In 1920s America, women gained freedom and independence. They could now vote, more women were in the workforce, and more women could live richer social lives. Divorce rates also doubled as it became easier for women to leave their unhappy lives with their husbands. Even with changing social and gender norms, most women were still trapped in marriages that restricted their autonomy and never let them grow beyond the role of housewife. This is especially true in the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, as women deal with the unhappiness that comes with living with a husband that they do not love and living a life that they do not choose. The book mainly focuses on the perspectives and problems of the men, like the narrator, Nick, and his friend Gatsby, but it also brings light to the
By looking at how they are viewed by men and the way that this affects their lives, an archetypal lens can also be applied. The three women in the novel can be sorted into three of the most common archetypes for women: the Maiden, the Mother, and the Crone. These three archetypes follow a woman’s life as she ages and matures, gaining knowledge of life and having new experiences along the way. These archetypes in themselves are rooted in the patriarchy and the male gaze; they are a way for men to categorize and reduce women into a lifestyle revolving around men. Since The Great Gatsby is narrated by a man, there is evidence of this stereotyping in action, but it also becomes apparent where men have forced women to fill certain roles. Women can either be the exuberant young Maiden, who is single with no thoughts of men or romance; the kindly loving Mother, who has a has a husband and a family and therefore everything she could ever want in life; or the Crone, whose glory days are out of reach and who is more pitiful than
Set in the Roaring ‘20s, The Great Gatsby focuses mainly on the lives of men as Tom Buchanan and Jay Gatsby. However, it also clearly outlines the lives of several women : Daisy Buchanan, Myrtle Wilson, and Jordan Baker. On the surface, the lives of these women couldn’t be more different. Daisy, a rich debutante, is torn between her husband, Tom, or her first love, Jay Gatsby. Lower on the social ladder is Myrtle, who is having an affair with Tom, hoping to rise above her station in life. Jordan, on the other hand, is unmarried and a successful golfer, who travels the country participating in tournaments. While these women may have seemed independent, they’re still subject to the will of society which sees them as inferior and objects to be controlled by men.
The great Gatsby gives us an accurate insight into the 1920s zeitgeist regarding the role of women in society. America was in a state of an economic boom and rapid change. Society had become less conservative after world war one. The role of women was revolutionary during this time and although women had a lot more freedom now; they were still confined to their sexist role within society; Men were still seen as the dominant gender. Scott Fitzgerald illustrates the extremities of gender and social class, and the lack of independence this brought upon women. This essay will discuss the three major female characters and the ideas that Fitzgerald confronts of female stereotypes of the 1920s.
“Being a woman is a terribly difficult task, since it consists principally in dealing with men” (Joseph Conrad). In the Novel, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the wife of George Wilson, Myrtle, has been cheating with the married man Tom Buchanan. From time to time they escape to an apartment Tom owns, behind each of their spouses backs. As time goes on Daisy, Tom’s wife, obtains the knowledge from Jordan that her previous lover is just across the bay and waiting to see her again. Daisy begins going behind Tom’s back with Jay Gatsby, tangling the characters in a mess of relationships. Throughout the book, women take important roles and change the story, even ultimately leading to Gatsby’s death.
In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, women are used as trophies, forced, by society, to compete in a world dominated by men. Fitzgerald portrays these women as money hungry, willing to do anything to get ahead. Such as Daisy Buchannan, who marries her husband for the mere fact he has money, or Jordan Baker, who cheats on her golf tournaments to win, and last, Myrtle Wilson, who has an affair because she does not like her social status. This novel shows greatly how Daisy Buchanan, Jordan Baker, and Myrtle Wilson compete with the superficial world that they live in and disregard their own happiness for the sake of status.
For readers who observe literature through a feminist lens, they will notice the depiction of female characters, and this makes a large statement on the author’s perception of feminism. Through portraying these women as specific female archetypes, the author creates sense of what roles women play in both their families and in society. In books such as The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck and The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the roles that the main female characters play are, in different instances, both comparable and dissimilar.
During the 1920’s, the role women had under men was making a drastic change, and it is shown in The Great Gatsby by two of the main female characters: Daisy and Jordan. One was domesticated and immobile while the other was not. Both of them portray different and important characteristics of the normal woman growing up in the 1920’s. The image of the woman was changing along with morals. Females began to challenge the government and the society. Things like this upset people, especially the men. The men were upset because this showed that they were losing their long-term dominance over the female society.
The beginning of The Great Gatsby introduces readers to two places that will be important settings throughout the rest of the novel: The West Egg and the East Egg. These two places are described as being distinctly different, and this contrast between two places is continued when comparing the Valley of Ashes and New York. Based on the use of color and basic physical description, the West Egg and the Valley of Ashes are typically made out to be the lesser in comparison to the East Egg and New York. At first, the distinction between these places can be seen as simply a matter of money: who has the most and who is new verses old money, but there is also a matter of personality that seems to divide these places.
