The Great Gatsby The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald F.S, 1925) is a novel which focuses on narrator Nick Carraway after he moves to New York in 1922. Nick is drawn into the world of wealthy and mysterious neighbour Jay Gatsby, and his quest to rekindle his love with Nick’s cousin Daisy Buchanan. This does not quite go to plan, and an unraveling chain of events leads to a fatal hit-and-run with Gatsby’s own death following shortly after. This essay will however be focusing on the women of the novel: Daisy Buchanan; Jordan Baker; and Myrtle Wilson. These three women are all radically different from one another upon first glance, but all are subject to the sexism of the time period. Fitzgerald portrays love as a battle, a “struggle for power in an …show more content…
As a professional golfer she is immediately more independent and than the other two women just by having a career, representing a new self-sufficient woman of the 20s. Tom judges her for this independent lifestyle: “They oughtn’t to let her run around the country this way” (pg. 23) which shows his harsh opinions of her lack of patriarchal guidance. Jordan importantly ignores Tom’s comments, continuing to live as she pleases. Although like Daisy she plays the part of a flapper Jordan is frequently described as masculine in body shape: “hard jaunty body” (pg. 63). Fitzgerald also cleverly differentiates the two women with skin colour as well, describing Daisy’s skin as porcelain and flawless whilst Jordan’s is tanned. This insinuates that Jordan is impure and corrupt, as Fitzgerald uses the colour white to indicate purity on multiple occasions, such as with the colour of Tammy and Daisy’s dresses. Jordan proves this corruption by cheating and lying in both her golfing career and in her private life, choosing to involve herself with weaker men who were less likely to attempt to assert their dominance over her. This is a direct contrast to both Daisy and Myrtle, who seek men that they can rely on for protection and have no problems playing the secondary
Jordan Baker is a friend of Daisy’s. Daisy met her through golfing although, Jordans attitudes and demeanor don't support this story. She is clearly annoyed and bored by the situation, which only intoxicates Nick. Jordan has an attitude of nonchalance about her, she is seemingly untouched by the dramatic nature of the night.
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 find a woman playing golf. When we first meet this character, she is described as a 'slender, small breasted girl with an erect carriage which she accentuated by throwing her body backward at the shoulders like a young cadet.'; Small breasts are usually symbolic of a masculine figure, as would being a 'young cadet.'; Later on, we see her reading the Saturday Evening Post, and turning the pages with a 'flutter of slender muscles in her arms.'; Reading a newspaper would be an unlikely action of a woman of that time, and even her muscles reveal her masculine features. Fitzgerald's masculine depiction of Miss Baker in this fashion shows the reader the coming of a self sufficient woman into our times.
A woman’s need to pursue societies expectations of her can corrupt her entire view on relationships and human interactions. In the novel The Great Gatsby by Scott Fitzgerald, suggests that an individuals desire to achieve a standard of perfection in society can demoralize them into engrossing only what is best for themselves during conflict. Daisy is the epitome of a woman during the 1920’s, she wants nothing more than the appearance of a perfect family life, so when her future is indefinite she hides behind Tom’s wealth, and certainty to achieve her desires.
Jordan's androgynous name and cool, collected style masculinize her more than any other female character. However, in the end, Nick does exert his dominance over her by ending the relationship. The women in the novel are an interesting group, because they do not divide into the traditional groups of Mary Magdalene and Madonna figures, instead, none of them are pure. Myrtle is the most obviously sensual, but the fact that Jordan and Daisy wear white dresses only highlights their corruption.
In page 116, the author talks about Jordan: “Jordan’s fingers, powdered white over their tan, rested for a moment in mine.” This symbolizes fakeness, it tells us that Jordan is a superficial woman just like Daisy. They try to pretend to be something that they are not, just because they want to fit into the high society.
In the 1920’s, also known as The Roaring Twenties, women were recognized as a major influence on American culture. This relationship is represented in the female characters of The Great Gatsby: Daisy Buchannan, Jordan Baker, and Myrtle Wilson. Daisy Buchannan is a charming lady who captures the hearts of many. Jordan Baker is a mysterious woman who maintains an athletic career. Myrtle Wilson is an unfortunate woman who desires to live a wealthy lifestyle. Fitzgerald uses these women to represent the American dream by displaying their desires, motivations, and needs.
