Women during the timeframe of both stories were expected to play the role of being the housewife. Just like men, women had and still have goals and dreams, but it was substantially harder for them to reach these goals. Researchers have said, during the 1920s to 1930s not many jobs were available to women (Classroom). Fitzgerald crafted a book about a man named Nick Carraway, Gatsby’s neighbor, who moved to West Egg to become a bonds salesman (Fitzgerald, 3). As the story progresses, he visits his cousin Daisy Fay Buchanan and her husband Tom Buchanan in East Egg (Fitzgerald, 5). There he meets Jordan Baker, an impressive professional golfer (Fitzgerald, 18). Towards the middle of the story, Nick goes to New York City with Tom to meet his mistress, Myrtle Wilson, who gets really drunk and makes fun of Daisy. Consequently, Tom gets furious and distorts her nose (Fitzgerald 37). Gatsby was on his way back from New York, when Myrtle “rushed out into the dusk, waving her hands and shouting” (Fitzgerald 137). As a result, she unfortunately gets hit by Daisy who was driving Gatsby’s Coupe. Unlike Steinbeck’s book, Of Mice and Men is about two gentlemen, who are considered traveling companions, that are going to work on a ranch because they needed more money to pursue their dream. In the beginning of the book, George illustrates the story of how Lennie kills the mice that Aunt Clara gave him. Along with the story of when he wanted to touch the lady’s dress. On their way to the
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.
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.
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.
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
Gender discourse is an important issue in this novel to know the prevailing state of the women of the Jazz Age and their position in the contemporary society. We find gender differences among people through their physical and psychological development, behavioral pattern. The author presents female characters in a way that we find not only the dominance of male over female, but also the rise of women relating to their social status, economic freedom, and the choice of their relationship.
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 author F. Scott Fitzgerald used to write about gender in his novels and wasn’t different in The Great Gatsby. In his novel men work to maintenance the family, men are dominant over women, by showcasing their glamour, individuality and status he uses women to build the American Dream, that’s the biggest women’s role in his novel. There are three most important female characters on the book, Daisy, Myrtle and Jordan Baker, who demonstrate these characteristics in different ways each one. Jordan was born in a rich family, she was a famous athlete and used to go to big and rich parties, as Gatsby’s parties. As a celebrity she was living her life without pay for her actions, wasn’t so humble and were impatient, she had a big ability to fit in,
In the Great Gatsby, women play a significant role and are the central focus. Their character is very subordinate. Their characters are mainly described as decorative figures of fragile beauty. However, they are often egotistical, ruthless, destructive and vain. They are not capable of intellectual or artistic or idealism interests (Bloom 42). They also do not express passion. In Great Gatsby, three women have played a very vital role; these are; Daisy Buchanan, Jordan Baker, and Myrtle Wilson (Fitzgerald 9).
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.
Equality, rights, birth control, and work ethics are all items that contribute to the women in the Roaring 20’s. Each woman has their own factors on how their lives were lived and showed how there were different roles and limited rights. The way they lived and acted had a vast role on the way they were portrayed in the past society. All the characters all do not stay true to their morals and values; they all cheat and lie all because of money.
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.