gender roles in the great gatsby essay

Gender Roles in the Great Gatsby

This essay will discuss the portrayal of gender roles in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby.” It will examine the characters of Daisy, Tom, and Jordan, and how they represent the gender norms and expectations of the 1920s. The piece will explore themes of power, freedom, and societal constraints, analyzing how Fitzgerald critiques the era’s gender dynamics. It will also consider how these gender roles influence the novel’s plot and the tragic fate of its characters. PapersOwl showcases more free essays that are examples of Gender.

How it works

Looking at F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby through a feminist lens shows us how women in the twenties were portrayed within literature. Fitzgerald shows this by including gender roles, patriarchy controls, and double standards between the sexes. He shows these ideas though the lives of his characters such as Tom, Daisy, Nick, Jordan, George, and Myrtle. Fitzgerald is one of the best feminist writers of his time, he did not realize the impact that he would have on society.

Throughout the story of The Great Gatsby gender roles play an important part in displaying feminism. The life of Daisy and Myrtle shows the audience of these roles many times. As the story progresses Daisy and Myrtle slowly become marginalized, they fade into the pages as the men eventually push their voices away.

According to Methods of Advanced Literary Studies the audience can see that the women throughout the story are being marginalized  when the only real opinions or demands being heard are from the men. The women within the story are pushed to fit within social feminist norms. The audience can see this by how Daisy and Myrtle are both dependable on men, and can’t fully do anything by themselves. According to Cross Reference Project, The only character that resist social norms is Jordan Baker, she does this by not leaning on men in relationships to take care of her. Women within The Great Gatsby are portrayed as weak, fragile, and emotional beings. They are viewed as being worthless, and only useful when they become a commodity. Daisy is a good example of this because she is a commodity for Tom and Gatsby. Tom uses her as a trophy wife, only there for the show.

While Gatsby uses her just to show people that he has finally has everything. These two men both fight over Daisy, even though they say they love her, they both have different intentions for the relations. In the end the audience realizes that they both wanted to say that they had the “golden girl.” Another way feminism is prominent throughout the book is how men think of women as property. The audience sees this in the relationship between Tom and Myrtle. Tom buys Myrtle anything she wants to keep her there to please him.Tom thinks that he can get any women as long as he is able to buy her. This relation merely dabbles on the views of men towards women. It shows that its a mans worlds, and women are just pulled along for the ride.Men within The Great Gatsby are portrayed as being strong, dependable, intelligent, etc.

The audience can detect this within the lives of Tom, Gatsby, and Nick. Tom is very well off thus being dependable. Gatsby shows strength by fighting for his girl even when difficulties come. Nick shows his intelligence through his job as a politician. In the twenties gender roles were very straight forward. According to  NCpedia “Men were expected to deal with business and politics while women were to deal with the house, children, and religion.”Also within the story of The Great Gatsby there is a collection of patriarchy controls shown throughout. It shows that women within the twenties were oppressed socially, economically, politically and psychologically.Women were oppressed socially by not being able to speak their voice. This was because in those times women were known to have lower mentality than men causing their answer or opinion to just be a waste of time. An example of this in the book is when Myrtle was unable to speak her opinion about Daisy without getting hit by Tom for punishment.The Great Gatsby also shows quite a deal of economic oppression towards women.

Women were frowned upon if they got a job, they were not meant to be independent. A women’s “ideal” job within the twenties was to stay home, bare children, and to make the man look good. The only character that was able to escape this oppression was Jordan Baker, she was a well-known golfer who needed no man to support her. Jordan was a very independent women causing many within her community to frown upon her independence.Another type of oppression that women faced in the twenties was being political oppression. Women were being oppressed politically by not being able to vote. They were forced to be quiet and to stand behind their husbands with their decisions Daisy believed that standing behind their decision was the easiest way for women. She shows this by referencing to her daughter, “I’m glad it’s a girl. And I hope she’ll be a fool – that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool,”(21).

Women were also oppressed psychologically. Whenever women had any ideas men would automatically shut them down. Women were of the lower of sex thus making any of their ideas out of the question. When the ideas were shut down it made women feel as if they have no meaning. In the twenties women opinions were worthless.Within The Great Gatsby a double standard is also present. It shows the audience that men are above women and  society equality among the sexes has no meaning.This is shown many times throughout the book. For example when Tom and Myrtle were having their secret affair,  Tom was able to talk about George Wilson in a not very nice tone, but when Myrtle happened to say a thing about Toms perfect trophy wife Daisy, Myrtle gets a punch to the nose and a threat to never say anything again.

The double standard here is that Tom gets to talk trash but Myrtle is not allowed to. Myrtle is a women allowing anything she said to be wrong, and any man who does not like her opinions she says is able to take matters of punishment into their own hands.Another double standard shown throughout is how men are able to cheat and not be judged, but if a women was to cheat they would be criticized for their actions. For men it’s seen as an accomplishment but for women it just stigmatized them. An good example of this is the many relationships of Tom Buchanan. Tom was a married man with a family, but yet he was not satisfied so he got into a relationship with an unnamed mistress. Eventually when she wasn’t good enough to satisfy his needs, he would toss that girl aside and go to the next. This time the next just happened to be Myrtle Wilson. These relationships that Tom held shows his opinion on woman’s worth, and the audience can clearly see that he thought little of them.

