Historically, women have had to overcome much harder challenges than men to be recognized. This was no different in the 1920’s where, amongst the glitz and glamor, women still dealt with hypocritical thinking. In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald critiques the lack of power that women had by showing hypocritical and harmful thinking towards women like Daisy and Myrtle, and how this mindset is still prevalent within society. In the novel, The Great Gatsby, the character of Daisy Buchanan is used to portray the hypocrisy between women and men during the time period. Within the first chapter of the book, we learn that Daisy’s husband, Tom Buchanan, has a mistress that he doesn’t hide very carefully. It is evident that Daisy knows about this woman, …show more content…
Myrtle was the woman that Tom was having an affair with, unbeknown to Myrtle’s husband, George Wilson. Later in the novel, however, Wilson learns of his wife’s affair and decides to lock her in a room while he plans on forcing her to move with him across the country. Fitzgerald exhibits Myrtle’s confliction through the book by stating, “‘Beat me!’ he heard her cry. ‘Throw me down and beat me, you dirty coward!’ (Fitzgerald 137). Myrtle knew that being locked in a room for cheating was unfair because if it were George who had the affair, then it wouldn’t have been as serious of a crime. It isn’t too much later that Myrtle escapes and gets murdered by Gatsby’s speeding car. Myrtle was trying to run away from George, and to what she thought was Tom. If George would have talked to Myrtle and handled the situation in a mature manner, then Myrtle wouldn’t have run out into the street. Ultimately, George Wilson is at the greatest fault for the death of his wife, even though Gatsby hit her. Wilson, however, isn’t going to take the blame for his wife because women were seen as unequal to men. Wilson feels he did the right thing by locking his wife up in a room. Wilson feels he did the right thing by avenging the death of his wife, that he pushed over the edge, and killing Gatsby. Wilson feels he did the right thing by convincing all of New York that he was a loving and kind husband. In reality, a loving and kind husband wouldn’t abuse his wife to the point where her only option was to run into the street for
Tom Buchanan, a wealthy and powerful man, uses Myrtle as a mistress and treats her with little respect or consideration. She is merely used as just a tool of enjoyment for Tom rather than a person whom he has compassion for. “ ‘It’s his wife that’s keeping them apart. She’s a Catholic, and they don't believe in divorce’ Daisy was not a Catholic, and I was a little shocked at the elaborateness of the lie” (Fitzgerald 33). This quote reveals a key aspect of the relationship between Tom and his partner, Myrtle Wilson.
The police then described it as a hitand run. George, Myrtle Wilson’s husband, suffers agreat deal of lose and pain when Myrtle is killed. TomBuchannan tells George that is was Gatsby who washaving an affair with
Later associating Myrtle and George’s relationship, Fitzgerald falls in love with a woman named Zelda and is informally engaged to her, but she declines to marry him due to his financial instability. As the realization finally kicks in about their upcoming marriage, Myrtle later says, “I knew right away I made a mistake. He borrowed somebody’s best suit to get married in, and never told me about it” (Fitzgerald 27). Myrtle becomes disappointed with George’s lack of social status and wealth, and realizes that she has made the mistake of marrying for love, not money. She eventually turns to Tom, who is much wealthier than George, and has an affair to feel better about her stifled marriage.
She is a mistress to Tom Buchanan. She loves Tom and wants to leave Wilson. When Wilson finds out he locks Myrtle in a room and decides he wants to take her away and leave this place. Then Myrtle breaks out to find the car that resembled the one her lover was driving, but Tom wasn’t the one driving. The book states “The second my hand reached the wheel I felt a shock---
There were three very influential women in the novel, The Great Gatsby. Daisy, Jordan, and Myrtle all played key roles in shaping other characters into the characters that they were. In doing so, many “flaws” or things that were not socially accepted at the time, were revealed about each woman. These so-called imperfections led each woman through so many different conflicts such as murder, affairs, and true love being ripped away. When society has different expectations, there are many different conflicts that come with it.
Women in the 1920s were not seen as individuals yet as trophies to show off and mothers to children. In order to secure a bright future, a happy life, and survive through man while simultaneously attempting to not show too much intellect and superiority in the process. “I hope she’ll be a fool- that the best thing a girl can be in this world, is a beautiful little fool” (Fitzgerald 17). Instead of following her heart and Marrying Gatsby, she marries the self-righteous nobleman, Tom Buchanan. Daisy’s call to power was reasonable due to her circumstances, but any power can come with consequences.
