Great Gatsby: Women’s role

Prior to the 1920s: A Woman’s Main Responsibility

Prior to the 1920s, a woman’s main responsibility was to care for her family. However, it is clear from later in the book that they changed and started to neglect their families. Even though there were many changes, some aspects remained the same.

The Shift in Women’s Role in the 1920s

Fredrick Fitzgerald wrote The Great Gatsby. It was created in 1918, at the height of World War I. The time represented a significant shift for women. Women are now able to vote. They had to put on lead corsets, long dresses, and shoes with high buttons. The dress’ length decreased and shrunk after the conflict, though. It is evident that women’s behavior changed. Women could smoke in the company of men. According to Bode, the new appearance had a negative reaction from members of the society, the role of the women would change, and the family would be destroyed. This paper will look at the role of women in the 1920s.

The Impact of World War I on Women’s Role

In the World War I, women’s role in the society took a drastic turn. Women had to work and as a result, they became independent. They realized that there was more to life than just taking care of their house, husband, and children (Samkanashvili p.48). Women gained their freedom, and most of them started smoking, drinking and even dancing. In the Great Gatsby, Daisy is among the women who took charge towards freedom.

The New Era Women in The Great Gatsby

In the novel the great Gatsby, the author shows the new era of the 1920s women. The women who portray the changes on the new era women were Jordan Baker, Daisy Buchannan, and Myrtle Wilson. Women differ the norm and no longer lived by the rules. The novel portrays a new woman; one who has both sexual and social freedom (Turnbull n.p). the modern woman is a clear reflection of the 1920 woman. They do not follow any rules and dress in the way they want.

Daisy Buchanan

Fitzgerald portrays Daisy as a woman with charm but does not focus on her as a thinking woman. The author does not portray Daisy as a woman of her personality. She exists on the images that men have of her. Gatsby’s dream of Daisy has images of bird songs, summer, moon, and flowers. In addition to that, there are also images of money, gold, and cars that identify daisy. Gatsby continues to cling to his images of her. However, Daisy has secluded Gatsby from her world and retreats into “the wealth that imprisons and preserves safe and proud above the struggles of the poor” (p.119). Daisy is perceived as being passive, and her voice impacts her feminist, charm and female personality. It is evident that her voice is as a result of her upbringing, education, and environment. Her charm and beauty are of haunting quality. Daisy, just like all the women in the novel is socially brilliant but economically passive, and there is no role for her in the world. Daisy cheats on her husband with Jay Gatsby. Gatsby and Tom fight over Daisy (Fetterley n.p). Daisy is not satisfied with her marriage. She left Gatsby and got married to Tom who was wealthy. She does not leave Tom even though he cheats on her with myrtle. It is evident that men still have power over women.

Myrtle Wilson

Myrtle came into the novel through her telephone call which disrupts Daisy’s dinner party. It is Jordan Barker’s remark that indicates Wilson social class “Tom has got some woman in New York, who hasn’t the decency to disturb at dinner” (p.16). The author uses Myrtle to indicate unconcealed sexuality. She has a voluptuous which can be seen from her dress that is tight over her hips. Wilson dominates the people who she interacts with in the novel. She uses direct, energetic and unselfconscious language when referring to her sexual needs. Wilson desires Tom simply because of his social style, and masculinity. Wilson expresses an urgency that has not been portrayed anywhere else in the novel (Bruccoli n.p). When she sees Tom for the first time, Wilson says “all I kept thinking about, over and over, you can’t live forever; you can’t live forever” (p.31). Myrtle cheats on her husband, Wilson. In her mind, she thinks that Tom will leave his wife Daisy and marry her. However, her husband finds out about it and locks her in a room. She was unfaithful and saw the affair as materialistic and a ticket to get out of poverty. Tom, on the other hand, took Myrtle as a sex object. She tries to escape but gets hit by a car.

Conclusion: Women Breaking Free from Social Convention

In conclusion, the women did their best to go out of the social convention. Myrtle Wilson is destroyed, Daisy attempts to break out but still goes back to the captive position. The women in the 1920s changed their behavior, dresses, haircut, and even their attitude. However, the great Gatsby still shows women as being powerless. All the women in the novel are unfaithful which leads to their destruction.

References

Bode, C. (1990). American Perspectives, the United States in the Modern Age, Washington, DC.

Bruccoli, Matthew J. (1974): Apparatus for F. Scott Fitzgerald’s the Great Gatsby. 1st ed. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press.

Fetterley, Judith (1978): The Resisting Reader: A Feminist Approach to American Fiction. 2nd ed., Bloomington: Indiana University Press

Fitzgerald, F. Scott (1998): The Great Gatsby. 1st Ed. New York: Oxford University Press

Samkanashvili, M. (N.D).The Role of Women in the Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Journal in Humanities

Turnbull, Andrew, ed. (1968): The Letters of F. Scott Fitzgerald. New York: Penguin