Gender Roles In The Great Gatsby

1616 Words4 Pages

Around the 1920s, gender roles depended on what city you were located in at the time, it be Chicago or New York aka the big apple. While women in Chicago were aspiring to become actresses, make the papers, take over media, sell products with their name on it, and perform plays on stage...women in New York were simply living to get played by men with money and power, they had almost no ambition or dreams. Both women in both worlds portray how gender roles were taking a toll on society, for the good of women or for the worse. ‘Playing’ in Chicago for women is taken to a whole different level. The ultimate goal is to be able to make a living off of it, accomplish your lifelong goals, and for some characters in Chicago...the attention. …show more content…

We can say that the women are the puppets and the men act as puppet masters in New York, yet somehow women still have an influence on some men. In the relative beginning of the story, Ms. Baker explains to Nick how, “ ‘ Tom’s got some woman in New York’ ” (Fitzgerald 15). This woman is not Daisy, but Daisy knows this very well and she is not willing do anything about it but watch and just hope that she eventually goes away. New York women, in this situation, seem more naive and unsure of what they want in life. Unlike Roxie and other women in Chicago, Daisy and the women of New York are the exact opposite. They allow men to control them, and they do not do anything for themselves or their own good. It seems as if they are powerless, and have no say in society or almost anywhere. Women in The Great Gatsby are portrayed as indecisive, not knowing what they want, and not being able to get what they want. In Chicago, women are able to get exactly what they want when they want it. A great example of this is when Tom, Gatsby, Nick, and the rest of the gang go out for a while. At this moment, Gatsby and Daisy reveal how they truly feel about each other...and this gets Tom aggravated. While arguing, Daisy explains how she, “did love him once, but I loved you too” (Fitzgerald 266). Daisy was trying to explain how she did love Tom at one point, but how she had …show more content…

The main difference though was that the women in New York were very innocent and gave what they had to offer for nothing in return...they didn't learn from their mistakes. In Chicago, if women were played once they learned and they took action. Roxie was played by a man who claimed that he could get her into the show biz, but he lied just to get into her pants. Fred Casely was his name, and he promised Roxie how, “It's already taken care of”. In the end Roxie shoots him after they had sex because he was lying. She had learned her lesson and moved on with life, eventually rising to stardom and fulfilling her dream. On the other hand is Daisy, who was also played, but didn’t do much about it just complain. This shows us how the women in Chicago were much more driven and determined to do what they wanted to do...and that was make money and get attention off of plays. In Chicago, we also see how the woman is cheating on the man, where as in The Great Gatsby it's the other way around. Roxy is caught cheating with Fred Casely...remember... the guy that got shot. The role of women is not the average wife, but that of a more superior, controlling, seductive wife, something like Roxie. Part of these traits given to her come from the fame and publicity she has been receiving lately, her and other women. You don't see many men in the papers in Chicago.

Show More
Related

  • The Women in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

    529 Words  | 2 Pages

    Set in the Roaring ‘20s, The Great Gatsby focuses mainly on the lives of men as Tom Buchanan and Jay Gatsby. However, it also clearly outlines the lives of several women : Daisy Buchanan, Myrtle Wilson, and Jordan Baker. On the surface, the lives of these women couldn’t be more different. Daisy, a rich debutante, is torn between her husband, Tom, or her first love, Jay Gatsby. Lower on the social ladder is Myrtle, who is having an affair with Tom, hoping to rise above her station in life. Jordan, on the other hand, is unmarried and a successful golfer, who travels the country participating in tournaments. While these women may have seemed independent, they’re still subject to the will of society which sees them as inferior and objects to be controlled by men.

    Read More

  • The Importance Of Sexism In The Great Gatsby

    1047 Words  | 3 Pages

    “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). This quote is as true now as it was when Daisy Buchanan said it about her daughter in The Great Gatsby. Women grow up in a box of expectations. They are told to act a certain way and do certain things. Daisy knew that this was the world that her daughter was going to be growing up in, and that if she grew up to be a fool then she would fit into the world very nicely. If she grew up and became someone who noticed inequality, or who wanted independence, she would struggle in the world. While woman are no longer put in such a black and white box, there are still many expectations and limitations that woman have to face in their

    Read More

  • Gender Roles in the Roaring 1920s: An Examination of the Women of The Great Gatsby

    1786 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Great Gatsby is often referred to as the great American novel; a timeless commentary on the American Dream. A dream that defines success, power, love, social status, and recreation for the American public. It should be mentioned that this novel was published in 1925, which is a time when the American public had recently experienced some significant changes, including women’s suffrage, which had only taken place 6 years prior to the publication of this novel May of 1919. The women of this era had recently acquired a voice in politics, however, the social world does not always take the same pace as the political world. F. Scott Fitzgerald developed female characters that represented both women in their typical gender roles and their modern counterparts. I will be analyzing gender roles within the context of this novel, comparing and contrasting Myrtle Wilson, Jordan Baker, and Daisy Buchanan alongside one another, as well as comparing and contrasting their interactions with the men in the novel.

