Women In The Great Gatsby

Women have a lengthy history of been stereotyped and expected to conform to certain roles. Most often, women were seen as the inferior gender and were required to be deferential towards men. However, Fitzgerald challenges these assumptions with his novel The Great Gatsby. Through the lives of the women in The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald brings attention to the fact that during the 1920s, women were obligated to conform to a pervasive feminine ideal, but he also implies that women were often less ignorant and more independent than society made them out to be.
Through the actions and thoughts of the male characters, Fitzgerald reveals the presence of an oppressive female standard in the 1920s. For example, When Myrtle Wilson repeats Daisy
Jay Gatsby is a poor man who works hard and becomes extremely wealthy. As he and Nick admire his mansion, he reveals that it took him “just three years to earn the money that bought it” (Fitzgerald 90). Although Gatsby was once poor, he becomes wealthy through resolute hard work over a period of time. This is possible because he is a man, and his life is rife with opportunity. He is in stark contrast with Myrtle, who also longs to become prosperous. When she is with Tom, she pretends to be wealthy and puts on airs. After exchanging words with Nick, she “swept into the kitchen, implying that a dozen chefs awaited her orders” (Fitzgerald 32). When she is in Tom’s apartment in New York, she has a completely different person. This indicates that she wants to separate her life as the wife of a poor mechanic from her life as the mistress of a wealthy man. However, her dreams to become rich are never realized. She is fettered by her destitute husband in the valley of ashes, a place of poverty, and she dies a poor woman when she is hit by Daisy driving Gatsby’s car. The contrast between her life and Gatsby’s display the reality that it was extremely difficult for a woman to escape her class, while men had opportunities to become rich and move up in
As Daisy recounts the details of her daughter’s birth to Nick, she tells him, “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” (Fitzgerald 17). Daisy’s poignant statement reveals her awareness of the gender roles in 1920s society. She has realized that being beautiful is the only thing that matters in society, because it secures a wealthy marriage. By hoping that her daughter is a beautiful fool, she hopes that her daughter will remain happy as a rich woman without ever becoming aware that her life is actually banal and dreary. Daisy’s declaration also explains her own whimsical behavior. By acting the part of a feminine woman, she hopes that it will bring her happiness. Her acting also implies that she is more clever and discerning than she lets on. Jordan also defies gender roles by being an independent woman. When searching for potential partners, she “instinctively avoided clever, shrewd men… because… she wasn’t able to endure being at a disadvantage” (Fitzgerald 58). Jordan cannot tolerate being dominated in a relationship, which signifies that she derives her self-worth from her independence. In addition, by audaciously not permitting men to control her, she holds people to a high standard, establishing that she deserves to be treated well. This attribute is the