How Is Myrtle Wilson Portrayed In The Great Gatsby

Different Women in the Unjustified Situations The Gilded Age was described, by those that bestowed the name upon it, as a time in history that showed incredible feats and fame on the outside, with grim appearances lying beneath. Similar to The Gilded Age in the late 1800s, The Roaring Twenties was filled with a booming economy and a radical change in thoughts and ideas in Americans. Unfortunately, as The Great Gatsby shows, maybe it all was not as good as it seemed. With the rising economy came the possibility of injustices, including males and females. In The Great Gatsby, characters including Tom Buchanan and his wife Daisy, proprietors of old money, and Myrtle Wilson, Tom’s impecunious lover, all fall victim to being categorized as either

This is displayed when Tom Buchanan gets annoyed with Myrtle Wilson at the hotel and, “broke her nose with his open hand” (Fitzgerald 41). After Myrtle mentioned Tom’s wife, Daisy, although Tom told her not to, Tom used his brute strength to inflict damage on Myrtle. Not only that, but Myrtle, being dependent on Tom and the freedom that his money brings, chooses to stay with him although he abused her. Women being portrayed as inferior is also shown when Nick attends the Buchanan's luncheon, and Daisy points out Tom’s knuckle, “‘Look!’ she complained. ‘I hurt it.’ We all looked-the knuckle was black and blue. ‘You did it, Tom,’ she said accusingly. ‘I know you didn’t mean to, but you did do it. That’s what I get for marrying a brute of a man, a great, big, hulking physical specimen of a –

This can be proven when during Tom and Daisy’s honeymoon, Tom is shown practicing infidelity. This is told to Nick by Jordan Baker who explains, “A week after I left Santa Barabara Tom ran into a wagon on the Ventura road one night and ripped a front wheel off his car. The girl who was with him got into the papers too because her arm was broken-she was one of the chambermaids in the Santa Barbara Hotel.” (Fitzgerald 82). Earlier in the chapter, Daisy was shown to be in love with Tom, asking where he was “and [wore] the most abstracted expression until she saw him coming in the door.” (Fitzgerald 82). Although the relationship was pretty new, being recently married, Tom still proceeded to cheat on Daisy. This proves that women, no matter the situation, were portrayed in The Great Gatsby to be emotionally and physically