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Who Is Myrtle Wilson In The Great Gatsby

573 Words3 Pages

Myrtle Wilson is a metaphor for many concepts in the story. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s, The Great Gatsby, Myrtle Wilson represents the unrealistic expectations of the American Dream and desire.
Myrtle represents multiple ideas, mainly her failed American Dream. The American Dream is an idealistic concept that every citizen should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and initiative. Myrtle Wilson is desperate to improve her life. She is not satisfied with her marriage, or with her low-class mechanic husband, George. This is evident when she says “I married him because I thought he was a gentleman,” she said finally. “I thought he knew something about breeding, but he wasn’t fit to lick …show more content…

The roaring twenties was a time of freedom and sexuality, coming after a time with modesty and strict morals. Even though more broadminded than before, there was still a limit on what was socially acceptable. The more liberal side were those who had new money, and who were not raised from wealth. Myrtle does not care where she gets the money, she just aspires to be like those who have it. Myrtle is oblivious and in some regards “a beautiful fool” (Fitzgerald 20). Myrtle’s character is fascinating because of her sexuality, which would not have been frowned upon as much if the Great Gatsby took place in later years. An example of this is when Myrtle describes when she first meets Tom. “When we came into the station he was next to me, and his white shirt-front pressed against my arm, and so I told him I'd have to call a policeman, but he knew I lied. 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 151) The rich looked down on her for being a sexual woman. Because of her actions, compared to the rest of the female characters in the book, she is the one who most represents the arrival of sexual liberation in the

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Following her recent death, Mrs. Wilson has been identified as Mr. Gatsby’s ‘Mystery Mistress’ who has been spotted many times inside his large mansion in West Egg. George Wilson, Myrtle’s husband has said that he knew she was having an affair, but with whom he did not know. In light of recent events, he had the following to say; “I loved Myrtle. We were planning

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In some works of literature, a character who appears briefly, or does not appear at all, is a significant presence. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, Myrtle Wilson drastically affects other characters by her worldly desires, actions, and static characteristics. In most circumstances it is believed that the story is solely about the main character, but one needs to objectively look at all the cast members, specifically Mrs. Wilson. The author chooses each person with great intentions. Myrtle loved her husband George Wilson when they got married, but has since been disappointed by his lack of cash and social status, and now feels stifled by her twelve-year marriage.

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