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Essay On Women In The Great Gatsby

773 Words4 Pages

In The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald portrays women as overemotional, irresponsible, and that they are unable to be successful without being married to a wealthy man. F. Scott Fitzgerald bases the character of Jordan off of an icon women aspired to be from the 1920’s known as the Flapper. A flapper was a woman who was typically careless, and went against what was expected of women during this time period. The Great Gatsby was published in 1924, right in the middle of the 1920’s. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s view on women in The Great Gatsby was mostly negative, describing all 3 of the main female characters in the story in a bad light.

In the 1920’s one of the biggest icons for women was called the flapper. The flapper was a woman who was known for having bobbed hair, wearing short skirts, listening to Jazz music, smoking, wearing excessive amounts of makeup and drinking. A flapper was everything that a woman wasn't ‘supposed to be’ during the 1920’s, Jordan has done a lot of things that point to her being stereotyped as a flapper. Jordan doesn’t seem to be aware of how her …show more content…

Daisy wanted to wait to marry Jay Gatsby but ended up marrying Tom Buchanan instead, the same man who was having an affair with Myrtle. Daisy got all of her wealth and popularity from Tom, not being able to make herself successful as she was told she needed a man in her life. Daisy was an incredibly materialistic woman, as she only used Tom for his Well. F. Scott Fitzgerald described her character as being very shallow, arrogant, and quite selfish. Which also implies that he believes women are self-important and only care about money, instead of caring about their actions. Daisy was so desperate to find a wealthy man to have in her life, that she stopped waiting for the person who she genuinely loved. She decided to marry somebody who she didn't actually care about, simply because he was wealthy and Gatsby was not around

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In Bad Driving: Jordan's Tantalizing Story in "The Great Gatsby", Veronica Makowksy made a strong point that Fitzgerald has made Jordan a limited character and needs to be a more relevant character in The Great Gatsby. I disagree with these points as Jordan is a problematic character and Fitzgerald portrayed her to the audience specifically in this way and made many points that show this. Makowsky tries to state that the reason Jordan is like this is because of the discrimination against women, and if she were more prominent in the book, she would not be as much of a judged character. Veronica Makowsky, explains how Jordan, the self-centered, dishonest rebel, should have a bigger role in the great gatsby, as she is just like Gatsby because

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According to Helen Lawrenson, “If a woman is sufficiently ambitious, determined and gifted - there is practically nothing she can't do.” Women in history have been limited and bound in different aspects of their lives in the past. They are confined to meet certain and precise standards for marriage, to raise a family, and also in the work field. In The Great Gatsby, Daisy Buchanan, Jordan Baker, and Myrtle Wilson, all women living during the flapper 1920’s style that embodied the real women of the time which F. Scott Fitzgerald (got?) his characteristics from.

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The era of 1920s is known for flapper dresses, extravagant lifestyles, and reformation of women. Before this time, women were treated as property and did not have their own voices in politics and their personal lives. With the start of the 20th century, women yearned for a change. They wore shorter dresses, became more reckless, and took control of their lives. F. Scott Fitzgerald was a renowned author during the 1920s who provided commentary about the changes of women.

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With the right to vote, consumer based culture, leisure time, and modernism, women who followed these new practices and ideals created the flapper image of the roaring twenties we know today. In Fitzgerald’s story he describes the girls almost wanting to be flappers to me it seems as if in almost all of Fitzgerald’s books he has a girl who is the opposite of what her society wants her to be like and is leaning towards the lifestyle of a flapper girl it's like they are all the same person or have many of the same characteristic in “ The Great Gatsby” which is one of my favorite books, Jordan Baker is a golfer who represents what the new woman is which is cynical,boyish, and self centered. She kinda reminds me of how Beatrice and Marjorie are at the end. They had almost every iconic element of a flapper besides the bobbed hair,but they loved to party at the end , they dance to jazz music, was cut-in every few feet on the dance floor, was always wearing the latest fashions, and was all over casual dating. With this new flashy and flirtatious attitude and charm that young women

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Daisy Buchanan is a woman who needs constant affection. Jordan Baker, a friend of Daisy, narrates, “In June she married Tom Buchanan... he gave her a string of pearls” (Fitzgerald 75-76). Jordan acknowledges that Daisy married Tom even though she promised to wait for Gatsby because she could not stand being lonely. Money was also a huge factor; it was evident that Tom was rich.

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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.

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During the twenties the economy of the United States was changing greatly. Due to the establishment of the prohibition of alcohol the billionaires were those who would smuggle the goods to society. The Great Gatsby is a novel which portrays the different societies of the United States during the twenties differently. F. Scott Fitzgerald focuses on revealing the types of lives lived by each social group. Throughout the book we are exposed to the marginalization of women and the lower class during the time, since the important individuals in society were the wealthy people who impacted the economy of the country.

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She thought that if men can have multiple relationships so why can’t women and this is the reason why she had an illicit relationship with Gatsby even after she was married to Tom. Her approach towards the values were completely flawed. Gatsby very well knew that Daisy is already married and still had gone for chasing his American dream. For now Gatsby has acquired everything by having a big house with lots of money , he

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Reader’s perception is one of the most essential aspects of a novel, this refers to what the audience brings to the novel and determines whether a book is transcendent. The perception can be affected by several factors such as the format, the language and the message of the novel in general. A book can be interpreted differently according to culture, ideology, and even gender. The novel, The Great Gatsby written and published by F. Scott Fitzgerald in 1925, is faced with reader-response criticism by two different social groups; feminist, that want to achieve equal cultural and social representation for women, question the treatment the women in book receive by the men, yet view the novel as an example of the empowerment of females in during the 1920’s. Then Marxists, who analyse class relations, social conflict and social transformation, interpret the book by analysing the representation of a materialistic elite class and the struggle of the middle class to fit into their world.

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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.

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In the present time, Daisy is moved on and married, with a child in a beautiful grand home. Her relationship with Tom can be speculated to be based on her wanting to gain his finances or that he can support her like no one else can. Daisy portrays an idealistic vision of herself, and , throughout the story, shows a selfish and narcissistic persona at times. Daisy and Gatsby

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Representation of Women in a Patriarchal Society In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, the female characters are consistently oppressed by the patriarchal society in which they live. In the novel, women are treated as mere possessions, lacking agency and autonomy. They are also subjected to the expectations and constraints imposed by the male-dominated society in which they live. Gender norms are given high priority and male characters see opportunity, which is used to their advantage or as a way to establish power and a reputation. Despite the societal changes of the time, including the emergence of the flapper lifestyle and the women’s suffrage movement, the women in the novel are still expected to conform to traditional gender roles

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Myrtle is accustomed to living an underprivileged life where feminine power engulfs her, but Tom is too egotistical to allow Myrtle to speak with such authority to him. Similarly, Gatsby’s need for assurance from Daisy pressures her into revealing to Tom that she never loved him (Fitzgerald 132). Deep down, Daisy knows that she truly did love Tom once, but Gatsby’s assertiveness and persistence drives her over the edge to telling Tom that what the two of them shared meant nothing to her. Daisy’s attribute of being a pushover is revealed immensely because she refuses to stand up for herself. Daisy is used to enabling Tom to constantly control all aspects of her life, and that leaves her powerless in society.

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