Sexism In The Great Gatsby

The Wealth, Womanhood, and Wedlock of Daisy Buchanan When F. Scott Fitzgerald published his most famous novel, The Great Gatsby, in 1925, he introduced the public to a memorable cast of nuanced characters, each with their own unique lives and deep-rooted biases. This sentiment is especially evident in the character of Daisy Buchanan. Daisy Buchanan is a woman who has always known a life of luxury, exemplifying the status of “old money”, despite the fact that she has never worked herself. This is because, as a woman living in the culture of 1920’s America, Daisy spends her life dependent on the men in her life, whether that be her father, or her very wealthy husband, Tom Buchanan.

The rekindling of their relationship is moving forward when he invites Daisy to his mansion and flaunts his wealth in the form of clothing as, “He took out a pile of shirts and began throwing them, one by one, before us, shirts of sheer linen and thick silk and fine flannel” (Fitzgerald 71). Although it is never outright stated, Daisy slowly shifts towards the appeal of Gatsby. One of these events occurs when Gatsby threw his shirts around his room, driving Daisy to tears. On the surface, it may seem odd as to why Daisy began to cry, but by looking at the string of ordeals leading up to this, the shirt situation shows how

The novel, The Great Gatsby by Fitzgerald, conveys that Fitzgerald was a misogynist by illustrating the gender roles women endured. The measures of these women show that at this time women needed a man to supplement their needs. For example, Daisy gets mad at Tom and screams, “‘That’s what I get for marrying a brute of a man, a great big hulking physical specimen of A——’” (Fitzgerald 15). As the story progresses, we learn that Daisy only married Tom for his money and not for love.

(Gatsby, 110). In reality, Daisy is not infatuated with the shirts—or weeping over—the shirts from England. Her strong emotional reaction comes from her obsession with Gatsby having the proper wealth, and perhaps remorse over the complexity of the situation; he is finally a man she would be happy to marry, but she is already wed to Tom. This seemingly simple conversation about innocuous shirts represents the magnitude of Daisy’s love for Gatsby. Daisy’s visit to Gatsby’s home makes her recognize that Gatsby is her true

“Suddenly, with a strained sound, Daisy bent her head to the shirts and began to cry stormily. “They’re such beautiful shirts” she sobbed, her voice muffled in the think folds. “It makes me sad because I’ve never seen such- such beautiful shirts before.” (Fitzgerald 92) Daisy is a careless, self centered, wealthy, white woman that does not have to worry about a thing. When a man of the past catches her attention she makes the decision to pursue him again.

The 1920s were seen as a chance for upward mobility; new money was emerging and promptly displaying itself all over manhattan. Buzz and excitement flooded the city as people realized they, too, had a chance to achieve the oh-so-coveted “American Dream.” For many, the dream was to obtain wealth and fame, which Fitzgerald critiqued, as difficult for women to achieve individually. The Great Gatsby showcased the struggle that women faced under a patriarchal system and how inversely related femininity and success were at this time. A character depicted with such feminine traits is none other than Daisy, a young and desirable woman coveted by many (Fitzgerald 9); Daisy represents "old money" and depicts the traditional roles expected of women.

The era’s “perfect woman”, Daisy Buchanan, is a bubbly, conflicted woman whose choice is between two men: her husband, Tom Buchanan, and her former lover Jay Gatsby. Since Daisy’s character was written in the 1920s, women’s characters were based on the traditional women of the time period, and many women then were still seen as objects and as less desirable than men. When Daisy is invited to Gatsby’s mansion, her first sight of him in many years upon seeing his expensive clothing, she is so overcome with emotion that she begins to weep “with a strained sound” and begins to “cry stormily” showing her true reaction to something as petty as material objects (92). She continues, claiming that

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.

and i think it makes Gatsby be feel good about himself and to at least win Daisy back. In chapter 5 it states “He took out a pile of shirts and began throwing them, one by one, before us, shirt of sheer linen and thick silk and

Within The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald presented Myrtle as a character who was unaffected by true love and craved extreme wealth. Many people like Myrtle in the 1920s felt having lots of money meant being able to live a luxurious and happy lifestyle. They refused to accept the idea of a simplistic lifestyle and always anticipated more. Fitzgerald’s writing revealed more than Myrtle constantly insulting her husband’s situation. He exposed the corruption of the “new” American Dream and the relationships it destroyed as a

In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, “The Great Gatsby,” Daisy Buchanan struggles to free herself from the power of both Tom Buchanan and Jay Gatsby, whom both use their wealth and high standings as a way to dictate power over and impress others. Fitzgerald purposely develops Daisy as selfish and “money hungry” character when she chooses Tom, a rich man, over Gatsby, a poor man (who she was in love with), which establishes her desire for power that she never achieves.

Fitzgerald depicts the women of the novel as deceitful, sexual beings that are naturally subordinate to men through Daisy, Jordan, and Myrtle. Daisy exemplifies the naturally inferior role of women relying on the wealth of men in their lives to take care of them. When Daisy talks about her daughter she claims, “a fool–that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool”(21) establishing women’s subordinate role in which they are ignorant to the affairs of their husbands and expected to rely on their beauty to carry them through life. When Daisy is accused of infidelity with Gatsby in the hotel, Gatsby claims that Daisy is attracted to men of wealth and, “only married [Tom] because [Gatsby] was poor and she was tired of waiting for [him]”(137).

This is made clear when Daisy is led through Gatsby’s house for the first time. “He took a pile of shirts and began throwing them, one by one, before us, shirts of sheer linen and thick silk and fine flannel… ‘They’re such beautiful shirts,’ she sobbed, her voice muffled in the thick folds” (92). Dr Anna Wulick states, “Daisy is materialistic and is drawn to Gatsby again due to his newly-acquired wealth”. Daisy loves material objects, and the fact that she was not fond of the over-the-top nature of Gatsby’s party does not negate that. What Daisy wants most is to be able to value what she has without having to understand all of the consequences that come with her situation.

They had gained status in society, however much of that remained tied to whom they married. In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald illustrates gender inequality through social expectations, romantic relationships, and disproportionate financial realities. To begin, social expectations tell what people thought about how genders should behave and how society portrays them. Daisy states in The Great Gatsby “‘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’”

Her self-absorption in what she says is different than the tone describing Daisy as someone asking “helplessly” about “What do people do?”(Fitzgerald, 10), referring to herself as not a person. This chapter reflects the distance she has from the world around her and how money consumes her by Fitzgerald's tone about her.