Women In The Great Gatsby

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.

Even though the 1920s is the era of women’s rights, women are still treated poorly. Even woman in the middle class are looked at with expectations. In the article it stated, “she concludes that although there were changes in women’s lives, their achievements were, limited, with ‘progress in some spheres… matched by disappointment and defeat in others’” (Hannam 64). This relates to Myrtles situation because even though she is not in the eyes of society she is expected to obey her husband and do as she is told. Myrtle does not always do as she is told around her husband, George Wilson. She is not the perfect female with him. She actually acts a little more masculine and aggressive to show she is not weak, but around her lover, Tom Buchanan, she becomes a more weak and obedient female. That would be approved by society if they were actually married. She changes how she conforms to the expectations of society depending on who she is around. She really does not control her own life like Jordan, but she also is not forced by society to do something she does not want to do like

In Scott Fitzgerald's novel, The Great Gatsby he portrays the characters Daisy and Myrtle as foolish and in subjection to men showing that women were dominated by men and played inferior roles during this time period. With this interpretation Fitzgerald was striving to bring out the two main points of, the society being mainly dominated by men as well as women using their cleverness to get whatever they wanted to benefit themselves in society. Daisy and Myrtle are two good examples that show Fitzgerald’s interpretations through the way both of them are characterized. There is plenty of evidence to show why Fitzgerald characterized Daisy and Myrtle in the way he did to prove the interpretation mentioned above.

The Great Gatsby, by F Scott Fitzgerald, is a critically acclaimed novel set in 1920’s America. The Roaring Twenties was a transitional period for women. Apart from gaining institutional rights (suffrage), the era also represented new philosophies of sexual freedom and social rebellion for women, mirrored in Fitzgerald’s portrayal of the “flapper” women in the novel. Nonetheless, the emancipation of women was rife with setbacks. In the patriarchal societal construct, female characters in the novel (Myrtle, Jordan, Daisy) are reduced to subordinate roles, as decorative sexual objects for men. In the consumerist and morally decadent society of the Jazz Age, female characters are corrupted by materialism. As the female characters are punished

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.

“I’m p-paralyzed with happiness” is just one of the stereotypes of a woman in the 1920’s. In Scott F. Fitzgerald's, The Great Gatsby, 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 life besides, to reproduce. The absurd thing is that the women 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 novel, The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is a timeless story due to the issue of women’s struggle for power that happens in every generation. A recurring trend of women’s being overlooked and underappreciated appears in the novel; Women are not meant to do anything but sit and look pretty; they must not have any actual important roles that would overshadow men. The first time women are introduced in the novel, they appear as simple objects or even decorations on the couch. The issue is revisited when Nick, the protagonist’s, cousin, Daisy, introduces her daughter to him. When Tom, Daisy’s husband, brings Nick to his secret apartment to meet his mistress, Myrtle, her sister expresses the reality of men in their world. Nick, once again, conveys his opinion of women by making a snarky comment to Jordan, Daisy’s successful friend. A fourth time where the issue of power for women comes up is after Myrtle is killed in the car crash. As the novel develops, Fitzgerald creates more examples of the lack of power for women in the world of the “Roaring 20’s.”

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.

Women, you can’t live with'em, can’t live without ‘em. This saying rings true in the novel The Great Gatsby. During the course of the book Gatsby, Tom, and Nick have some problems with the ladies. This novel focuses on three women in particular, Daisy Buchanan, Jordan Baker, and Myrtle Wilson, throughout the book we see how much power they really hold over the men.

Although the 1920’s were a time of female liberation, men still played large role in womens’ statuses. Women were defined by the social status of their men. In The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, womens’ statuses were defined by their male counterparts such as with Daisy, a wealthy woman with a wealthy husband; Jordan, an unwed middle class golfer; and Myrtle, a lower class woman in the valley of ashes. Daisy was a wealthy woman with a wealthy husband. Daisy had been born into a wealthy family.

The differences in the personality of women and men from that point and currently is upsetting especially with rights as well. In the Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald the modernist novel there is a man trying to live the american dream and has difficulties on his way to that point. The differences between these three women are catastrophic because Daisy, Myrtle and, Jordan are extremely different in their own way. These women have their own difficulties as well and the problems with Daisy and Myrtle are to the extreme with each other. Daisy is a very intriguing character she is soft spoken when first known and slowly develops confidence.

Women in the 1920’s are known as being revolutionary and modern, but in their time, society judged them as promiscuous and “unholy”. The Great Gatsby, by Scott Fitzgerald, was written in the 1925, so were they presented as more independent or as promiscuous and self centred? The Great Gatsby has three main women characters and all of them are described as having low morals. Myrtle, Daisy and Jordan are all very different women, and yet, they are equally judged on.

In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald criticizes American society in the 1920s. Throughout the novel, Fitzgerald creates many different instances in which he sheds light on the ideas and immoralities of the time. Fitzgerald emphasizes the power which men had over women in the 1920s through Tom’s relationship with Daisy. He is an intimidating and violent man who abuses his power over women. Fitzgerald shows this when he cheats on Daisy and also when he breaks Myrtle’s nose.

The Great Gatsby, and it gives us an insight into the gender roles of past WW1 America. Throughout the novel, women are portrayed in a very negative light. The author’s presentation of women is unflattering and unsympathetic. The women are not described with depth. When given their description, Fitzgerald appeals to their voice, “ she had a voice full of money”, their looks “her face was lovely with bright things in it, bright eyes, and a bright passionate mouth”, and the way in which they behave, “ ’They’re such beautiful shirts’ she sobbed”, rather than their feelings or emotions, for example, Daisy is incapable of genuine affection, however she is aimlessly flirtatious.

Throughout history there have been a plethora of contradicting topics about men’s and women’s rights. These topics include: women can do what men can do, and men are more dominant than women are. These topics were extremely relevant in the 1920s when women were given the right to vote. When women were able to vote as men did, the barrier of gender slowly separated, but was never extinct. Around the same time of womens’ right to vote, “The Great Gatsby,” was written by Scotts Fitzgerald. In “The Great Gatsby,” Fitzgerald captures the view of male authority and dominance that thrived in the 1920’s. In this society, where men are portrayed as the preeminent gender, women are predetermined as lesser than the male sex. Throughout this novel, the reader is enlightened to the gender flaw of men overpowering women in the 1920s. Thus, in “The Great Gatsby,” men are portrayed to have dominant power over women.