What Is The Role Of Women In The Great Gatsby

The greed for wealth can easily and greatly affect those all around you. Female characters and their role in the timeless novel “The Great Gatsby”, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, have an impactful representation of the past, more specifically the 1920s. Male characters in “The Great Gatsby” regard female characters as objects of desire rather than as people with thoughts and feelings. The greater societal difficulties of the era also reflect in the usage of female characters in the novel as symbols of moral decay. In "The Great Gatsby," Fitzgerald portrays female characters as both objects of desire and symbols of moral decay in the male-dominated society of the 1920s.
Throughout the novel, male characters view female characters primarily

“Her face was sad and lovely with bright things in it, bright eyes and a bright passionate mouth.” (Fitzgerald 12). Throughout the novel, everyone constantly describes Daisy Buchanan in terms of her physical appearance and charm, with little attention given to her thoughts or feelings. The narrator, Nick Carraway, and his fascination with her mask her true personality by making her seem innocent and pure. The primary focus on Daisy's physical appearance also stands out much more than her personality because of Gatsby’s undying and obsessive love for her. In reality, Daisy Buchanan is a materialistic, shallow, and selfish woman who only longs for luxury. This novel also shows male dominance and their control over the conduct of female characters. “‘Daisy, that’s all over now,’ he said earnestly. ‘It doesn't matter anymore. Just tell

Moral decay is evident throughout the novel, characterizing many of the female characters and symbolizing the greater societal difficulties of the era. “She had changed her dress to a brown figured muslin which stretched tight over her rather wide hips as Tom helped her to the platform in New York.” (Fitzgerald 30). Myrtle Wilson, Tom Buchanan's mistress, is clearly a greedy, materialistic woman who is willing to cheat on her husband to climb the social ladder. She is a woman who is dissatisfied with her current social status and motivates her desires by constantly attempting to attract attention to herself and her alluring figure. The action of changing her dress to a much more cleaner and expensive-looking one demonstrates perfectly how her attitude changes when she is with Tom, a much wealthier man than her own husband. The moral ambiguity of the era and the choices that the female characters have to make is also clear-cut in “The Great Gatsby”. “But she and Tom had gone away early that afternoon, and taken baggage with them.” (Fitzgerald 175). Daisy Buchanan’s decision to stay with her husband, despite her love for Gatsby, is a perfect example of the societal pressures women had to face in the past. Their sudden departure from their home in East Egg in this quote shows her decision to stay with Tom, only after being torn