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The Similarities Between Hamlet And The Great Gatsby

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Hamlet's words, “frailty thy, name is a woman” (1.2.148), forever redefined femininity in literature. Throughout works such as The Great Gatsby and Hamlet women are never treated as equals to their male counterparts and their role is characterized by misogyny, dependency and utter obedience. According to Aristotle, “the courage of a man lies in commanding, a woman's lies in obeying; that 'matter yearns for form, as the female for the male and the ugly for the beautiful”. Hamlet and The Great Gatsby reveal compelling parallels in their portrayal of the role of women. The mistreatment and inequality of women is a predominant issue in each work and is illustrated through the two main female protagonists, Queen Gertrude and Daisy Buchanan. Ultimately, women are …show more content…

However, women such as Gertrude and Daisy exhibit moral opposition to their male superiors, yet submission is their only outlet. Maternity is a common threshold through which, the foundations are laid for moral opposition. In The Great Gatsby, Daisy displays concern in her attitude towards her daughter. Daisy characterizes her as being a "beautiful little fool"( Fitzgerald 24). This reveals her submissive yet apathetic attitude in how she views her daughter. For this reason, she want her to be a “fool” because she appears to subscribe to the pre-existing belief that women serve little function in society. Furthermore, this reinforces the idea that despite she remains opposed gender inequality, she focuses On the contrary, Gertrude, the mother of Hamlet displays compassion towards her son. Despite appearing submissive in Claudius' wishes, she silently opposes him and agrees

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