How Women Are Portrayed in F. Scott Fitzgerald The Great...

In the Great Gatsby hedonism, consumerism and materialism plays a huge part in the portrayal of women. Alongside with this comes the American Dream. Before the 1920’s the American dream was based on equality, however a different dream was developed during the 1920’s that contradicted this idea of equality as instead they strived to be rich. Fitzgerald presents women to be victims of this dream and channels this through Myrtle. She is a key character as she shows who suffers from the American dream the most, as she is shallow and fixated with materialistic goods. The way she views her husband exhibits this ‘I thought he knew something about breeding, but he wasn’t the fit to lick my shoe’. Myrtle is in denial with the life that she has been given; this is symbolic of the fact that she is unable to attain her dream of having glamour, money and beauty. The different forms of the American dreams have an elusive force, which is constantly changing as huma n desires change. The materialistic craving, which consumes Myrtle as a character, is rooted in her crisis of identity, which is indicative of the woman within the 1920s society. Woman can only be defined when related to society in terms of material possessions. The more possessions a woman has the more she is accepted within society. Tom Buchanan gave Daisy pearls before their wedding ‘pulled out the string of pearls’. Yet as is demonstrated with Daisy, the material wealth only gives superficial acceptance. Therefore it may beShow MoreRelatedThe Yin And Yang Theory Intertwined With The Great Gatsby1402 Words   |  6 PagesIntertwined with The Great Gatsby The novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald ‘The Great Gatsby’ is one of the greatest novels of all time. â€Å"The novel exposes the hollow values of the Jazz Age, with its economic and social corruptions. It also turns on its ear the particularly American myth of the self-made man who achieves success through his integrity and plain hard work† (F. 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