Women In The Great Gatsby

Men and women are defined very differently yet conveniently share similar motives in order to complement each other in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, however, this does not mean they will work together cooperatively to in turn achieve said goal. Regardless of marriage, whether falling apart or seemingly strong, a close friendship that may portend more than just friendship, or a scandalous and furtive adulterous antic, most everybody seems hostile to one another. There are many different perspectives to look through as well because of this. Multiple lenses are present throughout all of the characters in The Great Gatsby, such as the Marxist lens in that the government watches over everyone with “owl eyes” or the Social Darwinism …show more content…
Daisy is the first major female character introduced in The Great Gatsby and to Nick Carraway, the narrator, who is instantly wooed by her charm, smile, voice, and other womanly features. It is soon gathered that Daisy has this effect on most men she encounters, but she chose a man by the name of Tom Buchanan; a racist, bigoted millionare. Nick gleans that Daisy is the beauty standard of New York and the Eggs and that Tom, his past collage peer, was very lucky to have her. Daisy, of all the female main characters, possesses the most power based on her femininity and uses it to her advantage on many occasions. Daisy knows she has the capability to do things in spite of Tom without harsh backlash so she does just that, especially in company, but even with that power, she still stands idly by while her husband is having an affair with another woman. Alas, Daisy’s opportunity to surpass Tom in his own cheating game arises once she discovers Jay Gatsby, her long lost love, …show more content…
George is a submissive man who lives in the shadow of his wife and believes she is his only reason for living. Myrtle does not influence Tom as much as Daisy does in life, but when she dies, he is in mental disrepair for a short time. Tom takes Myrtle for granted when she is alive, but he soon finds out he had made a stronger connection than he thought with her just as he did with Daisy; proving his misleading dedication. When she has the effrontery to speak about Daisy, Tom’s wife, or even utter her name, he hits her in the face, breaking her nose. She risks her secret life of lavish escapades for an ounce of influence over Tom, even when he buys her whatever she wants. She speaks to Tom openly about what she wants to buy, or rather what she wants Tom to buy her, and Tom willingly goes through with what she wants, satiating her materialistic desires. To further show that she gets what she wants from Tom, her apartment is adorned with large furniture, nearly “too large for the small apartment.” Tom and Myrtle use this apartment to host small parties and get away from their dedicated love lives into lustful antics. This abode, secret to Daisy and George, is the same place Tom hits Myrtle in the nose. After the negative connotations given to the apartment established on the event, it was not used again and the only time Myrtle saw