Jordan Baker, best friends with Daisy, friends with Tom and Gatsby, and the lover of Nick, is considered one of the main characters. Jordan is a typical flapper of the 1920s; she is slender with good posture. She also has a pale, charming face with grey, sun-strained eyes. She is a professional golfer; which gives her a lot of good and bad recognition. Jordan is almost hard to swallow; she is blunt, rude, snobby and stuck up. She treats almost everyone as if they are below her. " 'I hope I never will,' she answered. 'I hate careless people. That's why I like you' " (58). Her actions, along with others, take a toll on the innocent beings in the story line. Throughout the book, Jordan represents the cynical, dishonest, reckless and careless people
In this novel Fitzgerald shows Tom and George’s negative philosophy’s towards women. He shows in The Great Gatsby how men can be heinous, but he also shows the positive treatment of women by men in the form of Nick and Gatsby’s characters. Fitzgerald is trying to portray that there are a lot of men that mistreat women in the world, but there are those select distinguished few such as Nick and
Jordan’s first words aren’t first words at all, Jordan merly intojects into the conversation between the Bucannons and Carraway. On page 10 she chimes in “Absolutely!” (Fitzgerald 10). Jordan’s first words/word is not necessary to the conversation however, her own entitlement requires her to have an input. Once again according to Kuehl, “Fitzgerald had a healthy respect for the single word and the single line. He once said that a single word could change the emphasis and the value in a scene or setting” (Kuehl 6). In every book,the author must implement characters who are the epitome of the society, the “absolute” of the culture, characters in which the protagonist must rise above. Jordan is one such character. From the get go Jordan re enforces the normality of rich peoples ideals. She is always gossiping and always keeping up with the trends. By assigning one specific word to Jordan, Fitzgerald now primes the reader to understand that Jordan will be a blind, ignorant, bystander in the novel. Unlike Daisy, Jordan is ignorant of society's warped demands on women. She is unaware that “lovely girls will go to ruin” and that “wealth will disintegrate”. Jordan’s first word is superficial and unnecessary to the scene much like beauty. Fitzgerald uses the first word of Daisy in order to foreshadow the potential theme that
In a retelling of Jordan Baker’s past she depicts to Nick through her point of view: “The largest of the banners and the largest of the lawns belonged to Daisy Fay’s house” (Fitzgerald 79). Daisy came from money and was taught to live life through a materialistic manner; consequently, Daisy could not marry Gatsby because he was not wealthy enough. Gatsby retells the car accident to Nick from his point of view: “...first Daisy turned away from the woman toward the other car, and then she lost her nerve and turned back” (Fitzgerald 151). Daisy’s recklessness resulted in the death of Myrtle Wilson. Nick characterizes Daisy through his observations: “For Daisy was young and her artificial world was redolent of orchids and pleasant, cheerful snobbery…” (Fitzgerald 158). NIck is observing from his point of view that Daisy is superficial and has lived in a fake, “artificial world” her whole life. Daisy’s actions not only resulted in the killing of Myrtle Wilson, but also in the killing of Gatsby’s dream for her heart. Therefore, Daisy’s obsession with wealth and her reckless behavior resulted in her own
Although this could be said to describe the women as lively and cheerful, a “buoy” is a floating object anchored in the sea to warn of danger, which foreshadows the Daisy we see later in the novel who abuses her power by creating danger for those who she is closest to. The way Nick describes Daisy’s laugh as “absurd” and “charming” tells the reader that she is air-headed, and this being said alongside the description of her laziness on the “enormous couch”, shows that Nick is mocking the upper-class society in which Daisy is accustomed to. However, unlike Tom and Daisy, Jordan doesn’t use her power at all. She gives off a powerful persona which Nick feels and “almost” murmurs “an apology” for “having disturbed her”. However the adjective “motionless” tells the reader that she feels to need to use it in the extract; a complete contrast to the other characters. Jordan is introduced as an independent woman and by giving Jordan a unisex name, Fitzgerald has presented Jordan as strong and capable. Common nouns are usually associated with Daisy and Jordan, such as the “dresses” and the “couch”, which shows that the characters are possessions, just like the common objects described in the
F Scott Fitgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, is centred upon 1920’s America. In the text, characters such as Myrtle Wilson, Jordan Baker and Daisy Buchanan are all carefully constructed to reveal various attitudes held by America in the early 20th century. Overall, the construction of female characters in The Great Gatsby showcases an accurate representation of women in the time period the text was composed in.
With Tom, he escape this lonely marriage by having an affair with Myrtle who also seems to be having similar issues in her marriage. Daisy follows Tom’s footsteps and has an affair with Gatsby creating a scandalous mood in the midst of the aggravatingly hot summer. In chapter 9, readers find out that Jordan, who was thought to be single, was actually engaged. Her compulsive lying and affair with Nick hints that the marriage is not based on love. She admires someone who is careful because she is careless herself. The fact that she never told Nick about her engagement before making advances towards him, proves how selfish or inconsiderate she is. None of the characters had anyone close, presenting an image of a society of isolation (Fitzgerald).
The gender issues in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby adhere to the traditional gender roles of a male-dominant society where women are sexually objectified and made inferior, while men are portrayed as the dominant gender. The narrator’s relationship with the female characters of the novel and their character traits reveal not only the established patriarchal society in the novel, but the chauvinistic attitude of the author as well. While feminine conformity to the ideal standards of women in a male-dominant society is reflected through characters such as Daisy Buchanan and Myrtle Wilson, male characters such as Tom Buchanan and George Wilson appear to represent the traditional man, thus satisfying the ideal gender roles of a male-dominant society. Though it appears that Nick Carraway’s admiration for masculinity allows him to suffer from his potential anxieties about his own masculinity, Carraway’s male chauvinistic mentality is certain because of his enforcement of traditional gender roles that exerts dominance over women in the novel. Carraway’s attraction to Jordan Baker’s masculine traits and his fascination of the socioeconomic status of men, such as of Jay Gatsby’s and of Tom Buchanan’s, display his conformity to the ideal, traditional standards of gender roles in a male-dominant society that explain his admiration for masculinity.
In The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald calls attention to gender inequality of the 20th century. His descriptions of the differences between Jordan and Daisy portray Jordan as an embodiment of the new woman of the 1920s. Jordan epitomizes an unfettered woman and unlike Daisy, is entirely self-sufficient. Jordan’s independence and confidence spark disapproval from Tom and Nick because of her unwillingness to be restricted by their choices.