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.

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 "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.

“While in New York in the company of Tom and Nick Carraway, she unconvincingly acts out the role of a wealthy lady in order to feel worthy of tom: her absolute need for a mutt off of the street and her statement that her frilly and obviously costly dress meant nothing to her. Yet these overtures are rebuffed by Tom when she later chants Daisy’s name” (Wyly Michael 70). This unforgiving act of Myrtle is both shallow and immoral. She cheats on her husband George Wilson with not just any man, but a married man! This man is Tom Buchanan and him and his wife are of the upper class. The fact that she cheated on her husband to a married man at an attempt to be one of the upper class of people is pretty self-explanatory of just how shallow and immoral that is. “The only crazy I was was when I married him. I knew right away I had made a mistake. He borrowed somebody’s best suit to get married in, and never even told me about it, and the man came after it one day when he was out…But I gave it to him and then I lay down and cried to beat the band all afternoon” (35). This quotation explains how she feels about her marriage. She hates her husband because he is poor. Even though she hates George she will not leave him. Myrtle is just using him for financial support and does not love him at all. How shallow can one get? Does Myrtle not have the decency to divorce her husband? Apparently not and she is willing to cheat on him with Tom Buchanan.

The Jazz age or the Roaring 20’s was a vital time for women in America. One reason this was a vital time was because on August 18, 1920, the 19th amendment granted women the right to vote. This was also a vital time because America was changing from a more conservative country to a liberal one. The female characters in Fitz Gerald’s’ The Great Gatsby embodies the way women were back in the 1920s. Women before the 1920s were only seen as caregivers. In this story, the women were the total opposite of that. They changed from things such as clothing, smoking, and dancing. Daisy, Jordan, and Myrtle were all portrayed as the “New Woman”. There was Daisy who married into money but had a secret lover. There was Jordan who was this independent woman

Women in the 20th century, while changing, were still unequal and below those of men. In Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, he explores this and many other themes by telling the story of Jay Gatsby and his quest to rekindle past love with Daisy Buchanan, despite her being married with a child. Women throughout the novel are treated as lesser equals who contain no personal ideas or thoughts. Their purpose is to please the men in their lives. Throughout The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald shows how women are less than men by being treated as possessions looking through the Feminist literary lens. This is shown through Daisy being a trophy and Myrtle as being mistreated.

The great Gatsby gives us an accurate insight into the 1920s zeitgeist regarding the role of women in society. America was in a state of an economic boom and rapid change. Society had become less conservative after world war one. The role of women was revolutionary during this time and although women had a lot more freedom now; they were still confined to their sexist role within society; Men were still seen as the dominant gender. Scott Fitzgerald illustrates the extremities of gender and social class, and the lack of independence this brought upon women. This essay will discuss the three major female characters and the ideas that Fitzgerald confronts of female stereotypes of the 1920s.

Women were not equal to men during the era of the 1920’s. In “The Great Gatsby,” Fitzgerald represents a negative, misogynistic, stereotypical view of the various types of women during the era of the 1920’s. During the that time, women were not portrayed in a positive light., By writing a book centered around that time period, it causes one to wonder the message Fitzgerald was trying to illustrate about women and what he was saying about society as a whole. Fitzgerald represents the view of women within the 20’s by depicting each character as a representation of the many stereotypes occurring within that era. The main characters Daisy, Myrtle, and Jordan each display pertinent roles within the story representing how women’s roles were

Subsequently to Nick Carraway, Jay Gatsby is the second most moral character in the novel. Although his extreme desire to win Daisy’s love leads him to commit immoral actions, they aren’t merely like the misleading and selfish actions of Jordan, Myrtle, Daisy, and Tom. Gatsby with no doubt commits and makes corrupt decisions. For instance, having an affair with Daisy, a married woman, was reprehensible and can not be justified in anyway. However, the fact that he became involved in illegal business to obtain wealth in order to attract Daisy can be defended to his favor.

As opposed to the other women in the novel, Jordan Baker is treated a little bit differently by the author, as she has certain masculine characteristics. She is a professional golfer who cheated her way to the top. She has masculine habits of drinking and smoking. She does not marry and is not yet willing to devote herself to a man, unlike the other female characters. She is self sufficient and is actively involved in her own interests. Jordan is harsh, cynical, and represents a new type of woman in the 1920's. The name "Jordan" also happens to be a unisex name. Jordan has made it to the elite status and will do whatever she has to in order to stay there, including lying. "She was incurably dishonest" (Fitzgerald 63). In this way, she does have similarities to Daisy and Myrtle. She is selfish and isn't concerned about anyone besides herself. Nick observes this as he watches the way Jordan drives. "'You're a rotten driver... suppose you met somebody just as careless as yourself.' 'I hope I never will. I hate careless people.'" (Fitzgerald 63). In this quote, the reader can see how Jordan is extremely selfish and indifferent. She likes to drive fast and she doesn’t care about the repercussions to other drivers. Jordan is very haughty, arrogant, and condescending, and looks down upon others who she considers to be below her. "'You live in West Egg,' she remarked contemptuously." (Fitzgerald 15). In this quote, the reader can see that Jordan is judging Nick for living on

She aches to be part of an elite class like Daisy, but instead, she is married to a man who is hard working and honest but does not have the passion that she craves. Wilson, Myrtle's dumb witted husband, owns a garage. Because Wilson is a passive aggressive character, he does not want to admit to himself that his wife would cheat on him, even though Tom makes it apparent that Myrtle is more his wife or "property" than she will ever be to Wilson. For example, when Tom visits Myrtle at the garage Myrtle orders Wilson to fetch some chairs while she gives her true lover a warm greeting.

1. Introduction The Great Gatsby is a perfect painting of 1920’s New York, the Jazz Age and the American Dream. Flappers in it are the best spokesmen of the time.

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.

The women in The Great Gatsby are rather intelligent, They get away with a lot and are too smart for their own good. This is at least the case with Jordan Baker, a successful golfer whom very appealing to the eye and she knows it. She uses it to her advantage and is addicted to dishonesty. Her dream is to make it through life as easily as she can and as beneficial to herself as it can be. She is not only cheating at golf but cheating at life in a way. She lies to Nick, who is a neighbor of Gatsby, and he is the only one who has been able to see through her deception.

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.