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The Great Gatsby Women

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The era of 1920s is known for flapper dresses, extravagant lifestyles, and reformation of women. Before this time, women were treated as property and did not have their own voices in politics and their personal lives. With the start of the 20th century, women yearned for a change. They wore shorter dresses, became more reckless, and took control of their lives. F. Scott Fitzgerald was a renowned author during the 1920s who provided commentary about the changes of women. In his works The Great Gatsby, “Winter Dreams”, and “Bernice Bobs Her Hair”, Fitzgerald shows how women 's attempts to gain independence during the 20th century initially fail due to society 's construction. Majority of the drama that occurs in The Great Gatsby is due to one …show more content…

After meeting for the first time in years, Daisy begins to love Gatsby due to his interest in her, but cannot bear to leave the overbearing Tom. Pelzer, also, elaborates that when Gatsby goes off to war and Daisy meets Tom years before,“[She] has been purchased with an expensive pearl necklace, the promise of the comfortable white life of privilege that she desires more than Gatsby” (Pelzer par. 2). Daisy chooses Tom for his status and wealth, and she yearns for a life of comfort. Leland S. Person, the author of the piece “‘Herstory’ and Daisy Buchanan” explains that by choosing Tom, Daisy’s life will be molded by Tom’s force (Person par. 6). Daisy is treated as an inferior to her husband for numerous years and to be able to abandon a relationship that bashes her self-esteem, is extremely …show more content…

Bernice’s dull life and outlook on it is changed when Marjorie informs her, “‘What a blow it must be when a man with imagination marries the beautiful bundle clothes that he 's been building ideals round, and finds that she 's just a weak, whining, cowardly mass of affectations!’” (Fitzgerald, “Bernice Bobs Her Hair” 5). Marjorie wants Bernice to become an interesting person who does not live for the chance to please a man. When Bernice asks her cousin, “‘Don 't I dance all right?’ Marjorie responds, ‘No you don 't-- you lean on a man; yes you do-- ever so slightly” (Fitzgerald, “Bernice Bobs Her Hair” 6). Marjorie’s reaction shows that she wants Bernice to be independent and not have to rely on a man, even for a simple task as

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““Lou turned to his brother. “This is what comes of letting a woman meddle in business,” he said bitterly””. (105). Regardless of her success, they are not happy that she was given control over the land. This idea of men not being able to handle a woman’s success seems to be a recurring theme in this novel.

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Have you ever wondered what the stereotypes of women were in the 1920’s? Well, in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s book, The Great Gatsby, there are three different types of stereotypes for women. In this book, a man named Nick Carraway moves near a billionaire who goes by the name Gatsby. Gatsby hosts many parties which include many different types of people, such as gold diggers, golden girls, and the new women. Throughout this book, Nick gets to meet all three types of these girls, and gets to spend time with them.

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Agnes’ relationship with Berndt shows, however, that Agnes often defies the standards set forth for her as a woman. When Berndt notices that Agnes has stopped binding her breasts, he hopes that she will resume doing it occasionally, “just for him,” but realizes that “it was a wan hope. She looked so comfortable, so free” (Erdrich 19). Even though Berndt still has a tendency to view Agnes as an object of sexual desire, he also recognizes her agency and refusal to comply with standards set for her by others. Even bartering with Agnes for her hand in marriage in exchange for the piano she asks him to buy fails, as the “worry that she might leave him that finally caused him to agree” (Erdrich 20).

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The Great Gatsby is an American novel written by Scott Fitzgerald. On the surface, the book revolves around the concept of romance, the love between two individuals. However, the novel incorporates less of a romantic scope and rather focuses on the theme of the American Dream in the 1920s. Fitzgerald depicts the 1920’s as an era of decline in moral values. The strong desire for luxurious pleasure and money ultimately corrupts the American dream which was originally about individualism.

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Scott Fitzgerald’s depiction of women in The Great Gatsby readers see women are prepared to emerge into the modern way of life, but society is not ready for the new nontraditional image of

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Gatsby Analytical Essay Author F. Scott Fitzgerald has deftly woven dozens of themes and motifs throughout his relatively short novel The Great Gatsby. One theme that resonates in particular is that of isolation. This theme pervades the entire book, and without it, nothing in Gatsby’s world would be the same. Every character must realize that he or she isn’t capable of truly connecting with any other character in the book, or else the carelessness and selfishness that leads to so many of the book’s vital events would not exist. Fitzgerald develops the feeling of isolation and aloneness by his use of the motif of careless self-absorption, a behavior we see many characters exhibiting.

