Feminist View on the Great Gatsby Essay Example
Susan B. Anthony once said “The true republic: Men, their rights and nothing more;
Women, their rights and nothing less.” This is her point of view on the way women were
thought of during the 1920s. She recognizes the large gap between women and men’s rights.
During this time though, many changes had began. Women just got the right to vote, therefore
gaining more independence of their own which they did not always know how to use. This is
also when the trend of a flapper began. Views changed from politics to social lives, hem lines
were raised, and risks were taken. The confusion of this time for most men is easily seen in The
Great Gatsby. In The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, women are portrayed as a minor role
to society. They are reliant and selfish by expecting men to take care of them, they are shown
as nothing more than a status symbol in the way that they allow men to control them, and they
are unfaithful and dishonest.
The main women in The Great Gatsby, Daisy and Myrtle, depend on the man that they
are with to support them and buy them anything they wish. Myrtle, for instance, is unhappy
with her life with Wilson. She sought out another man to take care of her, someone that can
spoil her. Wilson offering her everything he could is not enough for Myrtle. She complains
about it even when he tries his best, by saying things like, “He borrowed somebody’s best suit
to get married in” (F. Scott Fitzgerald 35). Wilson cannot afford a suit so he borrows one from
someone else, and although he tried his best for her it is not enough. In her mind she needs to
be taken care of, and the state of poverty that Wilson was in just does not do. Myrtle feels she
deserves and needs a man that could buy her anything her heart desires. Tom was the perfect
candidate for her; he was very wealthy and welcoming to the idea of an affair. She loves Tom
for the simple fact that he can support her, although she knows
Women, their rights and nothing less.” This is her point of view on the way women were
thought of during the 1920s. She recognizes the large gap between women and men’s rights.
During this time though, many changes had began. Women just got the right to vote, therefore
gaining more independence of their own which they did not always know how to use. This is
also when the trend of a flapper began. Views changed from politics to social lives, hem lines
were raised, and risks were taken. The confusion of this time for most men is easily seen in The
Great Gatsby. In The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, women are portrayed as a minor role
to society. They are reliant and selfish by expecting men to take care of them, they are shown
as nothing more than a status symbol in the way that they allow men to control them, and they
are unfaithful and dishonest.
The main women in The Great Gatsby, Daisy and Myrtle, depend on the man that they
are with to support them and buy them anything they wish. Myrtle, for instance, is unhappy
with her life with Wilson. She sought out another man to take care of her, someone that can
spoil her. Wilson offering her everything he could is not enough for Myrtle. She complains
about it even when he tries his best, by saying things like, “He borrowed somebody’s best suit
to get married in” (F. Scott Fitzgerald 35). Wilson cannot afford a suit so he borrows one from
someone else, and although he tried his best for her it is not enough. In her mind she needs to
be taken care of, and the state of poverty that Wilson was in just does not do. Myrtle feels she
deserves and needs a man that could buy her anything her heart desires. Tom was the perfect
candidate for her; he was very wealthy and welcoming to the idea of an affair. She loves Tom
for the simple fact that he can support her, although she knows