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The Women in The Great Gatsby By the time that World War I came to an end and with the passing of the 19th amendment, the common roles of women used to be such as a housewife and school teacher shifted, into the working class and independent women. With the new-found freedom, women changed their attitudes and mannerism resulting in part of the Roaring 20s/ Jazz Age excitement, which consisted of parties and drinking much like the characters in The Great Gatsby. F. Scott Fitzgerald depicted in his work, three women by the names of Daisy, Jordan, and Myrtle to reveal to the readers what women in the 1920s were like. The women in The Great Gatsby are perceived as the instigators causing trouble, whether it is through murder, lies or infidelity. The fragile and infidel Daisy Buchanan is portrayed to be the southern …show more content…
belle from the 1920s that uses her white girlhood to get what she desires. Daisy’s physical stature could be compared to the essential flapper body that could woo any men in the country. The graceful voice of Daisy attributes to her southern belle manner in which she carefully phrases words like, “I’m p-paralyzed with happiness” (Fitzgerald, 8). The bobbed hair screamed roaring 20s as Fitzgerald in a way foresaw this soon to be fad on the rise with his short story. In my own findings, I have concluded that Fitzgerald wanted Daisy to appear to be a flapper with grace as well as irresponsibility. The reason why is that Fitzgerald called Zelda America’s First Flapper in relation to Daisy as she was too irresponsible and wanted to please herself whenever she wished to. The evidence for this is when she speaks to her daughter, Pammy Buchanan when talking to Nick “All right, I said, I’m glad it’s a girl. And I hope she'll be a fool—that's the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool.” (17) We could also take into consideration that during this time, many white women hired nannies to care for their children while the stay at home moms went about their days like Daisy. This is perhaps the strongest idea that Fitzgerald could have planted in his readers by comparing the 1920s free spirit flappers to a strong character like Daisy Buchanan. What the critics say is that due to the loose restrictions in Daisy’s life creates a name for Daisy as the Golden Girl in the novel that represents the young women in the 1920s that were testing their boundaries with men whether it was in the back of cars at movie theaters or at the bars. (Goldsmith) One issue that most critics do not touch, is the matter of infidelity because as Daisy’s affair was secret so were the affairs that the other housewives had during the 1920s. As Tom Buchanan once said, “Nowadays people begin by sneering at family life and family institutions, and next they’ll throw everything overboard and have intermarriage between black and white.” (Fitzgerald, 130) Critics believe there is a comparison with Zelda cheating on Scott with a French airman in 1923 transcending into The Great Gatsby in 1925, he perhaps added the infidelity to Daisy as a mirror image of Zelda and how she still ended up with Scott. (Rollyson) What I believe is that the housewives had the freedom to realize that they were unhappy and could cheat on their husbands when the men were working however, the reason that they did not divorce was due to the fact that the women had security with their husbands like Daisy. Furthermore, during the 1920s, the favorable people were the rich and flashy ones that lived without scandal, for Daisy she fit the favorable crowd because of her lavish white lifestyle. The critics talk about how golden girls like Daisy showcased their lavish lifestyles at parties in which they dress to impress each weekend. Daisy’s materialistic tendencies were noticed when she swooned over Gatsby’s shirts and was ever so amazed with his mansion. (Reinsch) These factors tie into why Daisy choose to stay a while with Gatsby until she came to realization that Tom could provide the same if not more. Southern belles in this case would always accept their parents desires for them and what I came to the conclusion of is that Daisy in a way felt the approval of Tom by everyone since his money was clean, therefore since Gatsby could not provide this clean money he had to go. (Curell) Daisy’s name comes from the origin of a flower that fits her perfectly, because like the flower Daisy is fragile and dependent on the ground to provide security for her. (Luft) The ground in this analogy is Tom Buchanan, who in the real world would also represent the normal families living in the southern states with breadwinning fathers and stay at home mothers. The independent and dishonest Jordan Baker was portrayed as the type of new woman in the 1920s that uses her beauty to achieve what she wants. The roaring twenties were filled with bobbed hair and skin-tight flapper dresses which were the preferred attire choices of Jordan Baker while she was not wearing a golf skirt and polo