In the novel The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald is criticizing American society of the 1920s. He uses the characters to demonstrate the power than men had over women during these times, as well as their mindless, self-indulgent actions, where consequence was only an afterthought. The attitude towards and the role of women is shown throughout the novel. Fitzgerald also shows how many people in America during this time were delusional and had meaningless existences.
The 1920’s was a time of great change to both the country lived in as well as the goals and ambitions that were sought after by the average person. During this time, priorities shifted from family and religion to success and spontaneous living. The American dream, itself, changed into a self centered and ongoing personal goal that was the leading priority in most people’s lives. This new age of carelessness and naivety encompasses much of what this earlier period is remembered for. In addition, this revolution transformed many of the great writers and authors of the time as well as their various works. The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, perfectly symbolizes many emergent trends of the 1920’s. More importantly the character of Jay Gatsby is depicted as a man amongst his American dream and the trials he faces in the pursuit of its complete achievement. His drive for acquiring the girl of his dreams, Daisy Buchanan, through gaining status and wealth shows many aspects of the authors view on the American dream. Through this, one can hope to disassemble the complex picture that is Fitzgerald’s view of this through the novel. Fitzgerald believes, through his experiences during the 1920’s, that only fractions of the American Dream are attainable, and he demonstrates this through three distinct images in The Great Gastby.
Even if they disagree about other issues, all feminists believe patriarchal ideology works to keep men and women confined to traditional gender roles so male dominance may be maintained. Utilizing the precepts of Feminist criticism, it could be argued “The Great Gatsby” promotes a thinly veiled patriarchal agenda. Through Fitzgerald’s treatment of the three women in “Gatsby”, as well as masking the possible homosexuality of a central character, the novel seems to promote only the traditional gender roles, swaying uncomfortably from any possible variance.
Considered as the defining work of the 1920s, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald was published in 1925, when America was just coming out of one of the most violent wars in the nation’s history. World War 1 had taken the lives of many young people who fought and sacrificed for our country on another continent. The war left many families without fathers, sons, and husbands. The 1920s is an era filled with rich and dazzling history, where Americans experienced changes in lifestyle from music to rebellion against the United States government. Those that are born into that era grew up in a more carefree, extravagant environment that would affect their interactions with others as well as their attitudes about themselves and societal expectations. In this novel, symbols are used to represent the changing times and create a picture of this era for generations to come. The history, settings, characters, and symbols embedded in The Great Gatsby exemplify life in America during the 1920s.
F. Scott Fitzgerald, having lived through the era of the “New Women” in the 1920’s, uses two female protagonists in both his novel Great Gatsby (e.g. Daisy Buchanan) and his short story “Bernice Bobs Her Hair” (e.g. Marjorie Harvey). As such, he personifies his desired theme to define the female presence shaped by shifts in society during the 1920’s. He uses an apathetic and cynical tone that paints each character in a negative light. In other words, American women were known as having unequal rights as compared to men; they were often entrapped in oppressive marriages and seen as the inferior sex. Women are portrayed as inferior to men through Fitzgerald’s writings of both the Great Gatsby and “Bernice Bobs Her Hair.”
Women are seen from a biased point of view in pop culture as they are often criticized and portrayed in degrading ways. The Great Gatsby takes place in the early part of the 20th century which is also known as the Roaring 20's. In regards to feminism, the women in The Great Gatsby are mainly depicted as second class to men. The story gives readers an insight of the roles that gender played in past World War I America. In The Great Gatsby, the author Scott Fitzgerald shines a light on the submissiveness of females toward males during the Roaring Twenties by giving the women in the novel an unfair representation as they are often identified as passive or negative “objects”.
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald took place in the 1920’s when the nation was undergoing rapid economic, political, and social change. Looking through different literary lenses the reader is able to see the effects of these rapid changes. The marxist lens reflects the gap between rich and poor while the feminist lens showcases the patriarchal society.
The time period the novel is set in is dubbed “The Roaring Twenties”. This was an era when people were trying new things; women smoked and drank, many men found themselves in more wealth than they had ever had before, and the recently ended World War I sent the nation into an economic growth. This very period is the complete setting for The Great Gatsby. According to Anaya, Gatsby is a 'nouveau riche', someone who only just came into a great deal of money and finds extravagant ways of showing it off. (Anaya). He does this to attract Daisy. Although Daisy herself is not a complete "flapper", he was highly influenced by them. (Anaya). When Gatsby returns, Daisy is still in love with him and, even though she is married, runs away with him, but only for a short period of time. Before the roaring 20s, this would be uunusual, but as the women's rights movements set in, it is not so uncommon of a sight. (Caldwell). Daisy can be seen as a “flapper”, a woman of the 1920’s who went out as much as men and went to great parties, like Gatsby’s. But how did Gatsby acquire his wealth in the first place? It is important to understand that in the 1920’s, alcohol had been prohibited, and people were finding ways to acquire it illegally. (Wikipedia). This made “bootleggers” a lot of money, and Gatsby is involved in such business.