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Women In The Great Gatsby

1117 Words5 Pages

Women are marginalized throughout the novel. Women's lives are controlled by men their success, their career, their appearance, and their lifestyle are all dictated by their husbands desires. Women were never prioritized not even by themselves. Women thought that being in a happy marriage was better than being happy. At the same time though we started to see women change that way of thinking, since the men were in the war they had to get jobs which opened their minds. Women saw job prospects as important. Men were still hesitant for that change as we see in the Great Gatsby. Tom is cheating on his wife, so it would make sense that he’d compensate by being a sweetheart to her, but he isn’t he’s rude and harsh with his interactions with Daisy …show more content…

Tom when referring to his wife or mistress refers to them as his ‘girls’ or ‘my girl’, as if they are property. The way Tom refers to them as girls comes off as patronizing. Tom is cheating on his wife, so it would make sense that he’d compensate by being a sweetheart to her, but he isn’t he’s rude and harsh with his interactions with Daisy because he knows she won’t do anything about it. Tom is also very hypocritical in his views because he constantly cheats on his wife but when he suspects Daisy might be doing the same he gets infuriated saying “nowadays people begin by sneering at family life and family institutions…”, (Fitzgerald, 137) if he truly cared about family institutions, he wouldn't be cheating. Myrtle also gets treated badly by Tom, as his mistress Tom sees her as someone he can use without facing any consequences. An example of this is when Myrtle starts calling Daisy's name and he breaks her nose as a response. Even Nick who is supposed to seen as a more politically correct person, objectifies women when describing them. An example of this is when he first sees Jordan playing golf he comments on her legs and how she looks in her skirt rather than her skill. Jordan is a professional golf player and if she were a man Nick would've never had his first instinct be to check out their body. Gatsby love for Daisy is a key part of the book. When looking at Gatsby's actions objectively, his fixation on Daisy is obsessive and borderline manipulative. Gatsby love for Daisy could be genuine but it could be seen as more of a prize, Gatsby is in love with the idea of winning her back not with the actual relationship they’ll have. Gatsby also hates Tom who is understandable, but he goes around flaunting his relationship with Daisy in front of him. If Gatsby truly cared for Daisy he’d put her well being in front of him wanting to show off to Tom that he “won.” An example of this

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The era of 1920s is known for flapper dresses, extravagant lifestyles, and reformation of women. Before this time, women were treated as property and did not have their own voices in politics and their personal lives. With the start of the 20th century, women yearned for a change. They wore shorter dresses, became more reckless, and took control of their lives. F. Scott Fitzgerald was a renowned author during the 1920s who provided commentary about the changes of women.

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Tom is seen to be a very racist person, and that is just from what he said about one book. Tom does not care about women either, he is a sexist person who only cares about himself. He broke Myrtle’s nose just because she kept saying Daisy’s name even though he told her to stop. More proof of Tom’s sexism comes from his affair with Myrtle. If Tom cared about Daisy he would not be seeing other women, it was also revealed that Myrtle was not the first person Tom had an affair with, which just proves this even further.

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He’s being unfair to both Daisy and the other women by messing with both of their feelings. The greed he has for love takes a destructive turn in his behavior. In the novel “The Great Gatsby” it states,“ There was no confusion of a simple mind, and as we drove away Tom was feeling the hot whips of panic. His wife and mistress, until an hour ago secure and inviolate, were slipping precipitately from his control. Instinct made him step on the accelerator with the double purpose of overtaking Daisy and leaving Wilson behind.”

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