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Women's Power In The Great Gatsby

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Golden blonde hair falls on the cheeks of a pure face. A woman so accustomed to money and privilege, yet a hole in her heart prevents her from happiness. Meanwhile, sweat of poverty covers the skin of one who only has eyes for a man already wed to another. Betwixt them all is a dark haired, athletic woman who cares only for her own well-being. All three of these beauties walk down paths as different as lead is from gold, yet their similarities are uncanny. Through use of comparison between Daisy Buchanan, Myrtle Wilson, and Jordan Baker, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s message about women and feminine power is that having a man deprives the women of their power, ranking higher in social standards deepens the wound of selfishness, and being deceptive …show more content…

With an entitled man in the equation, a woman’s power is typically entirely eliminated. First, despite Myrtle’s assertiveness with Tom, Fitzgerald writes, “’Daisy! Daisy! Daisy!’ shouted Mrs. Wilson. ‘I’ll say it whenever I want to! Daisy! Dai-’” (37). Myrtle attempts to appear powerful in the eyes of Tom, however, Tom makes sure to advertise that the real power is in his hands. During Myrtle and Tom’s argument, he breaks her nose for the sole purpose of sending her the message that as long as she continues to have an affair with him, her feminine power will not be tolerated by him. Myrtle is accustomed to living an underprivileged life where feminine power engulfs her, but Tom is too egotistical to allow Myrtle to speak with such authority to him. Similarly, Gatsby’s need for assurance from Daisy pressures her into revealing to Tom that she never loved him (Fitzgerald 132). Deep down, Daisy knows that she truly did love Tom once, but Gatsby’s assertiveness and persistence drives her over the edge to telling Tom that what the two of them shared meant nothing to her. Daisy’s attribute of being a pushover is revealed immensely because she refuses to stand up for herself. Daisy is used to enabling Tom to constantly control all aspects of her life, and that leaves her powerless in society. Conversely, Jordan presents her feminine power during Gatsby’s party when she tells Nick that the group they were associating with was too polite for her and that she wants to go find the host (Fitzgerald 45). Typically, in the higher class, the women do whatever the men deem appropriate or interesting to them, but Jordan, being the independent woman she is, chooses her own paths in life. Jordan is not attracted to the conversation at hand; therefore, she is going to present her feminine power and walk away from the cult of upperclassmen to pursue anything that she wants to, and no one is going to stop her.

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Myrtle, as a woman of the 1920’s, should be a paragon of feminism and independence, however, she is used by Fitzgerald in order to show how unrealistic these ideals truly are. As a lower-class female living in the valley of the ashes, Myrtle has no chance of achieving the goals of the ‘new woman’ of the 1920s, and consequently, must try to gain upward mobility by seducing Tom Buchanan. She believes that as his mistress she will be able to overcome the barriers between her lower-class life and her upper-class dreams, but in the end, Tom only treats her as a glorified pet he can treat however he wants. This is seen when Tom, “[breaks Myrtle’s] nose with his open hand.” P.g.30.

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Tom sits in an awkward position being unhappily married to a woman he could not care less about. Because of Toms unwillingness to love his wife, he cheats on her with Myrtle Wilson, who too is in an unhappy with her current relationship, and with this Tom alienates his wife Daisy even more. But to add to Toms ruined marriage, Daisy states, “Tom was God knows where” (21) when their child was born. At one of Gatsby’s parties, Tom doesn’t even stay with his wife. Even though for the most part it seems like Tom hates Daisy, he still loves her in his own way, but at a party in Tom and Myrtle’s apartment, Myrtle keeps saying the name "Daisy" over and over; tauntingly.

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Myrtle, Tom’s mistress, was of course chosen from one of the lowest classes in order for Tom do do as he pleases. In the book, Tom breaks Myrtle’s nose for mentioning Daisy’s name (Fitzgerald 37). Due to his social status, much above Myrtle’s, he seems to feel entitled to treat her less than a woman. Not only that, but his feeling of entitlement plays a role in his confrontation with Gatsby. Tom holds little to no shame when feeling as if he deserved Daisy’s love saying, “Once in a while I go off on a spree and make a fool of myself, but I always come back, and in my heart I love her all the time” (Fitzgerald 131).

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In today’s duplicitous society, men often pursue the “perfect woman”. This woman is construed to be; fit, provocative and ravishing. However, in greatly distinguished American novel, The Great Gatsby, the men have strayed from stalking women for their looks. Instead, Gatsby chases Daisy to achieve her as a prize of his bounty and any affection Gatsby demonstrates toward her, is simply to appease to her sense of status and wealth. The author F. Scott Fitzgerald, exhibits Gatsby’s these feelings for Daisy through the clever usage of connotation, symbolism and metaphors.

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In this novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald, feminists question the treatment the women in book receive by the men. An example of this is when the author writes, “Benny McClenahan arrived always with four girls. They were never quite the same in physical personal, but they were so identical one with another that it inevitably seemed they had been there before” (p.63). This quotes shows the way women were treated in the society of the 1920’s, this was the time in which women started changing their behaviour

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The portrayal of women in the literature we have read this year has been blatantly obvious at making it known that women will do whatever it takes to get what they feel they deserve from them in their lives. In Macbeth, We Were Liars and The Great Gatsby the leading women’s manipulative nature towards men are the means by which they are able to attain power, money and status. All of these women put themselves and their selfish ambitions above their relationships, whether it be with their husband, lover or father. A perfect embodiment of this manipulative nature towards men is Daisy Buchanan in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald.

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Scott Fitzgerald reinforces the oppression of women through his menial depiction of women. Fitzgerald uses his character, Daisy Buchanan, to represent the selfish and shallow perspectives on upper-class women during his era. He contrasts this image of wealthy society by using Myrtle Wilson, a needy mistress, to manifest the greed existent within the women at the bottom of the social hierarchy. Jordan Baker embodies a highly modernized and independent female during the time, yet she is constantly treated unequal to men. Fitzgerald creates females that are subjected to constant inferiority in his novel, rather than giving them more original characteristics.

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