As shown The Great Gatsby has many aspects of feminism within it. The audience sees this multiple times. Fitzgerald shows gender roles, patriarchy controls, and double standards between the sexes very clearly. He does an excellent job in making them easily inferred.  He also does a good job at including all of these aspects within the character lives. Fitzgerald made sure to not only include these ways in Gatsby life but also Tom, Daisy, and Nicks. Fitzgerald showed that women within the twenties were definitely not treated with equality, but rather that they were pushed under many standards that men did not have to follow.

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What is the role of women in 'The Great Gatsby'?

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Key Question

What is the role of women in The Great Gatsby ? Below, we’ll review the role of women in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby and introduce three of the novel’s main female characters: Daisy, Jordan, and Myrtle.

Historical Context

The Great Gatsby is filled with characters who appear to be larger-than-life, living the American Dream in the Jazz Age of the 1920s. The 1920s was also a period of increased freedom for women, as young women of this generation distanced themselves from more traditional values. However, in the novel, we don’t hear from the female characters themselves—instead, we primarily learn about the women from how they are described by the two main male characters, Jay Gatsby and Nick Carraway. Read on to learn about the main female characters in The Great Gatsby .  

Daisy Buchanan

The female character we usually think of in The Great Gatsby is Daisy. Daisy, Nick’s cousin, lives in affluent East Egg with her husband, Tom, and their young daughter. Daisy is mentioned by Nick here: "Daisy was my second cousin once removed, and I'd known Tom in college. And just after the war I spent two days with them in Chicago." Daisy appears almost removed, as an after-thought, of an importance only as the wife to Tom. Later, we learn that Daisy was previously in a romantic relationship with Jay Gatsby, and that many of Gatsby’s actions have been designed as a strategy to win over Daisy.

In the novel, the male characters find Daisy’s voice to be one of her most remarkable and notable features. According to Nick: "I looked back at my cousin, who began to ask me questions in her low, thrilling voice. It was the kind of voice that the ear follows up and down, as if each speech is an arrangement of notes that will never be played again. Her face was sad and lovely with bright things in it, bright eyes and a bright passionate mouth, but there was an excitement in her voice that men who had cared for her found difficult to forget: a singing compulsion, a whispered 'Listen,' a promise that she had done gay, exciting things just a while since and that there were gay, exciting things hovering in the next hour."

As the novel progresses we learn that Daisy is the reason that Jay Gatsby has built up his opulent, lavish lifestyle. She's the reason, the hope-for-a-future that makes him dare to dream, and even dare to reinvent himself (from the small-town farm boy to the successful Jay Gatsby).

Jordan Baker

Jordan Baker is a close friend of Daisy from childhood. We learn that Jordan is a relatively well-known golfer, as Nick recalls having seen her picture and having heard of her before meeting her: “I knew now why her face was familiar—its pleasing contemptuous expression had looked out at me from many rotogravure pictures of sporting life at Asheville and Hot Springs and Palm Beach. I had heard some story of her too, a critical, unpleasant story, but what it was I had forgotten long ago.”

Jordan and Nick meet at a dinner at the Buchanans’ house. When the two meet, Daisy speaks of setting up a relationship between the two of them, and later they do indeed begin dating.

Myrtle Wilson

Myrtle Wilson is Tom Buchanan’s mistress, who Nick describes as vibrant and charismatic. When Nick first meets her, he describes her as follows: “Her face… contained no facet or gleam of beauty but there was an immediately perceptible vitality about her as if the nerves of her body were continually smouldering.” Myrtle is married to George Wilson, who runs an auto shop in a working-class area outside of New York City.

Narration in The Great Gatsby

The Great Gatsby is told from the perspective of Nick, whom many scholars have considered to be an unreliable narrator . In other words, Nick’s way of reporting on people and events in the novel may be biased, and an “objective” reporting of what really happened in the novel (or an objective description of the female characters in the novel) could potentially look different from how Nick has described the situation.

Study Guide

For more resources on The Great Gatsby , review our study guide below:

• The Great Gatsby Overview
• Review: The Great Gatsby
• Themes in The Great Gatsby
• Famous Quotes from The Great Gatsby
• Questions for Study and Discussion
• Key Terms and Vocabulary
• 'The Great Gatsby' Characters: Descriptions and Significance
• 'The Great Gatsby' Overview
• 'The Great Gatsby' Plot Summary
• The Great Gatsby and the Lost Generation
• F. Scott Fitzgerald's Inspiration for 'The Great Gatsby'
• Critical Overview of "The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald
• 'The Great Gatsby' Themes
• 'The Great Gatsby' Quotes Explained
• 'The Great Gatsby' Study Questions
• Why Was "The Great Gatsby" Banned?
• The Lost Generation and the Writers Who Described Their World
• What Movie Adaptations Were Made of 'The Great Gatsby'?
• The Life of Zelda Fitzgerald, the Other Fitzgerald Writer
• 49 Unforgettable F. Scott Fitzgerald Quotes
• Top Conservative Novels
• What Is a Foil Character in Literature?

• The Great Gatsby Essays

Gender Roles within The Great Gatsby Essay

When seeking to understand F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, within terms of gender roles and the ways in which the individual characters approach their own identity as well as the gender identities of their fellow characters within the novel, one quickly comes to the understanding that F. Scott Fitzgerald approaches gender roles in both a predictable and a visionary way. As a means of understanding this unique dichotomy, this brief analysis will discuss the methods by which F. Scott Fitzgerald utilizes both traditional/conservative understandings of gender roles as well as incorporating key elements of visionary and/or avant-garde interpretations of these constructs within the novel.

