Belva Gaertner Research Paper

The Roaring Twenties roared because of the vast amounts of spending, the crime, and people just having fun, but Murderess Row really made the twenties roar. During the twenties women became more independent and women’s rights became a focus; whereas, in the past women just did household things. The woman of the twenties began to wear shorter dresses, cut their hair and some women even began to drink and smoke during this time period due to the advertisements that encouraged this ("Vintage Tobacco/ Cigarette Ads of the 1920s (Page 2)"). Many women even began to commit crimes, one of these criminals is Belva Gaertner. Belva was born on September 14, 1884 in Litchfield, Illinois. She was a cabaret singer who was absolved from the killing of her boyfriend,Walter Law (Price). Belva Gaertner had an innumerable amount of relationships beginning with Mr. Overbeck. She later marries William Gaertner in 1917. Gaertner sues to have the marriage declared void because her divorce with Overbeck was not finalized. They then get

The cunning way many of the women of Murderess Row came out of their trials or jail with good reputations and men still pining over them made the city roar. The all-male juries ate up the words of the alluring cold-blooded killers which made the women of Murderess Row more intriguing (Price).

In Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, many of the characters are caught up in love affairs and they use violence to solve these problems. Tom Buchanan, Daisy’s husband, was having an affair with another man’s wife, George Wilson (Fitzgerald 24-25). Daisy is also having a love affair with Gatsby (Fitzgerald 119). Belva Gaertner, one of the famous women of Murderess Row, shot her lover, Walter Law, who is married with one child. Many people of the 20’s had affairs and did not think about the feelings and safety of others. By the end of the book, Gatsby is shot by Wilson, Myrtle’s husband (Fitzgerald