Comparing Women In The Great Gatsby And Death Of A Salesman

Both literary works, The Great Gatsby and Death of a Salesman, contain prominent female characters. These characters, Daisy Buchanan, lavish wife of the Roaring Twenties, and Linda Loman, housewife of the forties, are significant to their respective plots while also representing popular conceptions of women at the time.

In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, the very beautiful Daisy Buchanan, wife of Tom Buchanan, plays a significant role as the main female protagonist. She is Nick’s second cousin and the object of Gatsby’s love. Therefore, she is the sole reason why Gatsby hosted the extravagant parties that he was well-known for throughout the novel. Gatsby hoped that by having such parties he could attract her into his house and see her after a long five years. That doesn’t happen accordingly so Gatsby decides to befriend Nick. Once they became familiar, Gatsby requested him to invite Daisy over for tea. This gathering was successful in

reuniting the two former-lovers and leads to an affair, similar to the one Tom is having with Myrtle Wilson. By the end, it is Gatsby’s strong love for Daisy to blame for the climax of the novel and evidently Gatsby’s own death along with Myrtle’s. Without Daisy’s presence, the chaos that occurred due to all of the affairs would not have existed because there would be no overlapping affairs.
Daisy is common in the novel for being a resplendent figure of the 1920s, a time known well for its sumptuousness. The 1920s, or the Jazz Age, the Roaring Twenties, or sometimes even the Gay Twenties, was a decade where the nation’s wealth doubled and women began to find a sense of their own independence, especially through their new right to vote. Daisy is very independent because even though she is a mother, she does not spend much time taking care of her daughter. As a result, “New Woman” or flappers emerged and become a symbol of the twenties and are most famous for their unique style and behaviour that defied expectations for women. Flappers cut their hair short, wore short dresses, drank, smoked, and were more sexually expressed (prior, drinking and smoking were a man’s activity and treating sexuality as a casual thing was scandalous). Despite this not being the case for many women who actually lived through the twenties, with the exception of dressing in the style, Daisy displays these actions throughout The Great Gatsby. In addition, although women of the twenties desired their own independence, getting married was still important. Daisy also demonstrated this ideal because she wanted to marry Gatsby since she loved him, but when he couldn’t come back after the war, she settled for Tom.
Differing from Daisy, Linda Loman is more of a loving, middle class housewife.

Similarly though, Linda was also cheated on, however she remained faithful to Willy, even in hardship. That is why she is so significant to Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman. She is the adhesive that keeps the crumbling-family together. Throughout the play, Willy struggles to feel appreciated in his failing career as a salesman and is disappointed that his children, Biff and Happy, did not do something productive with their lives all while being the victim of dementia. Linda sacrifices her own dignity to deal with Willy’s deteriorating mental health and his constant disrespect towards her, like him telling her to shut up. Still, with all that she has to deal with she still loves him, protects him, and does all that she can in order to make him happy. That is more than many partner’s would be able to deal with, especially Daisy. If Daisy were in that situation she’d most likely find somebody else to carry on her life with and to care for

her.
Times changed drastically from the twenties; the nation suffered through the Great Depression and a new war came about. Women began to find their place in the workforce rather than at home. However, in Death of a Salesman, Linda didn’t go to work, possibly to respect Willy’s dignity even when they struggled to pay the bills. He wanted to pursue the American dream and provide for his family, like an average husband at the time. Many husbands of the 1940s wanted a wife who would honor them and do things such as taking care of the house while they went out and made ends meet. Thus, Linda stayed home and allowed Willy to “provide” for the family, even though he really wasn’t making ends meet, since she cared about Willy’s happiness so much.
Both Daisy Buchanan and Linda Loman, from Death of a Salesman, are prominent female characters that represent popular conceptions of women at the time. Daisy Buchanan is the beautiful 1920s flapper that practically prompted two deaths in The Great Gatsby and Linda Loman is the loving housewife who enabled her degenerate, suicidal husband throughout Death of a Salesman.