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As a function of the conservative ways that F. Scott Fitzgerald approaches the issue of gender roles, the reader can readily note that within the confines of the novel, men typically are dominant over women and are responsible for earning money and providing for the material needs of the family or relationship(s) that they maintain.    The gender roles for men are strongly presented with Fitzgerald writing the following concerning how male and female are understood within society, “Across the courtesy bay the white palaces of fashionable East Egg glittered along the water, and the history of the summer really begins on the evening I drove over there to have dinner with the Tom Buchanans” (Fitzgerald 15).    As one can readily see from the above passage, the way in which male and female are referred to by the first name of the male household owner is highly sexist and indicative of gender norms of that time.    However, as one might assume a level of comfort and predictability from the way that men are represented within the novel, the same cannot be said for the way that women are represented.    Although Fitzgerald’s male characters are seemingly one-dimensional with respect to their exhibition of gender roles and the understandings thereof, the means by which the female characters can be effortlessly be characterized is quite another matter.

The most blatant and glaring example of deviation from the traditional gender roles that existed within Fitzgerald’s own time is of course with relation to the character of Jordan.    Jordan represents the androgynous gender-bending example of the character that does not comfortably fit into either the traditional gender role of the male or female character.    In this way, even the name which Fitzgerald chose for such a character was meant to evoke a level of androgyny and confusion with relation to the traditional interpretation of gender and role observance.    Moreover, Jordan’s character engages in many traditionally male-dominated forms of entertainment and sport.    Likewise, the character of Jordan is one that does not reflect the gender roles and traditional dress of the times.    Fitzgerald describes her in terms of the following: “I noticed that she wore her evening dress, all her dresses like sports clothes-there was a jauntiness about her movements as if she had first learned to walk upon golf courses on clean, crisp mornings” (Fitzgerald 46).    Such a definition obviously points to the fact that Jordan was neither comfortable nor familiar with the feminine clothing and fashion that was worn by her contemporaries.    The novel further describes Jordan as the following: Jordan Baker instinctively avoided clever, shrewd men, and now I saw that this was because she felt safer on a plane where any divergence from a code would be thought impossible. She was incurably dishonest. She wasn’t able to endure being at a disadvantage and, given this unwillingness, I suppose she had begun dealing in subterfuges when she was very young in order to keep that cool, insolent smile turned to the world and yet satisfy the demands of her hard, jaunty body” (Fitzgerald 159)    In pointing out this divergence in something as small as mere clothing, Fitzgerald is able to point to the fact that Jordan defies convention and does not necessarily ascribe to the traditional norms of gender that existed within the timer period.   

Conversely, Fitzgerald’s representation of the other women within the story serves to compound traditional gender roles that both existed at the time and to a large extent continue to pervade our own understandings of gender and gender roles today.    For instance, Myrtle is continually defined as highly sensuous and great attention is given to the physical aspects of her body as well as the provocative and feminine clothing she wears throughout the novel.    In this way, Myrtle is effectively sexualized and objectified; thereby providing an example of the ultimate epitome of traditional female gender roles in that Myrtle’s sole purpose within the confines of the story is to serve as a type of decoration for her lover.    However, rather than leaving the interpretation of Myrtle, and to a large extent Daisy, up to the dictates of traditional gender roles, Fitzgerald notes of the sarcastic contrast that exists when both women wear white dresses; seemingly indicative of chasteness and purity – yet a concept that is far from the truth with regards to exemplifying the lifestyles that both of these women live.    This in and of itself is also unique due to the fact that by sarcastically examining the lack of chasteness that is exemplified within the lives of these two women, Fitzgerald himself uses traditional gender roles as the measuring stick to determine whether or not these women can be defined within the constructs of the time.    Fitzgerald notes of this dynamic, “The only completely stationary object in the room was an enormous couch on which two young women were buoyed up as though upon an anchored balloon. They were both in white, and their dresses were rippling and fluttering as if they had just been blown back in after a short flight around the house. I must have stood for a few moments listening to the whip and snap of the curtains and the groan of a picture on the wall” (Fitzgerald 27).

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Another uniquely interesting dynamic of gender roles is the way in which women are presented by other women within the story as somehow less important and not worthy within the society.    Says Daisy of a prior encounter, “It’ll show you how I’ve gotten to feel about – things. Well, she was less than an hour old and Tom was God knows where. I woke up out of the ether with an utterly abandoned feeling and asked the nurse right away if it was a boy or a girl. She told me it was a girl, and so I turned my head away and wept” (Fitzgerald 117).    In this way, the reader is made to understand the girls are traditionally unprized and unhoped-for with relation to a male child.   

