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The Great Gatsby Feminist Analysis

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In The Great Gatsby, Tom Buchanan is cheating on his wife, Daisy with his mistress Myrtle. In the relationship, Myrtle is using her sexuality to attract Tom and he abuses her by breaking her nose. A reader with a Marxist perspective and a feminist perspective may interpret this relationship differently. A Marxist perspective focuses on the struggle between the lower and upper class and the issues of power and money in literature. Readers with a Marxist perspective would look for the oppression of the proletariat by the bourgeoisie. They would perhaps also look at the commodification of people, where people are taken advantage off. They might also focus on how social classes are represented and how they interact or conflict. A feminist perspective …show more content…

"I suppose the latest thing is to sit back and let Mr. Nobody from Nowhere make love to your wife. Well, if that's the idea you can count me out.” Tom feels like a victim because "Mr. Nobody" referring to Gatsby, is having an affair with Daisy, even though he takes mistresses himself. A feminist point of view might interpret this as Tom being a hypocrite, because he shows Myrtle off in public, but resents Daisy from being with Gatsby. In the second chapter Tom ends up breaking Myrtle’s nose after she shouts “Daisy! Daisy! Daisy! I’ll say it whenever I want to Daisy! Dai-“. A reader with a Marxist perspective may interpret this situation as a way of the upper class showing dominance and controlling the lower class. A key point in Marxism is the eternal struggle between the upper class and the lower class. By hitting Myrtle, Tom gets full control over her, establishing his dominance. In order for Tom continuing to be apart in the upper class he must control and exploit the lower …show more content…

From a Marxist perspective their affair is a way for Tom to treat Myrtle as a commodity. While from a feminist perspective, it is acceptable for Tom to cheat on his wife. Tom’s abuse of Myrtle can be seen as a way for him to establish dominance over Myrtle from a Marxist perspective. While from a feminist perspective, Myrtle is Tom’s property that he can abuse. Myrtle’s use of her sexuality can be interpreted as a way for her to undermine the power disparity between their classes. However, from a feminist perspective she is trying to improve her status, through the use of her

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As Gatsby argues with Tom over his love for Daisy, Nick develops a fascination with Tom’s transition from “libertine to prig” (130 Fitzgerald). Throughout the novel, Tom is depicted as a white supremacist focused on his wealth and devoid of any feelings whatsoever like a “libertine”. In his relationship with Daisy, Tom has failed to display an emotions or feeling towards her especially denying their love by having an affair with Myrtle. However, once his love for Daisy is challenged by Gatsby, Tom shifts his entire persona becoming the astonished “prig” who fascinates Nick. He now begins to depict his love for Daisy with full force as his pride has been smited by Gatsby, a nobody westerner.

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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

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Amidst his insecurity, Tom feels insulted that an inferior man challenges his superiority by cheating with his wife. Viewing Gatsby’s devotion for Daisy as dependency, Tom believes Gatsby is inferior and uses hypermasculinity to take revenge and prove his

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The actions Tom takes near the end of the story show how hypocritical Tom really is. For some reason, Tom is irritated that Gatsby and Daisy seem to have feelings for each other, but his affair with Myrtle is completely fine with him. To Tom, there is nothing wrong with him cheating on Daisy, but Daisy wanting to be with Gatsby is a horrid thing, even

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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

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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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Tom also has a big connection with Nick as confides in him to keep Myrtle a secret. With Myrtle as a lover and uses her for his pleasure and enjoyment but this soon creates drama with George Wilson. His involvement with Myrtle is a secret that Nick knows about but Daisy doesn’t know anything about Myrtle which

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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.

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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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F. Scott Fitzgerald’s 1925 novel, The Great Gatsby, is full of themes of wealth, love, and tragedy, as well as a subtle but powerful representation of gender. 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 both man and society’s 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, which is shown through their behavior, beliefs, and ultimate fates and their personalities display both powerful and potentially harmful stereotypes of women at this time.

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As we get to know throughout the novel, both of them have an affair, Daisy meets again with her old love, Gatsby, and Myrtle is the mistress of Tom. Daisy comes from a wealthy upper-class family and she has been raised in privilege while Myrtle has to fight for everything she has. Myrtle is attempting to give the impression of a wealthy, high-class woman, but she does not have the figure of a high-class woman. She has a “thick fish figure” (25) which connotes that she is not a skinny type nor beautiful. The appearance of Daisy is the contrast of Myrtle.

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If his mind is not occupied by his mistress Myrtle, he is drowning in thoughts of Gatsby’s suspected crime-filled life. “Indeed, Tom Buchanan's sources appear most reliable in his characterization of Gatsby's drug store chain as ‘just small change’ compared to his stolen bonds” (Pauly 116). Buchanan is a hypocrite towards Gatsby. He denounces Gatsby’s life actions as being morally evil but Tom’s actions are no different than Gatsby’s in the sense that both men are unfaithful to themselves and their nearest relationships. Tom is competing with Gatsby through deception and treachery, and their dangerous habits wound them

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The Great Gatsby. In the Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald demonstrates how the wealthy’s excessive consumption of alcohol brings out the worst in their characters. For instance, the negative parts of Tom’s personality are highlighted when he drinks. Tom drinks all throughout the party he attends with Nick. He becomes violent and aggressive with Myrtle, his mistress, and “making a short deft movement ...broke her nose with his open hand (Fitzgerald 41).”

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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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In The Great Gatsby, Tom sacrifices the marriage he has with Daisy by pursuing an affair with Myrtle Wilson. However, it can be argued how big of a sacrifice it is that he made as in the 1930s, it was common for upper class men to have a mistress as well as a wife, and it is suggested that Daisy is aware of the affair but remains with Tom anyway. Tom’s physical power is exhibited through ‘“Daisy! Daisy! Daisy!”

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