ipl-logo

Portrayal Of Women In The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald

658 Words3 Pages

Portrayal of Women Women of the 1920’s paved the way for women today. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, touches on the role women played in society. Characters of this novel, Daisy Buchannan and Myrtle Wilson, had different standards and morals compared to women now. Daisy, married to Tom Buchannan, reunites with an old flame. She makes questionable choices while married, but so does Tom. Tom has an affair with Myrtle Wilson. Both women were enticed by men that were wealthy, high socialites. This differs from women today who through the feminist movement have become more independent and self-reliant. Women in The Great Gatsby are portrayed as shallow, submissive, and dependent. The Great Gatsby portrays women as shallow. As Daisy is …show more content…

Flappers, women who started to have a more care free living style, start to break away from societal norms which included women staying home, cleaning, caring for the children and the husband, as well as having their own opinions and say so. Daisy on the other hand, comes from old money. She has been in the upper-class for a while and old money has a different view of women compared to the new money. “The marriage also has other problems like Tom being rude with Daisy. He bruises Daisy’s knuckle. Tom’s aggressiveness is also showed when strikes Myrtle,” says Bode in her article. He punches myrtle in the face for saying Daisy’s name. As the author states, “You did it, Tom. . . 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 – “(Fitzgerald 9). Daisy was very unhappy with Toms personality, but she was his wife and he provided for her so she did …show more content…

Both Daisy and Myrtle depend on men for their needs. This can be shown when Daisy conspires with Tom and they both leave after Gatsby’s murder. “They were careless people, Tom and Daisy – they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made (Fitzgerald 179).” She knew that she could go back to Tom and be taken care of so she made herself dependent on him. Another article states, “On one hand they want to resist against their men’s domination. Having relationships with other men, they try to sustain their independence of their husbands. But on the other hand, they do not want to lose their husbands. Both of them want to keep their husbands, because they are dependent on their men.” They want to be independent, but they will forever be dependent. They have no job, less rights, and less social acceptance then

Show More
Related

Who Is Myrtle Wilson Victimized In The Great Gatsby

1744 Words | 7 Pages

In her affair with Tom Buchanan, Myrtle receives not only minimal respect but also endures physical abuse. While engaged in an argument concerning Daisy, Tom made “...a short deft movement…” towards Myrtle, by which he “…broke her nose with his open hand” (Fitzgerald 29). Tom obviously does not respect Myrtle, demonstrated by his short temper, and physical violence towards her. The fact that Tom made a “short deft movement” using “his open hand” when he struck Myrtle, means that he did not think cognitively to close it, and in the heat of the moment, he instinctively swung. Tom seems to lack respect for Myrtle, he is desensitized to hitting her, going as far as to break her nose, and feel no remorse.

Read More

How Is Daisy Portrayed In The Great Gatsby

871 Words | 4 Pages

In this novel, Daisy is the most abused by male characters. She is objectified, cheated on by her husband, and probably physically abused by him, based on what he did to Myrtle. When Daisy gets back together with Gatsby, he says, “It excited him too that many men had already loved Daisy-- it increased her value in his eyes.” (page 156). This quote shows how men objectify Daisy just because

Read More

How Does Fitzgerald Present The Women In The Great Gatsby

596 Words | 3 Pages

The women in the Great Gatsby are represented as what the men seek. F scotts fitzgerald uses the women to represent the American Dream by showing their beauty, status, and personality. Beauty was a big part in 1920’s which was shown from myrtle, daisy, and jordan. Daisy represents beauty the most because she is shown as a captivating young girl that leads people in her ways.

Read More

How Is Myrtle Portrayed In The Great Gatsby

496 Words | 2 Pages

The Great Gatsby gives us a sample of how women were portrayed. Scott describes three type of women in the novel unfaithful, masculine, and weak. Myrtle doesn't care about how hard a man works for her she cares if he has the money and how he looks. Jordan was portrayed masculine and different from the others. Women weren’t respected in the 1920’s and treated like someone owned them.

Read More

Jordan Baker's Representation Of Women In The Great Gatsby

1421 Words | 6 Pages

Daisy shows her struggles with the social status of women through her daughter and relationship with Tom. Jordan proves that being a “new” women of the 1920s comes with a price of judgment and accusations of dishonesty. Myrtle seeks to become a member of the

Read More

Connotation Of Women In The Great Gatsby

1169 Words | 5 Pages

In today’s duplicitous society, men often pursue the “perfect woman”. This woman is construed to be; fit, provocative and ravishing. However, in greatly distinguished American novel, The Great Gatsby, the men have strayed from stalking women for their looks. Instead, Gatsby chases Daisy to achieve her as a prize of his bounty and any affection Gatsby demonstrates toward her, is simply to appease to her sense of status and wealth. The author F. Scott Fitzgerald, exhibits Gatsby’s these feelings for Daisy through the clever usage of connotation, symbolism and metaphors.