shirt; compared to the late long skirts and loose clothes that did not enhance the body of a woman. (Reinsch) Once the 19th amendment was passed, more women came out of their shells and began taking on roles that most men had already taken over, such as professional athletes, doctors and factory workers. The gender roles of women during the roaring 20s drastically changed and Jordan Baker is the character form the Great Gatsby that exhibits this change the best due to her “new woman” stature and scandalous dishonesty. Jordan has a hard job as she is not subject to autonomy, she is having to keep the composure say of a lady at the same time. The women that acted like Jordan were at times compared to Susan B. Anthony for not being as golden girl and instead being more of a tomboy. (Reinsch) Critics of Jordan Baker are quick to say that she is a carless “bad driver” that represents the young school girls that are testing love and their newfound freedoms. Like the young girls from the roaring 20s, Jordan is characterized as dishonest when she inserts her little white lies in conversation to sound relevant. (Makowsky) In real life, it is said that Fitzgerald came up with the character of Jordan Baker from the profession golf champion Edith Cummings. This in itself is proof that Jordan was literally made in the image of a roaring 20s woman who in this time was a trailblazer in athletics like Jordan. (Makowsky) Critics came after Fitzgerald once the novel was published due to the inconsistency between Jordan and Edith because unlike Jordan Edith was honest. There is also question that perhaps Fitzgerald added another real-life character such as Ginevra King to complete Jordan Bakers new woman ideals. Comparatively, Ginevra King plays the role of Jordan Baker’s party side that also drove badly and enjoyed to her time with Nick. (Makowsky) Additionally, Jordan Baker also attributes to the American Dream because she is exercising her new freedoms so she excels in the professional golf field. Jordan has an American Dream mindset that helps her win even if it is by cheating, she does what is needed to excel. The poor and infidel Myrtle Wilson is used by Fitzgerald to exhibit the lower-class families that are lustful and yearning for what the rich have; which is why Myrtle becomes so attached to Tom.
The area that Myrtle resides in is in a way described as the tenement homes that were dirty and old, the only difference is the location of the two. What I believe Myrtle’s purpose was in this book; is to be the epitome of the lower-class women that were not as fortunate in making smart decisions and they suffered greatly by not achieving their American Dream. (Curell) The critics are quick to point out how The Great Gatsby relates to the American Dream but in Myrtle Wilson’s case the American Dream does not plan in her favor and instead it kills her for even attempting it. The affair between Myrtle and Tom are Myrtle knows that her stature in society is in jeopardy and a tactic that I noticed that she uses to perhaps keep Tom is by buying a dog. In the real world buying a dog is a notion that a couple is soon to be ready for a child. Myrtle in this case was still in competition with Daisy and a way to solidify her future with this affair was to get a dog.
(Curell) Furthermore, from my own research I believe that this novel was beautifully written to partly foreshadow the Great Depression with the use of Myrtle Wilson. Nevertheless, Myrtle’s death signifies the end of an era (love and lust in the affairs) in comparison to the Great Depression ending the era of the roaring 20s. Her downfall as well as Gatsby’s, play into the post roaring twenties as the rich are done playing with the lower-class people and how Tom leaves Myrtle for dead similarly as Daisy leaving Gatsby. To my conclusion of this thought, I believe that Daisy and Jordan are seen as the fortunate high class that was not even phased by the Great Depression and merely moved locations. During the roaring 20s a new wave of women arose from their homes and in the Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald attempts to mirror those women in his novel as Daisy Buchanan, Jordan Baker and Myrtle Wilson. Fitzgerald beautifully uses Daisy Buchanan as typical southern belle that also has an infidel side to her. Whereas Myrtle is also used to display infidelity, but in a poor person’s atmosphere which creates jealousy and eventfully her own downfall. The use of Jordan Baker was to exhibit the new woman of the 20s and how she achieved her American Dream using her athletic abilities. The small similarities between Fitzgerald’s life and the characters in the Great Gatsby show evidence that the three women indeed show similarities between those in the real roaring 20s. Consequently, all three of the women that Fitzgerald uses in the Great Gatsby are successfully compared to the flappers, independents, and southern belles from the roaring twenties to his characters; in order to fully depict to his readers what the roaring twenties were like.
