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Depiction of women in literature
How are women portrayed through literature
How are women portrayed through literature
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Daisy Buchanan is a beautiful young socialite. Daisy is Nick Carraway’s cousin and the women Jay Gatsby is in love with. She met Jay Gatsby before the war in Louisville. The two fell in love and Daisy promised to wait for Jay. However, she decides not to wait for Gatsby and marries Tom Buchanan instead. Daisy Buchanan lives in East Egg with her husband Tom Buchanan. Even though Tom and Daisy are married they don't actually love each other. The couple has a daughter together and show very little affection towards her. “It'll show you how I've gotten to feel about – things. Well, she was less than an hour old and Tom was God knows where. I woke up out of the ether with an utterly abandoned feeling, and asked the nurse right away if it was a boy or a girl. She told me it was a girl, and so I turned my head away and wept. 'All right,' I …show more content…
George Wilson is a lifeless man who owns a run down garage. The couple lives in the desolate Valley of Ashes. Myrtle doesn't truly love George. Unfortunately, George loves and adores Myrtle. Daisy Buchanan and Myrtle Wilson share similarities. Both women don't sincerely love their husbands. Myrtle has an affair with Tom. “Some time toward midnight Tom Buchanan and Mrs. Wilson stood face to face discussing, in impassioned voices, whether Mrs. Wilson had any right to mention Daisy's name. "Daisy! Daisy! Daisy!" shouted Mrs. Wilson. "I'll say it whenever I want to! Daisy! Dai –– "Making a short deft movement, Tom Buchanan broke her nose with his open hand.” (Fitzgerald, p125-127) Daisy has an affair with Gatsby. Myrtle and Daisy are also both knowingly beautiful. Although Daisy and Myrtle share similarities they also share differences. Daisy Buchanan is wealthy and Myrtle Wilson is poor. Myrtle lives in the Valley of Ashes and Daisy lives in East Egg. Daisy has a daughter and Myrtle has no children. Myrtle is hit by a car and dies. Although Daisy was driving the car she
Jay and Daisy fell in love at the army party, but they could not marry. Jay was everything Daisy was not. Daisy was a rich debutante with a great last name, while Jay was a penniless man. (Fitzgerald) After Jay left, Daisy married another man, Tom Buchanan, who is a rich man that lives in East Egg. Gatsby returns from war and makes money as a bootlegger and soon becomes one of the richest men in West Egg.
Myrtle appears as the total opposite character to the Daisy. She is ‘thick, faintly stout” (Fitzgerald 29), but “sensuously” and “immediately perceptible about her vitality” (Fitzgerald 29). She is the woman from “the bottom” who wants to be acceptable as a lady from the upper class. She is terribly vulgar, but she is more alive and natural than Daisy is. The unpleasant scene in their apartments, where Carraway appeared because of Myrtle’s invitation, is full of the philistine contentment and boasting.
Myrtle eventually had similar goals as Gatsby, but her life did not begin the same way. She was of the lower class of society and married a simple man. The two pursued a poor life, but Myrtle’s husband George was a decent man. Nevertheless, Myrtle became unsatisfied, and when the opportunity arose to better the quality of her life, she took it. Daisy’s husband Tom, an unfaithful, rough man not very committed to his marriage, began an affair with Myrtle.
When the readers first meet Daisy, she is living the party lifestyle. Daisy is a nice woman, but she is very superficial (Fitzgerald 8). This tells the readers that although Daisy is fake, but is kind. On the other hand, when Myrtle is talking to Tom and her sister Catherine, she becomes defensive and aggressive. “The answer to this was unexpected. It came from Myrtle, who had overheard the question, and it was violent and obscene” (Fitzgerald 33). These to statements show that although they are both clueless, they have personality traits that set them
Daisy Buchanan is married to Tom Buchanan and cousin to Nick Carraway. During World War I, many soldiers stationed by her in Louisville, were in love with her. The man who caught her eye the most was Jay Gatsby. When he was called into war, she promised him that she would wait for him. Also that upon his return they will be married. Daisy, lonely because Gatsby was at war, met Tom Buchanan. He was smart and part of a wealthy family. When he asked her to marry him, she didn't hesitate at once, and took his offering. Here, the reader first encounters how shallow Daisy is, making her a dislikeable character. Another event that Daisy is a dislikeable character is when she did not show up to Gatsby's funeral. When Daisy and Gatsby reunite, their love for each other rekindle. She often visited Gatsby at his mansion, and they were inseparable. This led Gatsby on because he dedicated his whole life into getting Daisy back, and she had no gratitude towards it. At the hotel suite scene, Daisy reveals to all that she loves Gatsby, but then also says that she loves Tom as well. This leaves the reader at awe, because after...
2.) Daisy Buchanan: (Indirect Character) Daisy is Nick’s second cousin, once removed, and absolutely loves Nick. She tries to set him up with her best friend Jordan Baker. She also married Tom Buchanan, Nick’s old classmate from college, and lives in the upper part of Long Island called East Egg. She is a well-respected girl, and is still in love with her ex-lover Jay Gatsby.
