Gender Roles In The Great Gatsby And Ethan Frome By Edith Wharton

Imagine you get stared at by people that are judging if you are pretty or have a good body, you are controlled by your significant other, and you are blamed for anything. This is the life of a woman in the 1920s. In The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, he illustrates how women are treated poorly and not as human beings. The males in the story control the females because of gender roles in the 1920s. The theme that Fitzgerald developed was, women in the 1920s are objects and to blame for the downfall of everything, which is shown through the characters Myrtle, Daisy, and Ella Kaye.

Instead of raising her daughter to be emotionally intelligent, she wants her to fit society’s expectations of women: simple and obedient. Daisy believes that it is better to conform to what society wants and be content with that, than to have to hide her true self from others. Furthermore, The Lehigh study adds to Fitzgerald descriptions of her by saying, “while Daisy conforms to a shared, patriarchal idea of femininity that values subservient and docile females, she also understands these social standards for women and chooses to play right into them” (Lehigh University). Daisy chooses to maintain her identity as “America’s golden girl” instead of standing up for herself because of fear. Men would perceive her differently if she were to call out Tom for his affair or choose to live her life for herself and not others.

In The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Fitzgerald illustrates that men seek women like Daisy because of the social class she comes from, but she is treated unfairly and objectified in society because she is a woman. At the beginning of the novel, Fitzgerald implies that Tom and Daisy’s relationship is unstable as “Tom’s got some woman in New York” (Fitzgerald 15). Tom felt the need to assert dominance over another woman, belittling Daisy and her worthiness in their relationship. His infidelity reveals the type of man Tom is and how unfaithful he is towards Daisy even when he swears that “[he] loves Daisy” and “[he] always comes back [because in his heart, he] loves her all the time” (Fitzgerald 131). His words are inconsistent with his actions, “once in a while [he goes] off on a spree and makes a fool of [himself],” implying the immoral acts he committed (Fitzgerald 131).

Portrayal of Women Women of the 1920’s paved the way for women today. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, touches on the role women played in society. Characters of this novel, Daisy Buchannan and Myrtle Wilson, had different standards and morals compared to women now. Daisy, married to Tom Buchannan, reunites with an old flame. She makes questionable choices while married, but so does Tom.

By creating this unfaithful matrix with Tom, Gatsby, Myrtle and Daisy, he preserves the pristine marital example by discrediting Tom’s marriage. This “No True Scotsman” defense of marriage seems to be an unfair tactic, yet in this situation, it holds truth. Had Tom and Daisy truly fell in love and followed the tropes of marriage, they might not have indulged themselves with personal lovers, and this is enough to suggest that we reserve judgement on the situation and accept that this is no normal marriage to begin with. Considering Fitzgerald’s personal history, it is difficult to imagine why he would defend marriage; nonetheless, we must recognize that although he is a brilliant writer and storyteller, he is also human, molded by social values just as much as you or I. After his crisis in marriage, he might have hated the very idea

Women are constantly objectified in society, whether it is in the present or past. Daisy Buchanan is perpetually invalidated in Fitzgerald’s novel, “The Great Gatsby”. In the novel, she represents everything that a woman wished she could be during this era as she is beautiful, wealthy, and supposedly happy. Although Daisy is not happy with her current situation, she stays in a selfish attempt to maintain her high social status. Fitzgerald writes Daisy in his novel in this way to display how women are constantly portrayed negatively and rely on men to survive.

“Sitting still and looking pretty”, may have been what women did during the 1920 or in the song by Daya, yet for others, this concept was aloof to the true meaning of * surviving womanhood. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, portrays a society in the 1920's, in which women were expected to conform to traditional gender roles and find self-identity through their domestic duties. Fitzgerald challenges this idea by using female characters to demonstrate how women could gain power by leveraging their bodies, whether through flirtation, sexuality, or athleticness. Through the characters of Daisy, Myrtle, and Jordan, Fitzgerald showcases how women could manipulate societal expectations to their advantage, while still living within the

The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is a novel that shows a glimpse into the lifestyle of the wealthy elite in the 1920s. In this era, women were expected to play a specific role in society, and their actions were often dictated by the societal expectations of the time. The three female characters in the novel, Daisy, Jordan, and Myrtle, all represent different aspects of women in this society, and their roles provide insight into the power and influence that women had in the early 20th century. Daisy Buchanan is considered to be the golden girl of this novel. Daisy is beautiful, wealthy,and highly desired by men.