Myrtle Wilson came from a working class family with a low social standing. Due to her family’s lack of money, Myrtle’s options were limited to marrying men of equal or lower economic status than herself. As a result, Myrtle married George Wilson, a poor car mechanic. In her relationship with George, Myrtle lacked control due to her status as a woman and was thus forced to listen to her husband. However, because of her lower status, Myrtle did learn to use her physical attributes to her own advantage. In other words, Myrtle knew how to exaggerate her physical beauty in order to attract men such as Tom Buchanan; who would pay her with money and expensive gifts in return. Thus, “there is a clear connection between the material disadvantages” Myrtle faced and her lack of morals; given “the paucity of her allotment of the fundamental decencies” (Voegeli). In other words, because of her lack of economic backing, Myrtle Wilson grew up as a woman of lower class with less options in life; which limited her social power and drove her to act unlike any high class lady. Thus, Myrtle’s only option for increasing her status was through material services such as her relationship with Tom Buchanan. All in all, Myrtle Wilson’s economic status limited her to the life of a low class woman and her power others in her
A moment later she rushed out into the dusk, waving her hands and shouting — before he could move from his door the business was over. The “death car,” as the newspapers called it, didn’t stop; it came out of the gathering darkness, wavered tragically for a moment, and then disappeared around the next bend. Michaelis wasn’t even sure of its color — he told the first policeman that it was light green. The other car, the one going toward New York, came to rest a hundred yards beyond, and its driver hurried back to where Myrtle Wilson, her life violently extinguished, knelt in the road and mingled her thick dark blood with the dust. Michaelis and this man reached her first, but when they had torn open her shirtwaist, still damp with perspiration, they saw that her left breast was swinging loose like a flap,
The first time that the reader catches an insight of Myrtle, Fitzgerald develops Myrtle to be a mere object of Tom's’ desire. Fitzgerald does this to extenuate the fact that Tom will not move on past Daisy to be with her. Tom “got some women” that supposedly is a secret but there is a lack of secretism on Myrtles end seeing as she is now calling during evening meals from “New York” just to talk to Tom. This further proves that she is in need of attention, something her husband can not fully give her at any random moment of the day. Myrtle is willing to express herself even when she’s already married. It reveals that she is deceiving her own husband, who is later mentioned in the novel. This allows for Myrtle to be looked down upon by the reader, it also entails her to be seen as an attention seeker. Again, Fitzgerald appeals to present-day behaviors by allowing Myrtle to be viewed as someone who wants to be showcased. Almost everyone can relate that they’ve wanted attention in their life at some point. This connects Myrtle to the reader's past or current feelings. Fitzgerald uses this to let readers feel compassion for Myrtle which emphasizes all she needs is for someone to properly love her, treat her, and show her what she needs to do to become successful in her
In the book Great Gatsby there are many examples of society and social class, many are shown to us as the book progresses. Some are shown to us very up front while, others are hidden in the text. Society and social class play a critical part in this book such as how people interact with the lower classes, to how the rich live their lives. When we look deeper into on how the Great Gatsby handles sociality and social class, which puts the characters in the positions they are in.
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.
Daisy knows very well that tom is cheating on her, but doesn’t care because it's more convenient to stay in her unhappy marriage. Even though she wants to be with Gatsby, she wants to keep her social status and being with Tom makes this all the easier. Now, this is quite the opposite of Myrtle. She has a loving husband who would do anything for her, but her social status is all she cares about. Myrtle is willing to hurt George and ruin their marriage in order to climb up the social ladder. Neither of these women have respect for themselves. Both Daisy and Myrtle allow Tom to treat them
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.
