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It is she for whom men compete, and possessing her is the clearest sign that one has made it into that magical world. The male bias within American literature leads the reader to sort of equate the experience of being American to being male, whereas the quintessential American dream is betrayed by women. America is female, yet to be American is male. In F.Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby” the three main female characters are not only treated as inanimate objects, but they are also shown as childlike and without mortality, whereas in reality, the men in the story possess these characteristics. The women characters have been depicted as they were stereotyped in earlier years – inferior to men. Daisy, a flirty and seemingly fragile young woman, appears completely controlled by her husband, Tom, who constantly condescends her. Tom also disproves Jordan Baker’s flighty ways, including her traveling the country alone. The three women are made to be secondary and 2-dimensional characters. The representation of women and feminism in this writing can be seen as quite negative concerning how women are depicted. The objectification of women is an ongoing theme throughout the novel.
Within chapter one, when Nick arrives, we seem to witness a scene that showcases the physical repression of women. Daisy and Jordan are shown to be enjoying themselves when there comes “a boom as Tom Buchanan shut the rear windows and the caught wind died about the room…”( 11). The noun ‘boom’ feels very masculine, as it has connotations of violence and force. The verb ‘died’ too is quite dramatic. Following this, “the two young women ballooned slowly to the floor.”(11). This highlights the impact of men on women’s state of mind; It seems to imply that women are liberal beings who become repressed in marriage. Also, Tom Buchanan has ‘a woman in the city’ which again objectifies women by presenting them as if they were items to be collected, some sort of inanimate object. When he first suggests that Nick should meet Myrtle, Tom says “I want you to meet my girl”. The use of the possessive pronoun ‘my’ gives the impression that Tom owns Myrtle. The noun ‘girl’ suggests immaturity, as if she has a lower social footing and is less developed than himself. Nick then reveals that “though I was curious to see her, I had no desire to meet her.”(27) This implies that women should be observed but not interacted with, as if they are specimens. This sort of ‘seen but not heard’ view again links to the idea of women having a lower social footing, than men as if they were young children. It is also revealed later that on the night of Daisy and Tom’s wedding, Tom gives her “a string of pearls at three hundred and fifty dollars”(82). Some may regard this gift as romantic, or a means to satisfy Daisy’s apparent materialistic appetite. However, it could suggest that by offering a string of pearls, the day before the wedding, it may seem that Tom is putting down a deposit on her life, using it as a sort of insurance in case Daisy changes her mind last minute. The use of the word “string” as opposed to the word “necklace” is interesting as it gives a business-like connotation, which again links to franchising. It would be as though seem marrying her, he is investing and treating Daisy as a kind of business deal.
Having Daisy makes Tom Buchanan’s house in East Egg finished and ‘right’; whereas not having Daisy makes Gatsby’s mansion in West Egg incomplete and ‘wrong.’ Daisy is viewed as a possession rather than a person. There are no emotional relations between Gatsby and Daisy to give an account of; there is only an emotional relation between Gatsby and his ‘unutterable visions,’ of which she is the unwitting symbol.
It would seem that F.Scott Fitzgerald’s, perception of a 1920’s woman in society lacks the appreciation of the increasing economic and social liberation of women at the time. The women at the time were seen as more than mothers, homemakers, and followers of the men in their lives who swayed them with money, as the independence of women and what they contributed to society was becoming increasingly more important during the ’20s; yet Fitzgerald’s does not seem to take this approach when depicting his female characters, especially his character Daisy Buchanan. An example of the lack of appreciation for new women of the time and disapprovement of the new women’s image is shown when Daisy says; “I hope she’ll be a fool – that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool.”(20). The adjective “beautiful” suggests that without a strong physical appearance, women would greatly struggle in the world, as if they are somewhat incapable of making decisions and their accomplishments outside of marriage. The use and repetition of the word “fool” seem to emphasize the fact that blissful ignorance is the key to happiness, which perhaps implies that it is better to be unaware of any kind of wasted potential. Nick, throughout his narrative, also gives quite negative descriptions of their behaviors but not of their appearance. Daisy emerges as a shallow, spoiled, and selfish woman. Her less- less-than-admirable actions include abandoning Gatsby when she finds a wealthy man to marry, neglecting her child, engaging in an affair, and contributing to the deaths of Myrtle and George Wilson and Gatsby. Myrtle is introduced to the novel as the immoral mistress of Tom, and her reliance on men shows the stereotypical female in the writing of F. Scott Fitzgerald. The immorality of Myrtle comes to light during Nick’s first meeting with her, as she discusses her unhappy marriage to her husband: “‘I knew right away I made a mistake. He borrowed somebody’s best suit to get married in, and never even told me about it, and the man came after it one day… I gave [the suit] to him and then I lay down and cried to beat the band all afternoon” (35). This portrays Myrtle as an emotional woman who gets angry over the silliest of things. It also proves that Fitzgerald believes women have very little substance and few care about more than material objects and money, Myrtle is crying because her husband is poor and this depicts her as a selfish gold digger.
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