Portrayal Of Women In The Great Gatsby

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In The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald there are three primary female characters. Daisy, Jordan and Myrtle are all very different characters with different personalities. However, the women in this novel are portrayed in a negative way. They are portrayed as sex symbols, gold diggers and uneducated. F. Scott Fitzgerald also presents the women in this book as liars, shallow and not loyal. For the most part, the women in The Great Gatsby all share different characteristics of how women are treated in the 1920s. Some of the women in The Great Gatsby are stepping out of the patriarchy role while others are living their lives through their husband’s accomplishments.
Myrtle is the mistress of Tom Buchanan. Myrtle is portrayed to be snobbish and adulterous. Myrtle is having an affair with for Tom, Daisy’s husband due to his wealth. Myrtle is unhappy in her marriage because she is not wealthy and feels as though she was tricked into a marriage with someone who struggles financially. Myrtle states she married George because of what he knew, "I thought he knew something...but he was not fit to lick my shoe". This statement supports the true feelings of Myrtle and her marriage. Myrtle realized her husband was poor and regretted marrying him. Myrtle sees herself as high class and rich. …show more content…

Myrtle and Daisy reflect how money and wealth are a big influence on women during this era. While Jordan shows how being independent is better than hanging on to a cheating husband because he is rich. Fitzgerald does an awesome job capturing the foolishness, selfishness and lack of loyalty of these women during the 1920’s. The three women characters were very different but they were similar at the same time. The main characteristic they share is to live life comfortably with money and fine things. Daisy, Myrtle and Jordan shows how being greedy, untrustworthy and shallow always ends

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