    Read More

  • Women In F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby

    1211 Words  | 3 Pages

    “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.

    Read More

  • Archetypes Of Women In The Great Gatsby

    1399 Words  | 3 Pages

    With the increasing popularity of female-oriented post-secondary education, the growing number of women working outside the home in professional occupations and the newly granted right to suffrage, women directly challenged the traditional notions of American Womanhood in the 1920’s. In just seventy one years since the Seneca Falls Convention, feminists in America accomplished sweeping changes for women politically, economically, and socially. Attempting to reconcile the changing concept of womanhood with more traditional female roles, male writers often included depictions of this “New Woman” in their novels. Frequently, the male writers of the Progressive Era saw the New Woman as challenging the very fabric of society and, subsequently, included

    Read More

  • Gender Confusion in The Great Gatsby & The Awakening

    1530 Words  | 4 Pages

    The twentieth century was filled with many advances which brought a variety of changes to the world. However, these rapid advances brought confusion to almost all realms of life; including gender roles, a topic which was previously untouched became a topic of discourse. Many authors of the time chose to weigh in on the colloquy. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby and Kate Chopin’s The Awakening, gender role confusion, characteristic of modernist literature, is seen in Nick Carraway and Edna Pontillier as they are the focal points in the exploration of what it means to be a man or a woman, their purpose, place, and behavior in society.

    Read More

  • Gender Roles In The Great Gatsby

    1566 Words  | 4 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Emergence of Women in the Great Gatsby

    1313 Words  | 3 Pages

    During the 1920’s, the role women had under men was making a drastic change, and it is shown in The Great Gatsby by two of the main female characters: Daisy and Jordan. One was domesticated and immobile while the other was not. Both of them portray different and important characteristics of the normal woman growing up in the 1920’s. The image of the woman was changing along with morals. Females began to challenge the government and the society. Things like this upset people, especially the men. The men were upset because this showed that they were losing their long-term dominance over the female society.

    Read More

  • Gender Roles in The Great Gatsby

    1299 Words  | 3 Pages

    Gender Roles: In some respects, Fitzgerald writes about gender roles in a quite conservative manner. In his novel, men work to earn money for the maintenance of the women. Men are dominant over women, especially in the case of Tom, who asserts his physical strength to subdue them. The only hint of a role reversal is in the pair of Nick and Jordan. 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.

    Read More

  • The portrayal of women in The Great Gatsby

    1057 Words  | 3 Pages

    From the start of the book we can see that women in the book are

    Read More

  • Attitude Towards Women In The Great Gatsby

    729 Words  | 2 Pages

    Tom Buchanan and George Wilson have plenty in common with their attitude pertaining towards women in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby. Fitzgerald throughout the entire novel gives the audience an insight on his thoughts about the nature of man. Fitzgerald portrays men often treating women harshly throughout his novel. For example, there are many violent acts towards women, a constant presence of dominance, and also ironically Tom and Georges over reactions to being cheated on.

    Read More

  • Young and Selfish

    583 Words  | 2 Pages

    Back in the 1920's, Most of America's women were dependent on men. The character Daisy Buchanan disregarded everyone's feelings for her own security and comfort. In the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, she is portrayed as a money-hungry, selfish, and immature woman. Daisy is more interested in making sure she is stable and safe before everyone else.

    Read More

  • Gender Roles In The Great Gatsby And Hamlet

    447 Words  | 1 Pages

    Gender roles are society’s concept on how men and woman should behave. In The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald and Hamlet by William Shakespeare, gender roles are evident in how characters act and distinguish each other.

    Read More

  • What Are Gender Roles In The Great Gatsby

    434 Words  | 1 Pages

    Ebony Perez Ms. Barnes English 11 December 13, 2017 The Great Gatsby Analysis: Gender Roles In the book the Great Gatsby Fitzgerald puts a negative spotlight on the women. There are plenty of stereotypes about men and women relationships and the way women are supposed to act in certain situations. He characterizes the women as dependent on the men, selfish, and completely careless.

    Read More

  • Gender Roles In The Great Gatsby And Things Fall Apart

    1736 Words  | 4 Pages

    ‘’I would be quite satisfied if my novels did no more than teach my readers that their past was not one long night of savagery from which the first Europeans acting on God’s behalf delivered them’’. ( Morning yet) Chinua Achebe wrote stories so that people would get knowledge out of it. That being said him making Things Fall Apart was not for entertainment, but it showed us the gender-role of males in females at the time. Males are the focus of my research, there is two great protagonists that will be discussed in this paper Okonkwo and Jay Gatsby. How does the characterization of men and their role in society in the Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald compare to Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe in terms of success, failure and mindset.

    Read More

More about Gender Roles In The Great Gatsby

Open Document