Gender Roles In The Great Gatsby And Hamlet

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Gender roles are society’s concept on how men and woman should behave. In The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald and Hamlet by William Shakespeare, gender roles are evident in how characters act and distinguish each other.
Although The Great Gatsby was based in a time period where gender roles were being challenged, whereas Hamlet gender roles were common; characters in both texts maintain the traditional and stereotypical gender roles of individuals.

In both texts, the two main female characters; Ophelia and Daisy, are subject to the stereotypical gender roles. Ophelia is inclined to be dependent on the males in her life. Polonius orders Ophelia, “I would not, in plain terms, from this time forth, Have you so slander any moment leisure, As to give words or talk with the Lord Hamlet.”(Shakespeare 1.3.132-134). Ophelia obeys his orders and this demonstrates how …show more content…

Tom is portrayed as being aggressive and self confident. When he is with his mistress Myrtle, he shows his physical control over her, “Making a short deft movement, Tom Buchanan broke her nose with his open hand.” (Fitzgerald 39). His actions show how he is proud of his dominance over females. Laertes is characterized as being confident and strong. However, when Laertes learns his sister has died, he states, “Too much of water hast thou, poor Ophelia, And therefore I forbid my tears…When these are gone, The woman will be out.” (Shakespeare 4.7. 182-183, 185-186). Laertes considers crying to be the responsibility of a woman, as he states when he stops crying, the woman will be out of him. He is ashamed of being emotional as he believes it is feminine. Rather than being accepting to femininity, Laertes is mortified. In addition to, Tom would never act feminine. Both characters depict femininity to be a sign of weakness, so throughout the texts both strive to be the stereotypical

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