A full and complete analysis of gender roles within F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel cannot be fully analyzed without seeking to analyze the effect to which flapper fashion of the 1920s impacted upon the means by which women integrated into society.    In short, flapper fashion was in and of itself a liberation from the clothing enslavement that Victorian and post-Victorian fashion had dictated.    Due to the fact that the fashion itself changed and allowed women to play a more active part within the society and within otherwise male-dominated sporting events and activities, Fitzgerald presents a ridiculed view of how the women within the novel posture themselves in an uncomfortable attempt to control their own sexuality and integration within society.    Such a level of ridicule obviously originates from the fact that Fitzgerald himself could have been relating a degree of uncertainty and/or disgust with relation to how women of the time we’re entering uncharted territory and seeking to integrate with gender norms and mores that were otherwise unknown to them at that point.   Many analysts have pointed to the fact that although Daisy, Jordan, and Myrtle are all prominent ladies within the confines of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, none of them are easily comparable or define the same attributes of traditional womanhood.    In their own way, each of the three women can be understood to represent different unique facets of femininity; outside of the traditional interpretation of gender roles as they existed within Fitzgerald’s own time.    As an athlete, Jordan has of course often been described by analysts as a type of androgynous or lesbian representation of femininity.    Her fascination and comfort with aspects of the “man’s” world further exemplify this type of definition.    Likewise, Daisy’s portrayal as the beauty who appeals to the male characters within the story further exemplifies a very traditional gender role that women have played within society for as long as recorded history has tracked.    Notes Fitzgerald of Daisy, “Through this twilight universe Daisy began to move again with the season; suddenly she was again keeping half a dozen dates a day with half a dozen men, and drowsing asleep at dawn with the beads and chiffon of an evening dress tangled among dying orchids on the floor beside her bed (Fitzgerald 19).    This type of open representation of raw sexual energy was outside the bounds of traditional gender norms that were accepted at the time and therefore helped to cast a different light on the way that Daisy is understood within the constructs of the story.

   Finally, Myrtle, although still defined as attractive, is indicative of the sexual liberation that was just begun to be realized within Fitzgerald’s own time.    As a function of Myrtle’s raw sexual energy, she exerts a level of independence and empowerment that was of course far beyond the times in which the story was itself set.   Finally, reverting back to an interpretation of male gender roles within the story, it can be understood that Nick is perhaps the only male character that significantly deviates from the traditional understanding o masculinity that existed within Fitzgerald’s time.    This is due to the fact that Nick is somewhat overpowered by Jordan’s clearly masculine dynamic and is somewhat locked into continuing a relationship that he does not wish to pursue.    However, this level of gender role and deviation is corrected near the end of the story due to the fact that Nick ultimately exercises his own will to power and breaks off the relationship.    Moreover, as previously stated, the other male gender roles within the stories are presented in terms that do not significantly deviate from traditional understandings.    Says Gatsby, “It made no difference to me. Dishonesty in a woman is a thing you never blame deeply – I was casually sorry, and then I forgot. It was at that same house party that we had a curious conversation about driving a car. It started because she passed so close to some workmen that our fender flicked a button on one man’s coat” (Fitzgerald 159).    This level of acceptance of women as weaker creatures that need the firm and directive hand of the male is represented throughout.    Sadly, one of the themes that are also analyzed is misogyny.    In one instance, the novel notes, “Making a short deft movement, Tom Buchanan broke her nose with his open hand” (Fitzgerald 125).    By presenting such a horrifying example of how males viewed females within the constraints of the story and of the society, the patriarchal nature of the established gender norms is fully evidenced.    Although such is disheartening, there also exists within the novel the exemplification of gallantry and chivalry with regards to how Gatsby and Wilson ultimately kill themselves as a means protecting the women in their life.    Says the novel, “It was after we started with Gatsby toward the house that the gardener saw Wilson’s body a little way off in the grass, and the holocaust was complete” (Fitzgerald 112)

Although there is a number of different levels of meaning that can be interpreted from F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, the fact of the matter is that the gender roles and their representation within the plotline of the novel help to provide perhaps the greatest level of definition to the characters and the situations that ultimately befall them.    As a function of these traditional and nontraditional gender roles, F. Scott Fitzgerald provides the reader with nuanced characters that epitomize different layers of the gender dynamic of humanity as well as incorporate the influences of a recently instigated sexual liberation and feminist dynamic that had only then begun to sweep the nation.   

• Fitzgerald, Scott F. The Great Gatsby. Simon and Schuster, New York. 1925.

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Great gatsby through the lens of feminism.

November 5, 2018

ENGL 100. Prof Whitley

The Great Gatsby through the lens of Feminism

Feminist criticism examines the ways in which literature has been written according to issues of gender. It focuses its attention on how cultural productions such as literature address the economic, social, political, and psychological oppression of women as a result of patriarchy. Patriarchal ideology has a deeply rooted influence on the way we think, speak, and view ourselves in the world, and an understanding of the pervasive nature of this ideology is necessary for a feminist critique. Demonstrating how people are a product of their culture, feminist criticism of The Great Gatsby reveals how the novel both supports and challenges the assumptions of a patriarchal society. The Great Gatsby displays various aspects of feminist philosophy by reflecting opposing principles of society’s model through very different female characters. By using a range of characters who respond to the figure of the New Woman, the novel shows how difficult it was to defy the norms of the time.

The novel paints a picture of America in the 1920’s. Before the war, women had no freedom, and they had to remain on a pedestal prescribed by the limits of male ideals. But now, women could be seen smoking and drinking, often in the company of men. They could also be seen enjoying the sometimes raucous nightlife offered at nightclubs and private parties. Even the new dances of the era, which seemed wild and overtly sexual to many, bespoke an attitude of free self-expression and unrestrained enjoyment. In other words, a “New Woman” emerged in the 1920’s. The appearance of the New Woman on the scene evoked a great deal of negative reaction from conservative members of society who felt that women’s rejection of any aspect of their traditional role would inevitably result in the destruction of the family and the moral decline of society as a whole.