In the novel The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald set in the 1920s, a man named Jay Gatsby who became rich through illegal means tries to win the heart of a woman named Daisy Buchanan, Tom Buchanan’s wife. The wife of a garage owner named George Wilson, Myrtle, is also having an affair with Tom. Throughout the course of the novel, Tom and Wilson run into similar encounters. Both of them discover that their wives have been cheating on them and have comparable reactions. These discoveries and related events reveal their attitudes toward women and become violent.
(Fitzgerald 136). George locked in a room for 2 days because Myrtle was having an affair against him, but this caused Myrtle to run away into the street and die. George never thought he would hit Myrtle and cause her to suicide. This tragedy made George go crazy and made him want revenge on whoever killed his
Myrtle Wilson’s husband is named George Wilson, unfortunately, she is miserable being married with him. She is having an affair with Tom, “There is always a halt there of at least a minute and it was because of this that I first met Tom Buchanan’s mistress.” (Fitzgerald ## ) Nick Carraway implies that Myrtle is having an affair with Tom. Myrtle married George Wilson because she thought that he had money so she married him, later she discovered that he is not wealthy and married Myrtle with a borrowed suit. She feels better that she cheats on him with Tom Buchanan.
“Then wear that gold hat, if that will move her; If you can bounce high, bounce for her too, Till she cry “Lover, gold-hatted, high bouncing lover, I must have you” (title page). Throughout the novel, the Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald presents Tom Buchanan as a very controlling person who believes he is entitled to many things because of his wealth. Similar to the quote, Tom’s constant need for wealth and power leads to a need and want for everything in sight. If a reader were to read this book through the Marxist lens, they would see an obvious struggle between the powerful and powerless and how that directly coincides with how much money the person with power has. The main character with power and wealth in the novel is Tom Buchanan, and he uses his control to gain power over others.
Dahlin Allport Mrs. Frantzen English 11 Honors 9 March 2023 Wealth and Power in The Great Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby perfectly encapsulates the roaring 1920s, characterized by a booming economy and a carefree cultural revolution. Set in New York City in the 1920s, The Great Gatsby is a story of extravagant wealth. The characters, Gatsby, an incredibly wealthy bootlegger, Tom Buchanan and his wife Daisy who inherited significant wealth and Jordan Baker, a professional golfer who amassed her own small fortune depict the wealth of the era. The characters also give the reader a solid understanding of the novel through a Marxist lens. The novel, The Great Gatsby, explores the extent to which wealth contributes to power through
Just like Daisy, Myrtle chooses money over love. She cheats on her husband George with Tom. Myrtle was a woman from the lower class who desired to be a part of the higher class. Tom spoiled Myrtle and gave her the lifestyle she always wanted. She belittles her husband and talk bad about him because he is not at the top of the social ladder where Tom is.
During the early 20th century, it was uncommon to see women in positions of power. For some women, the acquisition and maintenance of power were not through hard work, but rather through immoral and maneuvering mannerisms. People oftentimes claimed that women did not sit in positions of authority, yet still fooled others into believing they did. F. Scott Fitzgerald explores this when Daisy Buchanan, Jordan Baker, and Myrtle Wilson exhibit these wrongful behaviors in relations with men in order to achieve their desired power. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, he uses the main female characters’ social status, wealth, and sexuality to criticize the idea that manipulation is necessary for women to gain power.
Since she was dissatisfied with the life that her husband could grant her, she decided to stomp on her husband by cheating on him with a wealthy man. She even tells Nick; “I was so excited that when I got into a taxi with him I didn't hardly know I wasn't getting into a Subway train. All I kept thinking about over and over was ‘You can't live forever, you can't live forever’ ” (Fitzgerald 40). Myrtle saw how well dressed Tom was and thought that it was a golden opportunity.
Nick describes Myrtle on page 125 that: “I realized that her eyes, wide with jealous terror, were fixed not on Tom, but on Jordan Baker, whom she took to be his wife”(Fitzgerald). She was green with envy and this influence her behaviour. Thus, she can not act rationally. As a consequence, she ran straight to the road and towards Gatsby whom she thought was Tom. The car hit her and she dead for her irrational behaviour.