Women In The Great Gatsby

     Jordan Baker, Daisy's friend, is portrayed by Fitzgerald as a masculine figure. One of the first things we find out about this woman is the fact that she is a professional golf player. Nowadays, we don't find anything unusual about this, but, in the twenties, it was quite unusual to

At the beginning of the story, she does no harm. She seems innocent and pure, tricking the reader into thinking she will reflect these characteristics, as she is described with colors that represent these same traits. “Daisy’s chief color is white, an image of purity[as she wears white throughout the story]... She is also associated with green, the color of vitality and hope. For Gatsby her symbol is the distant ‘green’(141)...

Daisy 's car was white so are her clothes, the rooms of her house, and about half the adjectives used to describe her. She is pure and innocent at this time

To many readers Daisy Buchanan appears to be a loving and caring woman. It’s not unusual to have pity on her either. However, in truth she is a self-centered and shallow woman who only looks out for her own. Daisy Buchanan could honestly care less if something or someone does not concern her wellbeing. In the novel The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald uses the color white to represent the superficial personality of Daisy Buchanan, which are characteristics of someone from “old money”.

Despite this she has a deeper denotation as she plays a part as the polar opposite of Daisy, more empty and shallow. Jordan’s character also served as a gateway for women in the 1920’s as her independence and assertiveness also pointed out the fractures in a patriarchal

Beneath her polished exterior lies a dark shallowness which the reader can assume is from her status as a wealthy individual unsure of her life's direction. Daisy is portrayed with childlike, naive, and passive qualities, aligning with the societal expectations of women in the 1920s. Women during this era were not typically encouraged to exhibit the same level of freedom, assertiveness, or outspokenness as

Throughout history, authors would often write their novels to reflect the world they live in, using their characters and settings to embody their reality, and The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is no exception. As an author living in the ‘Roaring Twenties’, he lived in a society that was changing quickly, particularly in the aspect of social roles. This characteristic can be found represented in the secondary character of Jordan Baker, as she represents a new emerging woman, and F. Scott Fitzgerald uses this characterization to reflect the changing ways of life in America. It is clear to see that Jordan Baker is significantly different from the other female characters within The Great Gatsby. She stands out compared to her equal, Daisy

In The Great Gatsby, the motif of the color white develops the irony of who Daisy is. This became evident at Daisy’s house when she was found, “lay[ing] upon an enormous couch like [a] silver idol, weighing down [her] own white dress against the singing breeze of the fans” (122). The author creates an image of an angel dressed in their habitual white gown with flowing body portions. The color white is associated with purity, innocence, new beginnings and stimulates growth. This emphasises on Daisy’s current life events.

Daisy is often written to go along with the color white, which most first associate it with purity and innocence, as white is often used to represent. By the end of the story, the reader sees Daisy for who she truly is, as she skips Gatsby’s funeral the reader can see the white to represent a voidness, emptiness, and lack of consciousness. The reader now

White can be used to show the innocence of Daisy’s youth. To add on, the reader learns how Daisy is wealth and how that may connect to how she acts. She is narrated as, “High in a white palace

Her actions are viewed as foolish, creating the stigma around women, and though Daisy does not see herself as a fool, surprisingly she expresses that “the best thing a girl can be in this world [is] a beautiful little fool (Fitzgerald, pg 17).” Yet, Daisy is not a fool; she is merely a victim of her environment which is influenced by gender, money, and status. This leads to Daisy having no power or control over her own life and feeling as though women can only be “beautiful fools” as stated earlier.

When Daisy is first introduced in the story and movie, she is dressed in all white symbolizing purity and innocence. She, Nick Caraway, Jordan Baker, and her husband Tom Buchanan sit down to have dinner. Her husband mistress calls time and time again. She finally gets up to say something to him but it solves nothing. She sits back down being fully aware of her husband infidelity and does nothing. I wondered why she didn’t do anything about it or leave him. The simple answer was the wealth. Even though Daisy loved Gatsby when she first married Tom, she is staying for the same reason she got married in the first place. She enjoys the lavish life and if she leaves she loses it all. This was typical of women in the 1920s though. Daisy character is questioned many times in this story. First she has a daughter that she barely mentions. Even in the movie the girl only appears once. In the story Daisy says when she woke after giving birth she immediately asks the nurse if she had a boy or girl and the nurse told her it was a girl. She then goes to say “I’m glad it’s a girl. And I hope shell be a fool- that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world a beautiful fool.” (Fitzgerald 17) This suggest that she feel like women have no place in the world. This also reflects how Fitzgerald own personal reflection of women. In an article titled Feeling "Half Feminine": Modernism and the Politics of Emotion in The Great Gatsby, Frances Kerr wrote that “"In 1935 Fitzgerald told his secretary Laura Guthrie, "Women are so weak, really-emotionally unstable and their nerves, when strained, break.” (Kerr 406) I think that this is why he made Daisy, who is the main female character in the book, look at herself as having no place in this world and as a fool. The next time Daisy character is really questioned is at the end of the book when she hit Myrtle Wilson and let Gatsby take the blame for it. She didn’t know he was going to get

In this article highlighting the presence of the American Dream in The Great Gatsby, the social class of early 1920’s women is considered. All three women characters in this book, Daisy, Jordan, and Myrtle showcase the trends common among women of this time period. They all are, “fickle, bored, selfish, and materialistic.” At one point Daisy admits to Nick that she is putting on a show and not truly living her life as her own. However, Gatsby is not phased by Daisy’s “empty existence,” and welcomes her facade into his dreams.

The Great Gatsby was written in 1925 to depict the American Dream. During this time, there was an ideal lifestyle for men and women. Ideally, women were meant to be housewives and men were meant to be the providers. Characters such as Daisy, Myrtle , and Jordan all represent different lifestyles and ways of obtaining the American dream. Daisy Buchanan, who uses her beauty to get what she wants. Myrtle Wilson is the mistress of Tom Buchanan, who is at rich man and she is poor ,but she was still able to use his money. Jordan Baker represents the “new woman” who does not live dependent upon a man and begins to dress in a different style.

As opposed to the other women in the novel, Jordan Baker is treated a little bit differently by the author, as she has certain masculine characteristics. She is a professional golfer who cheated her way to the top. She has masculine habits of drinking and smoking. She does not marry and is not yet willing to devote herself to a man, unlike the other female characters. She is self sufficient and is actively involved in her own interests. Jordan is harsh, cynical, and represents a new type of woman in the 1920's. The name "Jordan" also happens to be a unisex name. Jordan has made it to the elite status and will do whatever she has to in order to stay there, including lying. "She was incurably dishonest" (Fitzgerald 63). In this way, she does have similarities to Daisy and Myrtle. She is selfish and isn't concerned about anyone besides herself. Nick observes this as he watches the way Jordan drives. "'You're a rotten driver... suppose you met somebody just as careless as yourself.' 'I hope I never will. I hate careless people.'" (Fitzgerald 63). In this quote, the reader can see how Jordan is extremely selfish and indifferent. She likes to drive fast and she doesn’t care about the repercussions to other drivers. Jordan is very haughty, arrogant, and condescending, and looks down upon others who she considers to be below her. "'You live in West Egg,' she remarked contemptuously." (Fitzgerald 15). In this quote, the reader can see that Jordan is judging Nick for living on