ipl-logo

Objectification Of Women In The Great Gatsby

819 Words4 Pages

The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, has been hailed for its moral significance. The novel’s disdain for corrupted wealth, and its ability to illustrate the “costs of fantasy,” have transformedthe literary work into one of America’s “Great Books.”However, Fitzgerald’s sexist overtones and objectification of women rescind its “great” status and thus its name to merely “The Gatsby.”The moral significance of The Great Gatsby is marred by its treatmentof women. Alone, the objectification of women seen in the novel is not enough to assume Fitzgerald’s view of them, but his own words are. While writing The Great Gatsby,Fitzgerald is quoted to have said that “...the book contains no important woman character” (Turnbull 197).Furthermore, …show more content…

One way I now judge literary fiction is by observing if the characters are complicated and unpredictable, rather than cliché. In the Iliad by Homer, Achilles is a complex character. At first glance he is angry with Agamemnon for stealing one of his brides, which seems like a trivial pursuit for great warlords. However, Achilles is really upset over the abduction of his timê –and the actions he carries out throughout the rest of thenovel reflect that.TheOdysseyhas also taught me that a great book does not necessarily have to contain the story of a smooth journey or adventure. Odysseus’s journey was hindered on several occasions, some of which include Circe, the Cyclops, and the Sirens.Likewise, the Great Gatsby’s plot was also very turbulent. Gatsby lived a rollercoaster of a lifestyle, ultimately crashing, but that did not mean the novel took away from intellectual gain.The Great Gatsbyhas been hailed as one of the greatest works in American literature because of its moral significance, which is derived from the downfalls of the novel’s most corrupt and egregious characters. The objectification and patronization of women hurts thismoral significance, especially as a result of Fitzgerald’s own views.The stories of Jordan Baker and Myrtle Wilson exemplify the author’s intent to present those views in the novel, and detract from the overall message that The Great Gatsby

Show More
Related
812 Words | 4 Pages

In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, the novel illustrates the patriarchal society of the 1920s and the oppression of women within it. The novel shows traditional gender roles being strictly enforced through the character of Daisy Buchanan and also presents contrast through Jordan Baker, a strong independent woman challenging the gender roles imposed upon her. This serves to highlight the societal restrictions and traditional expectations faced by women during this era and the emergence of a new generation of women who sought to break free from these constraints. Some critics renounce this, stating that the novel reinforces patriarchal societal norms rather than challenging them. This essay will argue that the novel presents a distinct

Read More
323 Words | 2 Pages

The narrator of The Great Gatsby, Nick Carraway, provides the reader with his idea of what life in the 1920s was like. Nick’s narratives on the sexism that existed in the 1920’s is, of course, a negative topic. Nonetheless, it’s an important aspect of the book as it further demonstrates the sexist culture that thrived in the 1920s. For instance, in chapter one, Daisy talks about her child being a girl and how she is “glad it’s a girl” and how she feels that the “best thing a girl can be in this world” is a “beautiful little fool” (17). This quote demonstrates how women in the world were viewed and how they were expected to act.

Read More
384 Words | 2 Pages

In “The Great Gatsby” writer F. Scott Fitzgerald unpacks gender roles using indirect characterization to show how society forces women to fit into the boxes built for them by the men in their lives by putting all the female characters into stereotypes made to be exactly what the male characters wanted. The most obvious example of this is in the very first chapter of the book when Fitzgerald introduces the character Daisy Buchannan, who is the stereotypical “golden girl”. He presents her in a very childlike manner, having her wear a big fluffy dress that is similar to a wedding dress which symbolizes her being pristine and shows she is upper class. Fitzgerald then has the first piece of dialogue from her being that she is simply “paralyzed with

Read More
724 Words | 3 Pages

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald paints a very negative picture of 1920's society and its moral decay. It is a story of a young generation behaving badly and carelessly. Although not often discussed, women are presented in a very negative manner in this novel. The first female character who is portrayed negatively is Myrtle Wilson, she was portrayed as an unfaithful woman in the novel. In addition to the negative portrayal of women in the Great Gatsby is Jordan Baker, who was depicted as an extremely dishonest, careless, and cynical woman.

Read More
924 Words | 4 Pages

In a book about a tragic love story, one would not expect to find a deeper meaning behind the dangers of jealousy or peril of lust. However, in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, there is a deeper meaning beyond jealousy and love. In The Great Gatsby, the author uses an empathetic storyline as a symbol to unwittingly give a complex depiction of the nuisance that people create that not only destroy our world but our society and gives warning to what will occur if we continue the path of destruction. With this intention, the brilliant opinionated writer, expressed his opinion through symbols such as the characters he uses, the setting the story takes place in, and the objects he uses in the book.

Read More
1421 Words | 6 Pages

Scott Fitzgerald’s depiction of women in The Great Gatsby readers see women are prepared to emerge into the modern way of life, but society is not ready for the new nontraditional image of

Read More
1004 Words | 5 Pages

Feminism and gender stereotyping in everyday life further feeds inequality, preventing society from moving forward. Individuals often see women as the caregivers in families while husbands are the providers and someone who needs to keep the family afloat. F. Scott Fitzgerald expresses these concerns about society through his female characters in his novel, “The Great Gatsby.” He allows his female characters to undergo conflicts that women encountered during the 1920s. Two female characters in the book, Jordan and Daisy, handle their hardships differently but still stand up for women and against the stereotypes surrounding women.

