How Is Myrtle Portrayed In The Great Gatsby

Kate Lyons Mrs. Frantzen 11 Honors 3A 25 March 2024 Feminist View in Gatsby, Long Island in the 1920s was an experience for people to live a lavish lifestyle and have dreams that they would become rich. The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, focuses on the elites of our society, who lived in the West and East egg. Many female characters in the novel are keenly aware of the benefits of money. Both Daisy and Myrtle are exclusively focused on money. Jordan Baker realizes that money and a relationship on equal footing is where she finds her happiness. Put under the feminist lens, Fittzergeld’s work highlights the motivations behind the decisions women made in the roaring 1920s through the characters Daisy, Jordan, and Myrtle. Daisy is

Throughout Gatsby, she makes this clear. Early in the book she says, “The apartment was on the top floor, a small living room. A small dining room with a large kitchen. A small bedroom, and a bathroom. The living room was crowded to the doors with a set of tapestry furniture entirely too large for it” (Fitzgerald 29). Myrtle saying this clearly shows she is taken back to a small home and suddenly does not want anything to do with him. She only cares about the money it involves. However, when she sees a rich looking man, she is immediately interested. She states, “He was in a dress suit and patent leather shoes, and I couldn’t keep my eyes off him” (Fitzgerald 47). This quote clearly represents that as soon as Myrtle even sees a man in a nice outfit, she assumes they are rich, and hopes to have a future with them. This shows Myrtle only cares about the money a man has, not who he is. Myrtle then says, “The only crazy thing I did, was when I married him. I knew right away I made a mistake. He borrowed somebody’s best suit to get married in and never even told me about it” (Fitzgerald 35). This goes to show how greedy she is for money. She was married, then called it a mistake because he was not wealthy