Fitzgerald experiments with narrative point of view and presents the female characters through a central male consciousness. In the “Great Gatsby” Fitzgerald fully explores the modern woman’s symbolic significance in an era of disintegration. Women in the “Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald are symbols for the different sides of 1920’s feminism. Fitzgerald offers the public an image of a modern young woman sexually liberated, self-centered, fun-loving, and magnetic. Fitzgerald uses women characters as a way to convey the futures and the pasts of women’s rights colliding with one another. There are both women that are “dependent” and “independent” from men in the novel. I would argue that Myrtle and Daisy are both dependent on men to provide
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Surrounded by vulgar mass-produced decor, she is a mockery of everything she aspires to imitate. In this respect, she resembles Jay Gatsby, whose self-invention parodies Benjamin Franklin’s success story of hard work and moral self- improvement. Nick concludes, with grim resignation, that “Dishonesty in a woman is a thing you never blame deeply” (48). Myrtle’s depiction is more focused on her physical appearance, and she is demoralised as artificial and grotesque. It is possible to argue that Myrtle is punished for her sexuality, while Daisy, a less sensual character, is able to resume her life with Tom once she has abandoned Gatsby. Myrtle’s death is undignified and stresses the destruction of specifically feminine aspects of her. Her left breast is ‘swinging loose’ and her mouth is ‘ripped’. Myrtles constant longing for wealth and status essentially destroys her, in a very literal sense. George is passive and reserved, but Tom is controlling and authoritative and she equates Tom’s actions with …show more content…
The characters in his novel the great Gatsby are the different aspects of 1920s feminism. Using Jordan baker as the main Independent modern woman he demonstrates the idea that in this new world the only people that end up happy are the ones that break from social norms.
Jordan’s identity, seems to be a product of the popular media. Nick first recognizes her face because he has seen her photo, and during their last meeting she still reminds him of “a good illustration” (GG, 141). Noting that this sports celebrity is surrounded by sensationalist rumours, Nick decides that the “bored haughty face that she turned to the world” conceals an incurable dishonesty born of her unwillingness to be at a disadvantage
Surrounded by vulgar mass-produced decor, she is a mockery of everything she aspires to imitate. In this respect, she resembles Jay Gatsby, whose self-invention parodies Benjamin Franklin’s success story of hard work and moral self- improvement. Nick concludes, with grim resignation, that “Dishonesty in a woman is a thing you never blame deeply” (48). Myrtle’s depiction is more focused on her physical appearance, and she is demoralised as artificial and grotesque. It is possible to argue that Myrtle is punished for her sexuality, while Daisy, a less sensual character, is able to resume her life with Tom once she has abandoned Gatsby. Myrtle’s death is undignified and stresses the destruction of specifically feminine aspects of her. Her left breast is ‘swinging loose’ and her mouth is ‘ripped’. Myrtles constant longing for wealth and status essentially destroys her, in a very literal sense. George is passive and reserved, but Tom is controlling and authoritative and she equates Tom’s actions with …show more content…
The characters in his novel the great Gatsby are the different aspects of 1920s feminism. Using Jordan baker as the main Independent modern woman he demonstrates the idea that in this new world the only people that end up happy are the ones that break from social norms.
Jordan’s identity, seems to be a product of the popular media. Nick first recognizes her face because he has seen her photo, and during their last meeting she still reminds him of “a good illustration” (GG, 141). Noting that this sports celebrity is surrounded by sensationalist rumours, Nick decides that the “bored haughty face that she turned to the world” conceals an incurable dishonesty born of her unwillingness to be at a disadvantage