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What Is The Role Of Women In The Great Gatsby

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Both the men and women in Pygmalion and The Great Gatsby manifest the effects of the male ego; the men have the prerogative to assume reality, and it is not a woman’s place to question them. Caught up in the treacherous jowls of delusion, these men have a grandiose perception of masculinity that makes them believe they can do womanhood better. Men are employed by ignorance and a desire for power and call it masculinity, subjugating and manipulating women with outlandish patriarchal ideals. Daisy Buchanan is at the point of convergence of male desire, drawing in and pushing out the fantasies men project onto her. She pleases Tom Buchanan, Jay Gatsby, and Nick Carraway with her sensuality, yet does not satisfy the role of a dutiful partner for anyone. What is most difficult for the men in The Great Gatsby to comprehend is her noncommittal nature; unlike an inanimate statue, Daisy does not act as she would in their perverted fantasies. Though Pygmalion’s delusion is successfully enacted, the ‘reality’ Gatsby constructs with Daisy inhibits him from coming to …show more content…

Then he kissed her. At his lips’ touch she blossomed for him like a flower and the incarnation was complete.”
Gatsby and Pygmalion are Infatuated with a vision of what they want a woman to be rather than what they actually are; concealing Gatsby from reality and his impending demise. Like a god, Jay Gatsby wishes to surpass the limitations of his mortal form; dedicating himself to a superlative version of humanity as if it was his bestowed right. As if the environment sensed his divinity:
There was a stir and bustle among the stars. Out of the corner of his eye Gatsby saw that the blocks of the sidewalks really formed a ladder and mounted to a secret place above the trees — he could climb to it, if he climbed alone, and once there he could suck on the pap of life, gulp down the incomparable milk of wonder.

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At first, Gatsby controls Daisy’s actions under the guise of his gentleman persona, his own form of masculinity. However, Gatsby’s masculinity crumbles as he provokes Tom to “go on” (99) accusing him as “he’s too polite to object” (83) to a challenge. When he invites Tom to continue to talk, Gatsby gives Tom control, allowing him to manipulate the situation and his gentleman image. Feeling insulted, Tom uses his hypermasculinity, sexuality and physical presence to regain his “property” - Daisy. The first crucial instance in which Tom regains control of his wife is when he dissolves Daisy’s rancor with his “husky tenderness” (101).

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