Read More

Violence In The Great Gatsby

932 Words | 4 Pages

An early display of Tom’s violence is when he is arguing with Myrtle about whether or not she has the right to say Daisy’s name. When Myrtle refuses to comply with Tom’s request, “making a short, deft movement, Tom Buchanan broke her nose with his open hand”(20). The scene in which this event takes place is in the beginning of the story and is probably meant to represent a typical day in Tom’s life. This shows Tom’s willingness to use violence over an issue as small as Myrtle saying a name. Furthermore, this violence is used by Tom to control Myrtle’s actions.

Read More

Women In The Great Gatsby

1063 Words | 5 Pages

She is married to Tom Buchanan, who is a wealthy man with little respect for her. Despite being treated as an object, lacking morality and responsibility, and being very charming, Daisy is able to influence the actions of the men in the novel: Tom, Gatsby, and Nick. Daisy is someone that other people, specifically men, want to have in their possession. To have her

Read More

Portrayal Of Women In The Great Gatsby

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

Theme Of Women In The Great Gatsby

2397 Words | 10 Pages

The era’s “perfect woman”, Daisy Buchanan, is a bubbly, conflicted woman whose choice is between two men: her husband, Tom Buchanan, and her former lover Jay Gatsby. Since Daisy’s character was written in the 1920s, women’s characters were based on the traditional women of the time period, and many women then were still seen as objects and as less desirable than men. When Daisy is invited to Gatsby’s mansion, her first sight of him in many years upon seeing his expensive clothing, she is so overcome with emotion that she begins to weep “with a strained sound” and begins to “cry stormily” showing her true reaction to something as petty as material objects (92). She continues, claiming that

Read More

Stereotypes Of Women In The Great Gatsby

1557 Words | 7 Pages

“I hope she’ll be a fool--that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, beautiful little fool”(Fitzgerald 17). This line, stated by Daisy, accurately demonstrates the perception of women during the 1920s. Women were seen as objects and deemed incapable of intelligent thought. In The Great Gatsby, author F. Scott Fitzgerald portrays women based on similar stereotypes from this time period. Daisy Buchanan, Myrtle Wilson, and Jordan Baker are all prominent female characters in the story whose behaviors and actions, although different, showcase the common desires and struggles of women at the time.

Read More

Theme Of Oppression In The Great Gatsby

1384 Words | 6 Pages

Money, power, and success have blinded people into thinking they are in love and it has led to these women being oppressed. Tom and Gatsby in this book are what is called the patriarchy. According to Revise Sociology, the patriarchy is “The systematic domination of women by men in some or all of society’s spheres and institutions.” In Tom and Daisy’s marriage; they are both having an affair, Tom wasn’t at his child’s birth, and he oppresses Daisy physically, maybe by accident, and socially, by not allowing her to go wherever she wants to go. In Tom and Myrtle’s affair; they are both married, yet they have this affair, she is dependent on him because he oppresses her economically and psychologically, and he also oppresses her physically when he broke her nose.

Read More

Essay On The Role Of Women In The Great Gatsby

757 Words | 4 Pages

The best of wives and women in Gatsby Women in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby play a rather complex and interesting role. During this time period, women were breaking away from the social normality of staying in the domestic hemisphere and instead were rebelling against social normalities and changing the view that society had of them. They changed their clothing style, started going out by themselves more often, and other acts that society would have viewed as, “absurd.” Also during the golden 20’s men had all of the status, all of the money, they owned everything. Women during this time had no entitlement to anything, it was all their husbands or men in their lives.

Read More

Fitzgerald's Portrayal Of Women In The Great Gatsby

430 Words | 2 Pages

Fitzgerald depicts the women of the novel as deceitful, sexual beings that are naturally subordinate to men through Daisy, Jordan, and Myrtle. Daisy exemplifies the naturally inferior role of women relying on the wealth of men in their lives to take care of them. When Daisy talks about her daughter she claims, “a fool–that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool”(21) establishing women’s subordinate role in which they are ignorant to the affairs of their husbands and expected to rely on their beauty to carry them through life. When Daisy is accused of infidelity with Gatsby in the hotel, Gatsby claims that Daisy is attracted to men of wealth and, “only married [Tom] because [Gatsby] was poor and she was tired of waiting for [him]”(137).

Read More

Objectification Of Women In The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald

1471 Words | 6 Pages

Even Gatsby who loved Daisy elevated her status because of her wealth. This tells the reader that Gatsby viewed Daisy as another status symbol he wanted to acquire. This is evidence, again, that the male American Dream was based around wealth and objects, including women. Throughout the novel, the reader is lead to believe that Gatsby is one of the only men who respects women. His love for Daisy is demonstrated, yet we begin to see that he didn’t just love Daisy for Daisy, but for the status she brings him.

Read More

More about Portrayal Of Women In The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald

Related Topics

Open Document