The Great Gatsby is often referred to as the great American novel; a timeless commentary on the American Dream. A dream that defines success, power, love, social status, and recreation for the American public. It should be mentioned that this novel was published in 1925, which is a time when the American public had recently experienced some significant changes, including women’s suffrage, which had only taken place 6 years prior to the publication of this novel May of 1919. The women of this era had recently acquired a voice in politics, however, the social world does not always take the same pace as the political world. F. Scott Fitzgerald developed female characters that represented both women in their typical gender roles and their modern counterparts. I will be analyzing gender roles within the context of this novel, comparing and contrasting Myrtle Wilson, Jordan Baker, and Daisy Buchanan alongside one another, as well as comparing and contrasting their interactions with the men in the novel.
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.
She is kept in a life that is falling apart as she longs for a lover that she’s actually interested in. Her husband Wilson loves her, but turned out to be poorer than the man she thought she was marrying. Myrtle wants someone to love that loves her to go along with her wish of a life of luxury. Tom was the answer to all her problems. He was rich, and he loved her, even if that meant they were both cheating. The airedale—undoubtedly there was an airedale concerned in it somewhere though its feet were startlingly white—changed hands and settled down into Mrs. Wilson’s lap, where she fondled the weather-proof coat with rapture” (Fitzgerald 31). Buying their own dog is just another way to further their relationship, making them feel more like a couple. Would Myrtle have really want to have that dog with Wilson? Or Tom with Daisy? Tom could throw around money whenever he wanted so buying the dog wouldn’t be a problem. The entire apartment requires dedication to the relationship, and putting a dog in it increases it even more so. Just being with Tom and sneaking away from time to time isn’t enough for Myrtle. She wanted to run away with Tom, leaving her old life behind. She had even convinced Wilson to move away from the horrible life they shared, but this backfired and he ended up keeping her locked inside until they were ready to leave the next day. “Myrtle Wilson’s body wrapped in a blanket and then in another
Tom knew Myrtle better than any of the main characters. He had met her on a train headed for New York. When the train reached the city, she went with him in a taxi, and their affair began. Tom never made much of an effort to keep their relationship secret. In fact, he almost paraded her around in the presence of his acquaintances. They made frequent trips into New York so that they could be together. Myrtle was Tom's escape from his own life in East Egg. While Daisy provided him with a wealthy, acceptable social image, she was not much more to him than a mere possession. His affair with Myrtle offered him a chance to defy his social expectations. Their relationship was important to him because of this opportunity to escape. When Myrtle died, it shook him deeply, especially because he believed Gatsby had been driving the yellow car. After leaving George Wilson's garage the night of the accident, he managed to drive slowly until he and Nick were out of sight. Then he slammed his foot down on the accelerator, driving much faster. He began quietly sobbing, privately mourning her death. He immediately blamed Gatsby for bringing their relationship to an abrupt halt. "That God damned coward!" he cried. "He didn't even stop his car." His feelings of anger and hurt were greatly intensified by the day spent in New York....
Throughout the Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Myrtle is a victim of her own desperation. This sense of despair stems from her marriage to George Wilson. As soon as she marries George she knows she made a mistake and she pays for that mistake every second of her life. This despair that originates from her marriage then translates into her cheating on her husband with a married man, Tom Buchanan and completely ignoring him. Due to her obvious desperation, Tom is able to boss her around on numerous occasions and makes her do what he wants because of her desperation.
Throughout The Great Gatsby, the three main female characters, Daisy Buchanan, Jordan Baker, and Myrtle Wilson, all embody this flapper of the 1920s. Fitzgerald accurately portrayed the flamboyancy of the 1920s in The Great Gatsby. Many aspects contributed to this flamboyance and indifference. The pursuit of the “American Dream” contributed to the actions of Americans and to the actions of Fitzgerald’s characters.
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.
In F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel The Great Gatsby,the gender role of women is depicted in very different ways. Each woman has her own desires, needs, dreams, and motivation. The women in the novel are depicted as cheaters basically. Every woman except Jordan Baker had an affair, yet we can't forget about the men that were also involved in affairs can we? What happened to the two women who had an affair as compared to the men is degrading to women. The women get punished in the end , a hidden meaning , yet they do end up getting punished . Daisy Buchanan , Myrtle Wilson, and Jordan Baker, the women of The Great Gatsby.