Read More
922 Words | 4 Pages

Fitzgerald makes Gatsby look like a hero, in this instance, which connects to 1920s gender roles because men were supposed to protect the pretty, dainty, objectified women. Another reason it feeds into the gender role of females being the problem is because Gatsby gets shot, for Daisy. Furthermore, Fitzgerald demonstrates through Gatsby, how females are to blame for everything by expressing a story about how a woman named, Ella Kaye, stole inherited money from him. In The Great Gatsby, Nick narrates Gatsby’s story by explaining how “It was from Cody that he inherited money--a legacy of twenty-five thousand dollars.

Read More
981 Words | 4 Pages

In “The Great Gatsby”, a novel about wealth in the Jazz Age, the novelist Fitzgerald portrays a negative view of women. Throughout the entire novel, only a few women are described, and they are all described negatively either most of the time, or at some point. Could this be because of the time era or the novelist? Either way, it's beneficial to know what standpoints our classic literature takes so the reader can better understand viewpoints, themes, and vocabulary within them. The great Gatsby takes a negative view on women by introducing them lowly, stereotyping them, and barely having personalities in the story.

Read More
1218 Words | 5 Pages

The Great Gatsby The 1920s were a revolutionary and reactionary era of American history that not only changed the expression of women but also their contributions to the world. Post World War 1, women were finding more freedom and acceptance into society for who they are and what they are capable of. They were slowly starting to work, get higher education, and overall break free from the societal expectation of a ‘standard’ woman. F. Scott Fitzgerald naturally represents the woman of this time through his renowned novel, The Great Gatsby. He utilizes his characters in a way that reflects the real woman of this time, such as the growing new, the forever traditional, and even the women who fall in between these two standards.

Read More
1844 Words | 8 Pages

Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby efficiently depicts the lives of women residing in the East Coast during the 1920’s and makes a clear point of establishing definitive gender roles. Fitzgerald’s work is not an inherently feminist doctrine and focus more on fiscal responsibilities of white individuals, allowing the modern reader to get a more accurate sense of women's roles in society. The Great Gatsby is especially significant in this essay because Fitzgerald is the only male writer discussed and the novel has a male narrator and main character, therefore providing a unique insight on women’s responsibilities and their role at this point in time. The 1920’s were the beginning of a new revolutionary age for women and The Great Gatsby is an iconic piece that is seen as a reflection on this time

Read More
2248 Words | 9 Pages

The Great Gatsby is a novel that illustrates the behavior of women in the superficial world of New York during the 1920s. By looking through the eyes of the main character, Nick Carraway, the behavior of the women and the actions they take are extraordinary as they are consistently controlled by men. Fitzgerald includes the fact that women were treated as trophies because men would wander around finding other women. However, Fitzgerald does not solely focus on the women; instead, he includes the actions that the men took to obtain their position 1920s New York. Additionally, Fitzgerald ties a connection between the two genders and brings up the idea of why the women behaved in such a way to fit in the superficial world of New York.

Read More
2439 Words | 10 Pages

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s 1925 novel, The Great Gatsby, is full of themes of wealth, love, and tragedy. Also during the time this book was written, women’s suffrage had begun, so women were taking their first steps towards equality with men. The three main women characters in the novel: Daisy Buchanan, Myrtle Wilson, and Jordan Baker, all have things in common but can be vastly different; they reflect the view of women in the early 20th century. The Great Gatsby portrays the characters Daisy, Myrtle, and Jordan as stereotypes of women during the 1920s, seen in their behavior, beliefs, and their ultimate fate.

Read More
418 Words | 2 Pages

F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel, "The Great Gatsby," portrays two significant contradictions that exist within the characters of the story. The first contradiction is the theme of affairs, which permeates the novel, and the second is the idea of being a gentleman, which the characters strive to embody. Symbolism and imagery are crucial in depicting these two contradictions in the novel. The theme of affairs is prevalent throughout the novel, with several characters engaging in extramarital affairs.

Read More
1104 Words | 5 Pages

Constructing Women: Analyzing The Great Gatsby through the Lens of Gender Dr.Munejah Khan,Assistant Professor,Department of English Language & Literature,Islamic University of Science& Technology,Awantipora ,Pulwama,Jammu & Kashmir ,India.email: munejah_k@rediffmail.com Abstract F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby (1925) is often referred to as one of the best exemplification of the Jazz Age or the Roaring Twenties. The wealthy Gatsby is the American dream incarnate and his parties exhibit the enthusiasm of the 1920’s. The Roaring Twenties also propagated the feminine ideal of the “new woman” who could defy the norms of patriarchy. Even with the concept of the “new woman”

Read More

More about Objectification Of Women In The Great Gatsby

Related Topics

Open Document