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The patriarchal ideology before the 1920s confined women to care for their men and children. Women were always expected to be submissive to their husbands and objectified as sources of pleasure. Fitzgerald’s work, The Great Gatsby, portrays women as people who hold little power, are emotional and fragile, and are only considered valuable when they are used as commodities. Tough the marginalization of women is evident in the novel. It further portrays their ability to take charge and pursue their lives’ desires by leveraging the little power of their beauty. Daisy, Myrtle, and Jordan’s character traits play the role of encouraging women to liberate themselves from patriarchal norms and motivate them to pursue their dreams. However, the tragic end of Myrtle cautions them to be more careful in their pursuit (Fitzgerald 103). Though the women in the novel are depicted as careless, treacherous, and selfish, the author uses them to underscore the power of the will to rebel against societal norms in pursuit of happiness.
Fitzgerald represents Myrtle as a figurative prisoner of social class at the beginning of the novel. Her marriage to George subjected her to abject poverty, misery, and suffering. Though she was depressed about her situation, societal norms of remaining faithful to her husband imprisoned her, and she could not escape. When she finally gets the courage to step out to be a rich man’s mistress, she finds herself in yet another prison. The metaphorical prison she finds herself in is the false hope that Buchanan will divorce his wife in her favor. Buchanan saw Myrtle as an object of pleasure and had no intention of marrying her (Fitzgerald 77). It takes courage and a tough stand against society for people to liberate themselves from such prisons. Myrtle’s decision to cheat on her husband to get a better life shows that people must be ready to bend societal norms to get out of figurative prisons.
Decisions made in life are multidimensional, and whatever decision a person takes, they must face the consequence. Myrtle’s mistake in her pursuit of happiness was believing that Tom Buchanan loved her and expected him to marry her after he divorced Daisy, considering men’s characters in the patriarchal era (Fitzgerald 69). As patriarchy dictated, Tom considered Myrtle an object of pleasure. However, she proved society wrong by choosing a man to marry because he was promising and later ditching him when she felt he was not living up to her expectations. Her willingness to abandon her marriage for posh life is evidence that pursuing happiness can make a person go against societal dictates.
Jordan Baker is a professional golfer whose character and integrity are questionable, and she uses lies and dishonesty to pursue her dream of a wealthy lifestyle. The author uses Jordan to represent ambition and what people can do to achieve them. She rose to be a successful golfer in the middle of a patriarchal regime that did not acknowledge women in professional and leadership positions. She further rebelled against the societal norms of being submissive to men and focused on achieving her dreams. Unlike Myrtle, who viewed men as the source of wealth and success, Jordan does not give a ‘damn’ about men and engages in deceit to achieve what she wants. She openly disregarded the social norms by doing what only men were expected to do, such as smoking and drinking in public, driving cars, and listening to Jazz music (Fitzgerald 46). The American dream is manifested in her pursuit of happiness, equal opportunity for success, and social mobility. Though she used dubious means and went against societal norms to achieve her dream, her persona encouraged women not to be limited by patriarchal norms and to pursue their dreams.
Daisy Buchanan is a beautiful young woman aware of the patriarchal norms limiting women in society. She is upset when she gives birth to a girl because women have no place in society other than becoming beautiful little ‘fool.’ She plays a critical role in teaching women to conform to society and still pursue their dreams. Though Daisy was in love with Gatsby before he went to war, her decision to marry a wealthy man (Buchanan) shows women have the liberty to choose whatever makes them happy. When Gatsby comes back, he is obsessed with winning her love back by getting involved in criminal activities to make money and impress her (Fitzgerald 17). She plays a significant role in teaching women to take advantage of their beauty and men’s desire to improve their lives. Daisy shows that women can reverse the patriarchal norms and control men if they take charge of their beauty. Her principal role in the novel is to show women that despite being despised in society, they can use their beauty to achieve their ambitions of a posh life.
In the 1920s, women were considered objects of pleasure for men and were only confined to domestic roles. The inability of many women to go against societal norms left them imprisoned in social classes and oppressive marriages. Scott Fitzgerald presents three women in the novel who show resilience to pursue their happiness despite being prisoners of different situations. Myrtle, a prisoner of a social class, makes a solemn decision to be a rich man’s mistress to achieve her dream. Daisy uses her beauty to achieve her objectives, while Jordan goes against societal norms and pursues whatever makes her happy regardless of what society thinks of her. Given these points, the role of the women in the novel is to empower others to liberate themselves from the limitations of societal norms.
Work Cited
Fitzgerald, Francis Scott. The Great Gatsby (1925). na, 1991. pp. 68-103
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