Myrtle is accustomed to living an underprivileged life where feminine power engulfs her, but Tom is too egotistical to allow Myrtle to speak with such authority to him. Similarly, Gatsby’s need for assurance from Daisy pressures her into revealing to Tom that she never loved him (Fitzgerald 132). Deep down, Daisy knows that she truly did love Tom once, but Gatsby’s assertiveness and persistence drives her over the edge to telling Tom that what the two of them shared meant nothing to her. Daisy’s attribute of being a pushover is revealed immensely because she refuses to stand up for herself. Daisy is used to enabling Tom to constantly control all aspects of her life, and that leaves her powerless in society.

Throughout history, women of many cultures have been denied equality with men. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s fictional novel, The Great Gatsby, he shows the struggles of distinct female characters. The novel takes place in America during the 1920s and focuses on American ideals and societal issues. Daisy Buchanan, Myrtle Wilson, and Jordan Baker were all women in this novel that had societal restrictions limiting their ability to pursue their own desires, motivations, and needs. Daisy Buchanan’s desire was to marry rich and to lead an ignorantly bliss lifestyle.

“‘All right,’ I said, ‘I’m glad it’s a girl. And I hope she’ll be a fool—that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool’” (Fitzgerald 17). Daisy in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is a woman caught between two men vying for her love. Neither wants it just for the fact of her love but for the achievement of their life goals and the unraveling of this story reveals the truth about the realization of the American dream which relies entirely on the complacency of women.

The Great Gatsby is a novel authored by F. Scott Fitzgerald in 1925, and it takes place during the 1920s. The narrative follows Nick Carraway as he tells the story of Jay Gatsby, a millionaire fixated on the stunning Daisy Buchanan. Examining this book from a feminist literary criticism standpoint reveals that "The Great Gatsby" promotes patriarchal values and reinforces gender stereotypes. It is significant to acknowledge that apart from Daisy Buchanan, who is a fundamental character in "The Great Gatsby," the other female characters in the novel play supporting roles. Fitzgerald illustrates women as objects of desirability and physical attractiveness with no self-determination or influence.

The narrator of The Great Gatsby, Nick Carraway, provides the reader with his idea of what life in the 1920s was like. Nick’s narratives on the sexism that existed in the 1920’s is, of course, a negative topic. Nonetheless, it’s an important aspect of the book as it further demonstrates the sexist culture that thrived in the 1920s. For instance, in chapter one, Daisy talks about her child being a girl and how she is “glad it’s a girl” and how she feels that the “best thing a girl can be in this world” is a “beautiful little fool” (17). This quote demonstrates how women in the world were viewed and how they were expected to act.

Daisy finds herself in conflict with society's expectations of women in the 1920s due to her messy marriage. She puts on an act of being a loving wife to Tom and is expected to be a loving mother to their daughter. But Daisy is aware of her husband’s disloyalty in their marriage yet chooses to stay with him because it gives her an easy life and ticket to the upper class society. “That’s what I get for marrying a brute of a man, a great, big, hulking physical specimen of a… (F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby, Ch 1, Page 13)”. This quote shows Daisys potential regret but acceptance of the terrible man she married.

F. Scott Fitzgerald portrays these issues throughout the book in a skillful manner. Back in the 1920s, gender roles were that the man was the one in power and the woman wouldn’t be able to do anything. The gender roles and inequalities of the time led Daisy to say, “All right,’ I said, ‘I’m glad it’s a girl. And I hope she’ll be a fool—that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool (Fitzgerald 20).” Daisy would rather have her daughter be a fool because she can’t make it if she tries to be strong.