Power Of Women In The Great Gatsby

He relied on his money to buy him amnesty from what is socially acceptable. Tom’s affair with Myrtle was portrayed as a love affair. He deceived her into believing she was something more than just a mistress. In the novel, Catherine mentions, “...If I was them I’d get a divorce and get married to each other right away” (Fitzgerald 37). This quote shows how Tom has made his relationship with Myrtle seem genuine. However, it is later mentioned that Tom always finds his way back to Daisy. When she was informed of his affair, she felt obligated to her reputation to stay with him even though she was extremely unhappy. This unhappiness led Daisy into Gatsby’s arms. Tom believed it was fair to stay with his wife and mistress, but when he discovered Daisy’s affair he was completely taken aback. In Tom’s mind, Daisy could not have an affair because it was morally unacceptable. He did not care about how he treated his wife, but he would not be mistreated by her. Myrtle believed their affair was one of love and passion. She invested her heart into her relationship with Tom because she loved him. However, their love was not mutual. After Myrtle’s death, Tom saved himself and disguised their affair as one between Gatsby and Myrtle. Tom placed no importance on his relationship with Myrtle unless it benefitted him in some way. Daisy and Myrtle were toys in his own game of

Myrtle Wilson is one of the most dynamic characters in the Great Gatsby. Myrtle is also one of the characters that's hidden behind a metaphorical mask in order to hide the fact that she is unhappy in her marriage with George Wilson and in order to be accepted. Myrtle even goes as far as to pretend that she is happy. Myrtle is faking the level of happiness in her marriage with George while she is off flaunting herself and flaunting the access she has to tom's money in order to make Tom accept her and in order to be accepted into the upper-class society.

In the story Myrtle loves Tom and she wants to be the trophy wife so much even when he breaks her nose for talking about Daisy she still continued to be with him. Second, Gatsby and Daisy have an affair which is dangerous

For instance, Daisy is fully aware of her husbands infidelities, yet she does not say or do anything about it. She lives in this way because Tom has money and power and she benefits from these things and in turn is willing to deal with his affairs. Daisy portrays her selfish, cruel character when she treats her daughter as an object and wishes her to be a “beautiful little fool,” demonstrating Daisy’s perspective that the only way to make it in the world is through wealth and beauty (17). Even Gatsby, the one who loves Daisy most, states that her voice is “full of money” and it is the main focus in her life (120). Daisy has always lived a life of money, and when the time came, she had to marry into money to maintain her status and lifestyle. This is strongly reflected through her mannerisms with Gatsby. She continues to live with this facade, which provides her with some sense of security. Although Myrtle is a character representing the lower class, it is evident that she wishes to play the same role as Daisy. Myrtle constantly tries to come across as a very wealthy woman and wants others too see her as a member of the upper class. She gains entry into the elite social world through her secret affair with Tom where she finds the power and dominance she lacks in her everyday life. Myrtle longs for an easy life and believes that money can bring her that. Her world is framed by her narrow

Myrtle becomes dependent on Tom and hesitates to leave him, costing her well-being and at the end, her life. This implies that he has the ability to express his dissatisfaction in any manner he desires. This is proof that Tom can completely dominate Myrtle, and it shows how powerfully he can control female characters. Jay Gatsby’s pursuit of Daisy Buchanan serves as a form of oppression as he tries to manipulate her and the circumstances to fit the

There was an unmistakable air of natural intimacy about the picture.”(145). Then when Gatsby and Daisy reunite we see that Daisy truly is a hopeless romantic and ultimately this is the reason that she has an affair with Gatsby. Daisy after all of the years and after having a marriage has always kept the dream alive that she and Gatsby would reunite. Before her marriage Daisy actually tried to make the dream a reality by visiting Gatsby, “Her mother had found her packing her bag one winter night in New York and say good-by to a soldier who was going over seas.” (75). This is a prime example of Daisy and how her being a hopeless romantic had previously persuaded her to go to Gatsby and the past is now repeating and she wants to go back to Gatsby again. Myrtle on the other hand certainly is not a hopeless romantic, but has an affair based mostly power, wealth, and social status. Tom and Myrtle met on a train car and they had feelings for each other from the start. One of the first things that Myrtle says about Tom is all about money, “ A dress suit and patent leather shoes I couldn’t keep my eyes

The observed strain on Daisy and Tom’s relationship is visible to the reader from the beginning of the novel and even their lavish lifestyle and plethora of alcohol cannot change it. Tom and Gatsby’s continuous struggle over Daisy shows her as a prize not a person. Myrtle and Catherine are sisters who represent another set of contrasting

Another crucial women in The Great Gatsby is Myrtle Wilson. Even though Tom is married to Daisy, she knows “Tom’s got some woman in New York” (Fitzgerald, 15)” From the first mention of Myrtle, Fitzgerald shows how Tom is above Myrtle; Not that Tom is dating a girl, but Tom has a girl. This slight change in language shows the male domination that overpowered society in the 1920’s. This idea of male dominance and Myrtle go hand and hand throughout the book in different ways.

Viewing The Great Gatsby Through A Feminist Lens: Women are everywhere. Right now, in 2024, there are 3.9 billion women on earth, and yet, they are still seen as less than a man. Older generations of women, especially in the early 20th century, were taught to not be seen as superior to a man, stay at home to take care of the kids while their husband worked, and to never say what they wanted. They were taught to be quiet in society, yet they need to speak up for their rights and goals. A feminist lens shows how each of the main female characters in The Great Gatsby represent the stereotypical roles held by women in the 1920's like Daisy as the trophy-wife, Myrtle as the classic mistress, and Jordan as the independent woman.