The main female characters in the novel – Daisy, Jordan, and Myrtle – despite their many differences in class, occupation, appearance and personality traits, are all versions of the New Woman. All three display a good deal of modern independence. Only two are married, but they don’t keep their marital unhappiness a secret, although secrecy on such matters is cardinal in a patriarchal marriage. The women also challenge their assigned roles as females by preferring the excitement of night life to the more traditional employments of hearth and home. There is only one child among them, Daisy’s daughter, and while the child is well looked after by a nurse and affectionately treated by her mother, Daisy’s life does not revolve exclusively around her maternal role. Finally, all three women openly challenge patriarchal sexual taboo. Jordan engages in premarital sex, and Tom is even prompted to comment that Jordan’s family “shouldn’t let her run around the country in this way” (14). Daisy and Myrtle are both engaged in extramarital affairs, although Myrtle is more explicit about it than Daisy.

One of Daisy’s most memorable quotes is “All right, I’m glad it’s a girl. And I hope she’ll be a fool – that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little food” (16). Daisy speaks of her hopes for her infant child, which reveals a lot about her character. Her bitterness and cynicism are signaled as she expresses this devastating critique of women’s position in society with reference to her daughter. It is clear that Daisy is a product of a social environment that, to a great extent, does not appreciate or value intellect in women. While Daisy conforms to a shared, patriarchal idea of femininity that values subservient and docile females, she also understands these social standards for women and chooses to play right into them. In this way, Daisy is a more subversive feminist.

Jordan is prescribed as a more masculine female character and seems to resist social pressure to conform to feminine norms. Not only does she have her own successful career, something that most women in the 1920’s did not have, but her career is in the male-dominated field of professional golf. She seems androgynous in her appearance and is described as having a “mustache of perspiration” and being “slender, small-breasted, with an erect carriage which accentuated by throwing her body backward at her shoulders like a young cadet.” The numerous masculine references in her physical descriptions through words such as ‘mustache,’ ‘erect,’ and ‘cadet’ demonstrate how she was not the typical 1920’s woman.  She is also very honest and direct, where the patriarchal norm would be to remain submissive and quiet.

Myrtle’s characterization is more focused on her physicality, and she is more quickly undermined as artificial and even grotesque. Her death is undignified and stresses the destruction of her feminine aspects, with her left breast “swinging loose” and her mouth “ripped.” It is possible to argue that Myrtle is severely punished for her expression of sexuality, while Daisy, less overt about her illicit relationship with Gatsby, and a less sensual character altogether, is able to resume her life with Tom once she has left Gatsby.

The novel also abounds with minor female characters whose dress and activities identify them as incarnations of the New Woman, and they are portrayed as clones of a single, negative character type: shallow, revolting, exhibitionist and deceitful. For example, at Gatsby’s parties, we see insincere, “enthusiastic meetings between women who never knew each other’s names” (44), as well as numerous narcissistic attention-seekers in various stages of drunken hysteria. We meet, for example, a young woman who “dumps” down a cocktail “for courage” and “dances out alone on the canvass to perform” (45) and a “rowdy little girl who gave way upon the slightest provocation to uncontrollable laughter” (51). The novel’s discomfort with the New Woman becomes evident through these characterizations.

In conclusion, the women in this text are shown to be victims of social and cultural norms that they could not change, demonstrating how influential culture can be in shaping the lives of individuals. There is an attempt to redefine society and culture in a new way by gender relations and the women in this novel actively try to change the social norms through their attitudes and actions. It becomes clear, however, that patriarchy is deeply internalized for these characters, demonstrating how powerful and often devastating this ideology can be.

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Home — Essay Samples — Sociology — Gender Roles — Varying Gender Roles In Literature: Analysis Of The Great Gatsby And A Raisin In The Sun

Varying Gender Roles in Literature: Analysis of The Great Gatsby and a Raisin in The Sun

• Categories: Gender Roles Gender Stereotypes

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Published: Feb 8, 2022

Words: 2558 | Pages: 6 | 13 min read

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Introduction, works cited.

• BARKER, JENNIFERL., and KIRSTIN ELLSWORTH. “Introduction: Women Inventing the 1950s.” Women’s Studies, vol. 40, no. 8, Dec. 2011, pp. 969-973. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1080/00497878.2011.609408
• FITZGERALD, F. SCOTT. GREAT GATSBY. PENGUIN Books, 2019.
• Hansberry, Lorraine. A Raisin in the Sun. Methuen Drama, 2018.
• Nolan, Joseph. “Boom and Bust in the 1920s.” Vital Speeches of the Day, vol. 62, no. 4, Dec. 1995, p. 124. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=9512192246&site=ehost-live.
• Simon, Linda. “The Original ‘It’ Girl: Flappers Took the Country by Storm in the Roaring ‘20s and Then Suddenly Vanished. Or Did They?” Smithsonian, vol. 48, no. 5, Sept. 2017, pp. 9-11. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=124817887&site=ehost-live.
• “The Business of America. (Cover Story).” TIME Magazine, vol. 152, no. 23, Dec. 1998, p. 103. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=1326472&site=ehost-live.

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88 Perfect Essay Topics on The Great Gatsby

Welcome to The Great Gatsby Essay Topics page prepared by our editorial team! Here you’ll find a large collection of essay ideas on the novel! Literary analysis, themes, characters, & more. Get inspired to write your own paper!

• 🔬 Literary Analysis
• 🎭 Characters
• 📊 Compare & Contrast
• 🗺️ Navigation

🎓 References

🔬 literary analysis of the great gatsby: essay topics.

