Portrayal Of Women In The Great Gatsby

Elizabeth Lurie
American Studies English
Ms. Contreras
March 14, 2023

A New Woman Portrayed Through The Great Gatsby
The Great Gatsby was a novel written by F. Scott Fitzgerald in 1925, a time filled with substantial societal change pertaining to women’s lives. During the 1920’s, it became more socially acceptable for women to exist, not only in the domestic sphere, but in the public sphere as well. This could be accredited to how post World War I, women realized that if all of the men were away at war, it was necessary for them to step into the workforce. Women realized that political decisions would affect their everyday lives, and, at the beginning of the decade in 1920, the Nineteenth Amendment was passed, giving women the right to vote.

She says, “All right, I’m glad it’s a girl. And I hope she’ll be a fool – that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool” (16). In this moment, Daisy believes that she is a fool, she has not married for love, and it’s apparent in the way that her relationships treat her, her husband not even showing up for one of the most important moments of their life. However, in a way she was not enough of a fool to fully fall for Gatsby and marry the man she loved. Continuing to tell the story of her daughter’s birth, the quote, “I woke up out of the ether with an utterly abandoned feeling,” (16), she describes that she fell reveals that what she really wanted in this moment was the love and care of her husband. However, she felt alone and betrayed. By saying that she was waking from the “ether” shows that even in the midst of this incredibly happy moment for her, she was woken up to the reality that Tom had not been there for her, and that she really did not have the support or love she needed. Instead of letting herself be a fool for love, and marrying Gatsby in the first place for love, she went the more economical route, and therefore has lost some of the joy in her life. If a fool is defined as someone who doesn’t

Daisy ends up going back to Tom, after Gatsby takes the blame for the car crash. Up until this decision, Daisy had displayed a lot of regret for marrying Tom for money, when she could have been more patient, and married Gatsby for both money and love. However, as the opportunity is presented, Daisy goes against all of her previous thought processes and goes back to Tom. The story describes Daisy’s inner battle in which she must decide what man she wants to go with,“She wanted her life shaped now, immediately — and the decision must be made by some force — of love, of money, of unquestionable practicality — that was close at hand.” (116). Though Daisy wanted both money and love, she already had a life and a child with Tom. Things were also different with Gatsby now, and the man who she fell in love with before the war was different. Lost in the time passed, there was a certain element of fantasy that held their longing for each other together when they were apart. Now when reality hits, though they had an affair, Daisy knows Gatsby is unreliable. Her decision was made by both money and “unquestionable” practicality, reinstating the theme that one of her priorities was financial security. It might appear to go against feminist values for Daisy to go back to the man who cheated on her as well as not fulfill what a