Women In F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby

Women of the Great Gatsby

“Being a woman is a terribly difficult task, since it consists principally in dealing with men” (Joseph Conrad). In the Novel, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the wife of George Wilson, Myrtle, has been cheating with the married man Tom Buchanan. From time to time they escape to an apartment Tom owns, behind each of their spouses backs. As time goes on Daisy, Tom’s wife, obtains the knowledge from Jordan that her previous lover is just across the bay and waiting to see her again. Daisy begins going behind Tom’s back with Jay Gatsby, tangling the characters in a mess of relationships. Throughout the book, women take important roles and change the story, even ultimately leading to Gatsby’s death.

She is kept in a life that is falling apart as she longs for a lover that she’s actually interested in. Her husband Wilson loves her, but turned out to be poorer than the man she thought she was marrying. Myrtle wants someone to love that loves her to go along with her wish of a life of luxury. Tom was the answer to all her problems. He was rich, and he loved her, even if that meant they were both cheating. The airedale—undoubtedly there was an airedale concerned in it somewhere though its feet were startlingly white—changed hands and settled down into Mrs. Wilson’s lap, where she fondled the weather-proof coat with rapture” (Fitzgerald 31). Buying their own dog is just another way to further their relationship, making them feel more like a couple. Would Myrtle have really want to have that dog with Wilson? Or Tom with Daisy? Tom could throw around money whenever he wanted so buying the dog wouldn’t be a problem. The entire apartment requires dedication to the relationship, and putting a dog in it increases it even more so. Just being with Tom and sneaking away from time to time isn’t enough for Myrtle. She wanted to run away with Tom, leaving her old life behind. She had even convinced Wilson to move away from the horrible life they shared, but this backfired and he ended up keeping her locked inside until they were ready to leave the next day. “Myrtle Wilson’s body wrapped in a blanket and then in another

Wanting to be with her true love again, she sneaks visits with him without Tom knowing. Just like Myrtle had, Daisy torn into her own marriage. She loved both men, but as soon as it was found out, the men began fighting for her. “I glanced at Daisy who was staring terrified between Gatsby and her husband…” (Fitzgerald 143). This isn’t what Daisy wanted at all. At some point Daisy loved Tom, and it’s very likely that she still does, regardless of all of his cheating. Living a life of riches for so long has affected her with affluenza, blinding her morals as it did to Tom. When someone already has everything they could ever ask for, they’re still going to want more. Something to work for, or else life becomes boring as Daisy points out many times in the novel. When both men she loves are threatening each other and fighting for her fondness she’s realized what she’s done wrong. She’s fallen into the same trap as Myrtle, being stuck between two men, but she still has feelings for Tom.“I saw them in Santa Barbara when they came back and I thought I’d never seen a girl so mad about her husband. If he left the room for a minute she’d look around uneasily and say ‘Where’s Tom gone?’” (Fitzgerald 83). Gatsby tries to convince Daisy that she loves him and only him, yet Daisy actually loves them both. After Daisy was married she could think about anything except Tom, while Gatsby has spent the five