• What are the literary devices used to create the image of Jay Gatsby?
• Analyze how Fitzgerald uses imagery in The Great Gatsby.
• The Great Gatsby: analysis and feminist critique
• What do colors symbolize in The Great Gatsby?
• How does Fitzgerald use geographical setting to show the contrast between social classes in the novel?
• How does Fitzgerald convey a notion of the American Dream through metaphors and symbols?
• What does the green light in Daisy’s window represent in The Great Gatsby?
• What does the Valley of Ashes symbolize in The Great Gatsby?
• What role does Nick Carraway’s narration play in the story? If we got it through an omniscient third-person narrator, what would we gain or lose?
• Could the story have been set in other places, like Chicago or Los Angeles, or were New York City and Long Island absolutely necessary?
• Look at the novel’s opening lines. If we accept Nick’s advice when we read the story, will our views of it change? Or, in other words, does refraining from criticism promote compassion?
• Is there a hidden meaning of the title of The Great Gatsby? What is it?
• How is the color white used within the novel? When does it make a false representation of innocence? When does it truly represent innocence?
• Color symbolism in The Great Gatsby
• What is the role of a New York setting in the novel’s storyline?
• What is the real meaning of ‘great’ in the title of The Great Gatsby?
• What significance do colors have in the party’s descriptions in chapter 3?
• Why is Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby a satire?
• Elaborate on the green light as the symbol of the American dream.
• What is the meaning of the phrase “Can’t repeat the past?.. Why of course you can!” What does Gatsby really want from Daisy?
• What role do the eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg play in The Great Gatsby?
• How is The Great Gatsby a satirical representation of the society?
• Are the rich in the novel really so careless as everyone believes them to be?
• Create an alternative ending for The Great Gatsby. Justify your choice.
• What is the relationship between those born rich and those who became rich in the novel?
• Fairy tale traits in The Great Gatsby

🎭 Essay Topics on The Great Gatsby’s Characters

• Discuss female characters and their significance in The Great Gatsby.
• Compare Gatsby and Wilson. In what ways are they similar?
• Gatsby & Nick in The Great Gatsby
• Who is the most responsible for Gatsby’s death? Why is it so?
• Why do Tom and Daisy stay together at the end of the novel?
• Does Gatsby’s money bring him real happiness?
• Can Jay’s feelings for Daisy in The Great Gatsby be considered love?
• How do secondary characters affect the story?
• Daisy Buchanan: quotes analysis
• Who is the real hero in The Great Gatsby?
• Can we call Jay Gatsby a romantic hero or a villain?
• What does Jay Gatsby really live for in the novel: the present or the past?
• Compare Myrtle and Daisy.
• Jay Gatsby & Tom Buchanan: compare & contrast
• What does Tom’s quarrel with Myrtle in chapter 2 tell us about his personality?
• Elaborate on how both Tom and Gatsby want to change not only the future, but the past in chapter 7.
• What was Gatsby’s power of dreaming like? Was Daisy a worth object?
• Is anyone to blame for Gatsby’s death?
• Nick as the narrator in The Great Gatsby
• Are there any moral characters in the novel?
• Can Jordan and Daisy be considered perfect role models for the upper class in America? Why or why not?
• Is Gatsby really great? In what way? How does his greatness evolve as the plot unfolds?
• How does Nick’s character change over the course of The Great Gatsby?
• Does Gatsby deserve the definition of a self-made man? Why or why not?
• What role does Daisy play in the conflict between Gatsby & Tom?

🌻 Essay Topics on The Great Gatsby’s Themes

• What are the central themes in The Great Gatsby?
• What roles do fidelity and infidelity play in Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby?
• What importance does sex have in the story?
• What role does alcohol play in The Great Gatsby by Fitzgerald?
• Did Fitzgerald really criticize the idea of the American Dream in The Great Gatsby?
• Does love play have any importance in The Great Gatsby?
• What role does the relationship between geography and social values play in the novel?
• Francis Scott Fitzgerald & his American Dream
• What is the meaning of time in The Great Gatsby?
• How do the aristocratic East Eggers, Tom and the Sloanes, regard Gatsby in chapter 6? How is their contempt connected to the theme of social class in the novel?
• Analyze The Great Gatsby through the prism of feminist theory.
• How are the themes of kindness and compassion presented in The Great Gatsby?
• Describe how the theme of ambition is presented in the novel.
• Elaborate on how Fitzgerald contrasts education and experience in The Great Gatsby.

⌛ Essay Topics on the Context of The Great Gatsby

• Describe how F.S. Fitzgerald’s life experiences influenced The Great Gatsby.
• What are the examples of modernism in The Great Gatsby?
• How does Fitzgerald represent the society of his time in the novel? Would you like to live in the Jazz era? Why or why not?
• How is America shown in The Great Gatsby? What values do the East and the West represent?
• How does Fitzgerald provide a critical social history of Prohibition-era America in his novel?
• How is the economic boom of postwar America shown in The Great Gatsby?
• Why did The Great Gatsby was neither a critical nor commercial success just after its publication? Why did its popularity grow exponentially several decades after?
• How are racial anxieties of the time shown in the novel?

