Why Is Divorce Important In The Great Gatsby

Divorce in the 1920s was an uncommon occurrence and carried with it a heavy stigma. Since divorce was so uncommon, many spouses did not have a way out of their marriages, leading to impetuous decisions and often dire consequences. F. Scott Fitzgerald illustrates the consequences of this social norm in the novel, The Great Gatsby, with the marriages of Tom and Daisy; and Myrtle and George. Fitzgerald uses Tom and Daisy’s marriage to depict how the stigma of divorce can lead to problems between spouses. One such problem that arises from this norm—people end up feeling jealous of others—leads to many arguments and disagreements. After Tom finds out about Daisy and Gatsby’s relationship, he confronts Gatsby, which leads to them having a full-blown

“‘She never loved you, do you hear?’ [Gatsby] cried. ‘She only married you because I was poor and she was tired of waiting for me. It was a terrible mistake, but in her heart she never loved any one except me!’” (130). Gatsby takes it so far as to force Daisy to “tell [Tom] the truth—that you never loved him—and it’s all wiped out forever” (132). Gatsby desperately wants to return to the past where Daisy only loved him. In retaliation, Tom says “Why—there’re things between Daisy and me that you’ll never know, things that neither of us can ever forget” (132). Although the cause of this argument seems to involve Tom and Gatsby fighting over a woman they both love, Fitzgerald uses this argument as a representation of the potentially milder consequences of the stigma of divorce. Daisy knows about Tom’s affair with Myrtle Wilson but has no choice but to remain in the marriage, as divorcing Tom would ruin her image. She feels her only way to escape lies in running away with Gatsby. On the surface level, the cause of this disagreement seems to involve Tom loving Myrtle, or Daisy wanting to run away with Gatsby; however, Daisy feeling trapped in her marriage and not having a way out ultimately leads to

Fitzgerald uses Myrtle Wilson’s death to demonstrate how feeling trapped in an unhappy marriage can lead to extreme consequences, such as death. Fitzgerald first writes about Myrtle’s unhappy marriage with George when Nick meets Myrtle for the first time. “‘I married him because I thought he was a gentleman,’ she said finally… ‘The only crazy I was was when I married him. I knew right away I made a mistake’” (34-35). Fitzgerald reveals that Myrtle regrets marrying George and decides to have an affair with Tom. Similar to Daisy, Myrtle cannot divorce George because of the shame that would ensue. Myrtle sees cheating on her husband with Tom as the only way to escape from her unhappy marriage. However, George finds out about Myrtle’s affair and locks her up. “‘I’ve got my wife locked in up there,’ explained Wilson calmly. ‘She’s going to stay there till the day after to-morrow, and then we’re going to move away’” (136). After George traps Myrtle in a room, she now not only feels emotionally trapped in her marriage but also trapped physically in a room as well. Myrtle manages to escape from her marriage by having an affair with Tom, but she ends up physically trapped in a room by her husband. Naturally, Myrtle tries to break out and run away, and “she rushed out into the dusk, waving her hands and shouting—before he could move from his door the business was over…where Myrtle Wilson, her