The Portrayal Of Women In The Great Gatsby And A Doll's House

Manjot Sohi

Ms. Szpyrka

ENG3U2-02

Monday July 24th, 2023

The Portrayal of Women in Literature: A Contrast of Weakness and Strength Women have been portrayed in literature for centuries. Different characters can reflect the time in which they were written, as well as the author's perspective on womanhood and femininity. It’s interesting to see how women are displayed in literature as either strong or weak characters. By analyzing the portrayal of female characters, the readers can gain insight into the female identity that has historically shaped the character itself. F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby and Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll's House are two examples of how the portrayal of women is different in literature and how the depiction of different

Daisy Buchanan is often seen as thoughtless because of her actions and behavior towards other characters mainly, Gatsby. During her youth, Daisy fell in love with Gatsby but ended the relationship with him after he left for World War 1 mostly because of his financial situation, he was poor. Instead, she married Tom for her benefit since she was weak and Tom was wealthy and able to provide for her and comes from a wealthy family with a long-standing social status. Daisy leads Gatsby on again when they reconnect by showing interest and declaring her love for him, despite being married to Tom. Gatsby says “She never loved you, do you hear? He cried. She only married you because I was poor and she was tired of waiting for me.”(130). Regardless of Gatsby‘s love and devotion towards her she abandons him and chooses to remain with Tom, her powerful and wealthy husband rather than pursue a relationship with Gatsby. It is evident that Daisy is not considerate of Gatsby and only cares about herself and her reputation. If she was considerate and truly loved him, she would have waited for him to return and would not have led him on again knowing she would not leave Tom. Her decision displays Daisy’s weakness through her lack of empathy and thoughtfulness towards Gatsby’s feelings as she prioritizes her desires over him. To conclude, Daisy's inconsiderate behavior

Nora is considerate about the impact of her actions on her husband and makes sure to be the perfect wife and mother who would do anything to please her husband at the start until she realizes she has been living a lie. She does what her husband tells her to do and becomes a decoration to charm her husband but her strength helps her become independent. An example of her thoughtfulness can be seen when she is talking to Anna about her kids. “[Nora] Do you believe they would forget their mother if she quite went away?… But how could you make up your mind to it?… Dear old Anna- you were a good mother to me when I was little. [Anna] My poor little Nora had no mother but me [Nora] And if my little ones had no one else, I’m sure you would-”(19). This indicates how Nora cares about her children, she thinks about how Anna was a good mother to her and will take good care of her kids. Nora believes that she is a negative influence on her children and they will do better without her. Daisy has been lying and keeping secrets from them and feels as if she has not been a good role model for them. She presents herself as a strong character as she leaves her family, which is a really hard decision, to pursue her freedom. Nora also borrows money so that Torvald could get better from an illness which portrays how thoughtful she is. She