📊 The Great Gatsby: Compare & Contrast Essay Topics

• Make a critical comparison of the novel with the 2013 movie.
• Make a comparison of the novel with the 1949 movie.
• Compare The Great Gatsby movies of 1949 and 2013.
• Compare and contrast two classic American novels: The Great Gatsbyand The Grapes of Wrath.
• Female characters in The Streetcar Named Desire & The Great Gatsby .
• How are Donald Trump and The Great Gatsby’s Tom Buchanan alike?
• Compare Miller’s Death of a Salesman and The Great Gatsby.
• What other fictional or non-fictional character from a book or movie can Nick Carraway be compared to?
• Jay Gatsby & Eponine from Les Miserables .
• Make a critical comparison of The Sun Also Rises and The Great Gatsby.
• Compare The Great Gatsby with A Farewell to Arms.
• Make a comparison of Daisy from The Great Gatsby with Henrietta Bingham from Irresistible.
• Love in The Great Gatsby & The Catcher in The Rye .
• What pop stars of nowadays Daisy can be compared to?
• Macbeth vs. Jay Gatsby: make a character comparison.
• CS Topic Generator – Purdue Computer Science
• Past Essay Topics – University of Warwick
• Literature Topics and Research // Purdue Writing Lab
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Study Guide Menu

• Short Summary
• Summary (Chapter 1)
• Summary (Chapter 2)
• Summary (Chapter 3)
• Summary (Chapter 4)
• Summary (Chapter 5)
• Summary (Chapter 6)
• Summary (Chapter 7)
• Summary (Chapter 8)
• Summary (Chapter 9)
• Symbolism & Style
• Quotes Explained
• Essay Topics
• Essay Samples
• Questions & Answers
• F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Biography
• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

IvyPanda. (2023, August 13). 88 Perfect Essay Topics on The Great Gatsby. https://ivypanda.com/lit/the-great-gatsby-study-guide/perfect-essay-topics/

"88 Perfect Essay Topics on The Great Gatsby." IvyPanda , 13 Aug. 2023, ivypanda.com/lit/the-great-gatsby-study-guide/perfect-essay-topics/.

IvyPanda . (2023) '88 Perfect Essay Topics on The Great Gatsby'. 13 August.

IvyPanda . 2023. "88 Perfect Essay Topics on The Great Gatsby." August 13, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/lit/the-great-gatsby-study-guide/perfect-essay-topics/.

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IvyPanda . "88 Perfect Essay Topics on The Great Gatsby." August 13, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/lit/the-great-gatsby-study-guide/perfect-essay-topics/.

Sample details

• F.Scott Fitzgerald,
• Great Gatsby,
• The Great Gatsby Symbolism
• Words: 1929

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Gender Roles in “The Great Gatsby”

The Great Gatsby carefully reveals the domination women encountered in gender roles in the 1920’s. Several social norms existed that degraded the women in a way that even the women felt ashamed but accepted the role. They had no voice at this time and felt obligated to their husbands, because the male role was the head of the household that brought in all the wealth. In his story Fitzgerald talks about the gender roles in a conservative way. In the roaring twenties the men were dominant over women, mainly with Tom, who shows off his substantial strength to overpower them. The characters like Gatsby and Tom choose relationships with women that mirror their relationship with wealth and accomplishment.

As you read on, you’ll learn all about the title role that New York City’s upper classes had in the roaring twenties in the character’s behaviors. Women were regularly interpreted as adornments and less important than the men since they were incompetent to support themselves. You can see how the women in the 1920’s can easily fall in that category because of their behavior shown at one of Gatsby’s parties. “girls were putting their heads on men’s shoulders in a puppyish, convivial way, girls were swooning backward playfully into men’s arms, even into groups, knowing that someone would arrest their falls” (Fitzgerald 50).

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Nick has brought together the women at the party and is explaining their role in this story all in the same way. The men at the party are reassuring the women, that they will protect them and maleness to the swooning and puppyish women. The women in the 1920’s had no choice but to following the social norm/stereotype that men need to be their protectors since they are delicate individuals and ought to be led by a man. These women had no clue, or they were just plain naive on how they were living. Some knew, but still lived in that female gender role. They felt like they had no alternatives, but they did, they were just terrified to take that chance.

The first clue of a role switch is with Nick and Jordan. Jordan’s bisexual name showed flair and masculinize her greater than any other woman character. However, towards the end of the story, Nick will use his dominance on her by putting an end to the relationship. The group of women in the story is intriguing, because they do not split up into the historic groups of Mary of Nazareth and Mary Magdalene, instead, not any of them are unadulterated. Myrtle stands out the most to be sensual, but, Jordan and Daisy have on white dresses merely underlines their corruption. Nick talks about Daisy and Jordan’s white dresses. “Daisy and Jordan lay upon an enormous couch, like silver idols, weighing down their own white dresses against the singing breeze of the fans” (Fitzgerald 115).

This reveals exactly how Daisy did nothing but lay around on her couch with Jordan, like beautiful little fools’, minding their looks while Tom was at work, being the provider. Towards the middle of this chapter one Nick will talk about Daisy. “Her face was sad and lovely with bright things in it, bright eyes and a bright passionate mouth, but there was an excitement in her voice that men who had cared for her found difficult to forget” (Fitzgerald 9). Nick is letting us know the way Daisy goes about life. Daisy is described as cheerful and naïve woman in the story, and yet, a portion of her is constantly unhappy. She sank into that time era where the stereotype of women stayed home while the men worked.