Tom’s relationship with Myrtle has no intimacy; it is solely to avoid attachment to Daisy. Nick describes Myrtle as a “smoldering woman with an immediately perceptible vitality.”(30).Tom brings Myrtle to fancy restaurants around his male friends so he can boost his selfdom which proves his distance from emotion to Myrtle and Daisy rather than love and devotion to the women. Tom’s interest in other woman has become so habitual that Daisy has come to be accustomed with it. At one of Gatsby’s parties, Tom tells Daisy he wants to eat dinner with a group of strangers rather than her and Daisy responds by offering a “little gold pencil” in case he wants to take adresses down of other women.

Myrtle also adds to this stigma. She longs for a life that is fun and glamorous, but reality is she is the wife of a pump mechanic, meaning she will never have access to mobility in class or status. She is a lower class woman, which led her to engage in an affair with Tom Buchanan; it is the closest she will come to feeling higher up socially. Myrtle will do just about anything to be a part of the upper class despite the consequences. There was even a point in time when Tom physically hits her, breaking her nose and yet she still stayed with him just to continue lavishing in this fantasy she so eagerly wanted to become real (Fitzgerald, pg 37). That scene and the dynamic of her and Tom represent the subordination of the lower class and the mistreatment of women within the lower class.

The Great Gatsby had many situations where people weren’t happy with their current life, though no one did anything about it. A few of those situations dealt with Tom, Myrtle, and Daisy, and their love triangle. Tom, being the abusive one in both relationships, was the one making them unhappy. Making it to where neither Daisy nor Myrtle loved Tom because he is treating them horribly, but they stay with him for his money demonstrating the greediness of human nature.

Furthermore, women in The Great Gatsby are marginalized by the social patterns of the Jazz Age resulting in a deprivation of their own identity. Despite their recent liberation, women are replicas of each other; nothing more than impersonal, faceless objects. In August, 1920, the 19th Amendment, granting women the right to vote, gave way to the emancipated women. Women or flappers, as they are referred to, with their short hair and shiny dresses are identical in appearance, with little or no individuality. While reflecting on the attendees at Gatsby’s parties, Nick infers, “Benny McClenahan arrived always with four girls. They were never quite the same ones in physical person, but they were so identical one with another that it inevitably seemed they had been there before” (Fitzgerald 62). As Nick observes, due to their similarity it makes it difficult to determine if it is a woman’s first time at one of Gatsby’s parties. This exemplifies women’s conformity to an unwritten social code and their morphism into undistinguishable beings, simply an object of men’s desires. Additionally, Nick’s nightmare after Gatsby’s death illustrates another example of women’s marginalization as a result of their adherence to the social standards of the times. He dreams about a drunken woman in a white evening dress being carried home by four men. “Gravely the men turn in at a house – the wrong house. But no one

His actions show that he is not loyal nor respectful towards Daisy, instead displaying apathy and disinterest. In addition to acting uncompassionate towards Daisy, he is also not taking into consideration Myrtle’s feelings. In fact, he lies to her in order to stop himself from being forced into a committed relationship. This lie that Tom tells Myrtle is not only extremely false, but also shows he is simply using her. “It’s really his wife that’s keeping them apart. She’s a Catholic, and they don’t believe in divorce” (Fitzgerald 33). Tom lying to Myrtle shows he has no intention of marrying her, instead he only wants to take advantage of her vulnerable state. Myrtle is unhappy and desperate to fulfill her dream of moving up social classes. Instead of acting sympathetically towards her situation, he exploits her weakness. Likewise, Daisy and Gatsby’s affair shows similar exploitation for one’s own personal needs over the emotions of their counterpart. Without Tom’s knowledge, Daisy has an affair with her long lost love, Gatsby. Then they sauntered over to my house and sat on the steps for half an hour… (Fitzgerald 105). During this affair Daisy shows no acknowledgement of Tom’s feelings, the man she married and pledged to be loyal to. At the same time, she is also exploiting Gatsby. Authors say, “...his desire to marry Daisy as an attempt to enter/create

Myrtle Wilson is the other partner in Tom Buchannan’s affair. She is of a simpler lifestyle living on the “edge of the wasteland…contiguous to absolutely nothing.”(Gatsby 24). Nick describes her “a thick woman” “in [her] middle thirties” (Gatsby 25), the average woman in that time. Once she and Tom get off the train, she immediately buys a dog, and then makes a point to buy a rather expensive dog as well. When she arrives to her sister’s house, where a party is taking place, Nick says that she “changed her costume” (Gatsby 30). Because a costume is also the attire performers wear, Nick is giving us the impression that all of this is a play, a facade to act wealthy when in fact she is not. Nick also says “with the influence of the dress her personality had also undergone a change. The intense vitality that had been so remarkable in the garage was converted into impressive hauteur” (Gatsby 30), again another indicator of her “performance” of a wealthy woman. Soon, she and Tom “discuss in impassioned voices” whether she had any “right to mention Daisy’s name” (Gatsby 37). Tom punches her after this, but still left the party with her. Myrtle is now a woman with no self-respect, due to her allowing a man, though he may be rich, to physically assault her, instead of having a man who truly cares for her not being well off.