Before Myrtle’s death, George Wilson finds out that she was having an affair with someone because of this very expensive dog leash he found in a drawer. As Nick describes it, “There was nothing in it but a small, expensive dog-leash, made of leather and braided silver. It was apparently new.” (158). He figured it out with that small piece of evidence because first of all, they never owned a dog and second of all, the Wilson’s never had enough money to buy such a lavish thing. When he shows Michaelis the leash George then concludes that the person who she’s having an affair with killed her.. Michaelis observed that Myrtle was trying to speak to the man in the car and didn’t stop. As Michaelis quotes in the book, “It was the man in the car. She ran out to speak to him and he wouldn’t stop. Thinking that Gatsby is the man Myrtle is having an affair with and the one who ran her over, George kills Gatsby and
Myrtle Wilson, a gaudy woman, with great social aspirations, is from the dull Valley of Ashes. She is shallow and judges people based solely on their appearance. While travelling on the train, Myrtle sees Tom Buchanan, a wealthy man, from East Egg. She immediately takes note of his “dress suit” and “patent leather shoes.” Tom’s clothing catches Myrtle’s attention right away. The dress shirt and patent leather shoes signify value, being made from good quality materials. Judging by appearance, She recognizes Tom’s supremacy through his clothing, which Myrtle is drawn to. Myrtle, “couldn’t keep [her] eyes off him,” on the train. She is in awe of Tom, as he replicates the person she aspires to be. Myrtle’s shallow behavior is clearly seen, as she
They were both mentally abusive toward their wives. Tom cheated multiple times with lower class women and Daisy knew about most of the women. George locked his wife, Myrtle, in a room depriving her of human contacted until he was ready to transport her away from the valley of ashes and toward to western region. Both have inflicted some sort of violence onto Myrtle, George’s wife. Tom hit myrtle cross the face while George lied to her about who he was. Even though the two men shared the same victim they had different ways of displaying those acts of violence. Tom, who had an affair Myrtle, slapped Myrtle during one of their drunken nights. This lead to Myrtle having a broken nose and a bruised face. George showed violence toward Myrtle by locking her into their bedroom and made her “...stay there till the day after tomorrow and then we’re going to move away.” (George,76). George himself said that “ …now she’s going to leave whether she wants to or
Myrtle Wilson is married to George Wilson, she spends her entirety of the book all the way up until her tragic exit, complaining about how she wants to be as wealthy as her peers. Myrtle and her husband live in the Valley of Ashes. The Valley of Ashes is the place where the working class live and the ashes of the overworked spread over the town like a black blanket. On the outside, Myrtle is portrayed as sporadic and constantly wanting more material possession than she owns. Digging a bit deeper into her character, readers can reach the final conclusion that while continuing to use men to define herself and her value (why she is having an affair with Tom) Myrtle will chose money over love any chance she gets. While her husband George provides them with a stable family income and a place to live, she remains unhappy with how little they make in comparison to the luxurious lifestyles her friends live. Throughout the novel the theme of wealth is seen as a must have, but once you obtain all the wealth you could desire, you are left to question whether the illusion of wealth is all it has added up to
While there are many differences in Daisy and Myrtle's characters, there is one main similarity. Both women are trying to fit into a man's world. All they want is to be accepted and have a high social status. In my opinion. they both have to love and accept themselves for who they are before they allow a man to be a part in their
Daisy Buchanan, this woman is crazy, uncaring, and many would argue cold hearted. She is married to Tom and yet, has an affair with Gatsby. Tom is her husband, a very well-off man that goes off and has affairs, and never attempts to hide the fact. Then there is Gatsby. Ah, Gatsby. The young man she was so in love with as a teenage girl. Tom and Gatsby have many similarities; from the fact that both Tom and Gatsby want Daisy all to themselves to the fact that they both love her. While they share many similarities they have far more numerable differences between them. The differences range from how they treat her to how rich they and what social class they are in, to the simple fact that Tom lives in “East Egg” and Gatsby in “West Egg.” Both the similarities and differences between these two men are what ultimately cause Daisy to believe that she is in love with Tom more than she is with Gatsby.
Throughout the novel, one of Tom 's biggest careless acts was when he cheated on Daisy. Tom is a cocky, confident man shown many times throughout the novel like when Nick arrived at his house and "Tom Buchanan in riding clothes was standing with his legs apart on the front porch" (Fitzgerald 6). His stance showed his arrogance, and how highly he thought of himself because of his wealth. Tom was a man who often acted without thinking things through, like having an affair with Myrtle. Despite both Tom and Myrtle being married, they both had affairs. Tom doesn 't hide his affair from Nick and introduces him to his mistress Myrtle at Wilson 's garage. Tom doesn 't seem to care if anyone finds out because he feels as though nothing would change due to his wealth. While at Myrtle 's husbands garage, Tom tells Myrtle to meet him at the train station. They end up going to their apartment in New York City that they keep for their affair. While at the Morningside Height 's apartment Myrtle starts to talk about Tom 's wife Daisy, ""Daisy! Daisy! Daisy!" shouted Mrs. Wilson. "I 'll say it whenever I want to! Daisy! Dai-"" (Fitzgerald 37). Tom didn 't like Myrtle overstepping her boundaries and to show
He stated that, "She's going to move, stay there until the day after tomorrow, and then we're going to move away." George thought that by moving out West, where Myrtle wanted to go in the beginning, would solve everything. Before the move could be made, Myrtle was killed; it is here where George's love is shown most. George becomes extremely upset after Myrtle's death. Wilson was reduced to a man "deranged by grief." Because of the death of his wife, George decides to murder who he believes her killer to be and then commits suicide by shooting himself. Thoughout the novel there are many incidents involving love and greed.
Myrtle is, as Daisy, impressed with Tom's wealth and appearance, but, like Jay Gatsby, is stuck in a fantastic, idealized perception of her object of affection. Even when abused and trampled over by Tom, Myrtle continues to adore him, just as Gatsby continues to dote upon Daisy after being obviously rejected by her. As far as ethical considerations, Gatsby tends to prove himself a sincere and caring person, while Daisy and Tom just destroy the lives of two people and then leave town to escape the consequences of their actions.