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In today’s duplicitous society, men often pursue the “perfect woman”. This woman is construed to be; fit, provocative and ravishing. However, in greatly distinguished American novel, The Great Gatsby, the men have strayed from stalking women for their looks. Instead, Gatsby chases Daisy to achieve her as a prize of his bounty and any affection Gatsby demonstrates toward her, is simply to appease to her sense of status and wealth. The author F. Scott Fitzgerald, exhibits Gatsby’s these feelings for Daisy through the clever usage of connotation, symbolism and metaphors.

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The Roaring Twenties Have you ever wondered what the stereotypes of women were in the 1920’s? Well, in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s book, The Great Gatsby, there are three major different types of stereotypes of women. In this book, a man named Nick Carraway moves near a millionaire who goes by the name Gatsby. Gatsby hosts frequent parties which include several different types of people, such as gold diggers, golden girls, and the new women. Throughout this book, Nick gets to meet all three types of these girls, and gets to spend time with them.

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Her internal struggle is revealed in this instant when her hedonistic desires cause her to feel conflicted. Mrs. Buchanan tends to act extremely selfish, especially during the moments when she cannot resist the temptation of hedonism. When Daisy impatiently awaits Gatsby’s return from war, “there [is] a quality of nervous despair in [her] letters” (151). Daisy’s egocentric nature ultimately causes her to believe that the world revolves around herself. Her tragic downfall is made clear when she decides to marry Mr. Buchanan and pursue old wealth.

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Relief from the trenches. Rebellion in the streets. The American Dream. And shorter skirts. The 1920s is an age of change where you chose to exchange the corsets and ankle-length dresses of a Victorian age for tassel skirts, pixie cuts, and scandalous smoking as newfound “dames” in society.

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F. Scott Fitzgerald’s 1925 novel, The Great Gatsby, is full of themes of wealth, love, and tragedy. Also during the time this book was written, women’s suffrage had begun, so women were taking their first steps towards equality with men. The three main women characters in the novel: Daisy Buchanan, Myrtle Wilson, and Jordan Baker, all have things in common but can be vastly different; they reflect the view of women in the early 20th century. The Great Gatsby portrays the characters Daisy, Myrtle, and Jordan as stereotypes of women during the 1920s, seen in their behavior, beliefs, and their ultimate fate.

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The era’s “perfect woman”, Daisy Buchanan, is a bubbly, conflicted woman whose choice is between two men: her husband, Tom Buchanan, and her former lover Jay Gatsby. Since Daisy’s character was written in the 1920s, women’s characters were based on the traditional women of the time period, and many women then were still seen as objects and as less desirable than men. When Daisy is invited to Gatsby’s mansion, her first sight of him in many years upon seeing his expensive clothing, she is so overcome with emotion that she begins to weep “with a strained sound” and begins to “cry stormily” showing her true reaction to something as petty as material objects (92). She continues, claiming that

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Myrtle is accustomed to living an underprivileged life where feminine power engulfs her, but Tom is too egotistical to allow Myrtle to speak with such authority to him. Similarly, Gatsby’s need for assurance from Daisy pressures her into revealing to Tom that she never loved him (Fitzgerald 132). Deep down, Daisy knows that she truly did love Tom once, but Gatsby’s assertiveness and persistence drives her over the edge to telling Tom that what the two of them shared meant nothing to her. Daisy’s attribute of being a pushover is revealed immensely because she refuses to stand up for herself. Daisy is used to enabling Tom to constantly control all aspects of her life, and that leaves her powerless in society.

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Historians agree that feminism’s fate broke through in the 1920’s, yet this reformation of social justice was not been embraced by a majority of Americans. In this decade, women were finally allowed to vote, they cut their hair short, and rebelled against the norms of society; however, misogyny remained mentally within the community through media, politics, and even in literature. In 1925, five years after the flappers movement was initiated in America, F. Scott Fitzgerald published his most reputable novel: The Great Gatsby, where the misportrayal of women is apparent within the distinctive natures of his characters. Fitzgerald’s novel focuses on the complexities of American society and the struggles to attain dreams, all while enduring the

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Reflective of Victorian hegemonic norms, Mr. Rochester rescues Jane financially, emotionally and intellectually throughout and enables her to escape her inevitable fate as a poor governess. Despite this, Jane is primarily characterized as an autonomous, independent being with a free will. This depiction is radical for Bronte’s context and inherently subverts the gender inequality present in the classic trope of the heroic male love interest coming to the rescue of the vulnerable

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