. Gatsby resting his head on the clock is equivalent to the pressure that Gatsby puts on time, and the clock falling shows that time could not “support the demands that Gatsby wanted because he can’t turn back time” (Name) He also had not seen Daisy in a long time, making Gatsby want to cram all his emotions and longings for Daisy into a short period of time out of fear that they may not meet again.

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.

Life in The Great Gatsby was never shown as realistic. It was mostly of people who partied all night and drove in fancy cars and drank and danced until the sun came up. The only realistic life was Nick Carraway’s. He was just a guy trying to live and sell bonds in Long Island, but he got sucked into drama with his new neighbor and his cousin. Not all lives were so extravagant, most would think. However, it was called the roaring 20’s for a reason. People were living and having fun and actually partying. Flappers emerged and pushed boundaries, money was easy to spend with credit, prohibition was violated and forgotten, and all was well during this time period.

Throughout the course of The Great Gatsby Nick seems to have changed for becoming a better person for his experiences on the East Coast.

The main characters, Jordan, Daisy and Myrtle each show similar roles in the book and represent how women’s roles were described in their relationships, women in general, and how they were ruled by a male dominant world with different stereotypes.

Music is an immensely powerful tool in films, as it can underscore critical themes of a film in a melodious way and augment the emotion on screen. Songs can set the tone of a movie with or without lyrics. For example, the soundtrack of the 1977 film Saturday Night Fever includes groovy songs that complement the tone of the film. The suspenseful notes of the Jaws theme suggests that danger is approaching. The soundtrack to Baz Luhrman’s The Great Gatsby is a tasteful collection of songs from artists of different genres. Through this amalgamation of genres and lyrics, the integrity of the F. Scott Fitzgerald’s piece is well maintained.

In F. Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, the roaring 1920s is portrayed as a time of fame, glamour, and excitement. It is the time that women are recognized as a major influence on American culture. Women gained the right to vote in elections with a major milestone, “On August 26, 1920, the nineteenth amendment was proclaimed by the secretary of state as being part of the Constitution of the United States. Women in the United States were enfranchised on an equal basis with men” (Britannica School). The role of women is seen throughout the novel with the female characters, Daisy, Jordan and Myrtle.

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald has many female characters with all having different attributes and a different significance and role in the novel. Three of the most notable and important women in the novel are Daisy Buchanan, Myrtle Wilson, and Jordan Baker. Each of these women has their own role in the novel which adds depth to the novel. Each woman represents different parts of the spectrum of behaviors and class distinctions of being a woman. Daisy is the ideal woman/ wife as she is of pure upper class and beautiful while, Jordan is shown to be the neutral independent woman as she is able to take care of herself, and Myrtle is a low, unclassy, but desirable woman and shown with her lack of etiquette and wealth. With each filling a different role, each holds a different amount of power in the novel. Daisy would have the most, but at the same time be manipulated, Myrtle seems to have no social power but does have the ability to manipulate, and Jordan has power in both the social and personal setting she is able to provide for herself and does not care about anyone’s opinion of her.