Myrtle Wilson is married to George Wilson, a poor, but devoted husband who loves his wife deeply. Myrle is also Tom’s mistress and is one of the women in this story that gives the “good girl” a bad reputation. Myrtle is eager to improve her position in life. That she makes rash decisions that leave a bad impression on her life, such as, getting married to George and developing an affair with Tom. Myrtle only wants to be with Tom because of his wealthy status. Even though Tom mistreats her badly with physical cruelty, Myrtle still stays with him because of the money. Myrtle absolutely ignores her poor husband because she is unhappy with her lifestyle with him. ‘She smiled slowly and walking through her husband, as if he were a ghost shook hands with Tom, looking him flesh in the eye’ (Fitzgerald 25-26). Myrtle exists as a woman who lies, cheats to get whatever she desires, has relationships with other men to get things, and has no sense of worth. Towards the end, all these awful behaviors catch up to her and cause her untimely death.

Although we see more discrepancies than similarities when it came to their obligations back in the 1920’s, the motive behind their acts was often the same. Some of the similarities that you can see in men and women’s roles in The Great Gatsby involve values or social norms, seeing one another as tools, and manipulating their character to attain their goals. As I mentioned above, in the 1920’s the man’s place was to provide for the family and to take care of business matters, and the women were needed to socialize and look elegant, in The Great Gatsby. The men and women in this story also have in common that they see each other as property to gain importance in society. Marrying into wealth was one’s job in 1920’s. Daisy felt compelled to marry for money.

Tom wed to secure a picture-perfect trophy wife, Daisy, and so, their task was completed. Myrtle aims to get prosperity, so she utilizes Tom, and Gatsby desires to be with Daisy, so he utilizes his fortune, each character adding to the story. In this sense, men and women’s responsibilities are primarily the same- they utilize one another to get a superior level in society or to be recognized as superior. The dissimilarities amongst gender roles in The Great Gatsby are diverse. A few of the key differences is how they are portrayed, how their characters are admired, and how they are respected.

At that point in time, men like Tom and Gatsby were dominant and highly respected. Because of their prominence, men’s unfair acts were regularly unnoticed. One illustration of this is Tom’s affair with Myrtle how it’s recognized and at the same time talked about at the dinner table. However, Tom expresses his outlook on women’s affairs by stating “By God, I may be old-fashioned in my ideas, but women run around too much these days to suit me… they meet all kinds of crazy fish” (Fitzgerald 103). All the men in this story are portrayed favorably: Tom Buchanan is rich and powerful, Gatsby is determined, Nick is accurate, and George Wilson is a devoted, hard-working man. As for the women they are perceived as goods, and merely only useful for enjoyment. This era really degrades women and it must be upsetting for the women of today who educate themselves with the readings of gender roles back in the 1920’s. Because women have come a long way since then.

Nowadays, there are some women who don’t need a man’s support. Some are single parents who are providing for their own family with no support of a dominate male figure in the household. In the 1920’s the female gender since birth believed that they had to marry a man of money, but in today’s era, the female gender is a different breed of women who are strong and independent mothers who are a role model for their daughters. By this example, these daughters grow up to be women who can and will make their own decisions in life rather it be a housewife or have a career, some women do both. Either way they have that mentality to accomplish what they want in life. Still today there are some women who are good with the male domination, like Daisy Buchanan.

Daisy, “All right, I said, I’m glad it’s a girl. And I hope she’ll be a fool- that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool” when her daughter is born (Fitzgerald 17). Daisy is voicing this from her own personal experience, with having plenty of experience in a period of gender unfairness. The women in this story are displayed as “trophy wives, mistresses, cheaters, and fools”, and all this was precisely what was anticipated by them. The major difference between gender roles has decreased throughout the years, although the belief society sets of individuals are as compelling as it occurred during the “Roaring Twenties.” Marriages today end up in counseling or even divorce when it comes to affairs. Some men and women do marry for wealth, but mainly for love. The women in this story seem to want just the prosperity when it comes to their marriage.

Today, the lifespan of men and women are now completely different from the lifestyle, in 1920’s, but stereotype’s even now get a say. Nowadays, the man of the house is still expected to bring in the utmost income and women manage the housekeeping and care for the children. Nevertheless, respect is often needed from both genders, as well as a woman’s importance in a workplace is accepted more often. Men and women today know the importance of education and being a “beautiful little fool” certainly isn’t viewed the best a woman can do. In today’s societies, it takes two incomes to support a family and men have come a long way in their thinking that the woman should be at home while they work.

In today’s society, men have become supportive of women having a career. Especially when it benefits their family’s lifestyle. In the Great Gatsby, the single character, Jordan Baker was the closest to break the social walls in the 1920’s. Jordan has a man’s occupation, a unisex name, and is humbly self-sufficient. Jordan Baker would be an inspiration to woman and at this present time women have become a Jordan Baker by having an amazing career and by being independent. Just to name a couple, Katrina Adams, CEO/president, U.S. Tennis Association and Valerie Jarrett’s official title is Assistant to the President. Also, there are plenty of women who are recognized for their sportsmanship like, Serena Williams, who is a tennis star and Alex Morgan, who is an American soccer player and Olympic gold medalist. Women have tossed that gender role out the window since the 1920’s.

In this day of age, men’s responsibilities have remained the same, but then again, their arrogance of authority has enhanced over time. The women’s title role has increased, and they begin to partake in both a career and parental beliefs. To this day, the physical roles of men and women are diverse, although the differences are much less so. In certain American households today, the husband actually sits at home to keep house and look after the children while the wife manages to provide for the family, the roles have reversed. In the Great Gatsby, the importance of each gender, and the influence the social order had on people’s lives were all displayed within the story. Maybe by viewing what they were, the reader can see what they can and ought to become.

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