A Feminist reading of The Great Gatsby

The novel portrays the picture of America in the 1920’s. Before the war, women had
no opportunity, and they needed to stay on a platform endorsed by the constraints of
male beliefs. Tyson discussed how the novel strengthens and disputes the assumptions
of a patriarchal society.

Two years after the end of war, the American women were able to exercise their
rights to vote and their old behavior began to change as they were able to express
themselves more and regain freedom. “In other words, as we often see during times of
social change a ‘New Woman’ emerged in the 1920s.” (p.121) 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. Daisy adjusts to a common, male-centric thought of femininity that values
compliant and quiet females, she likewise gets these social guidelines for ladies and
decides to play directly into them. Along these lines, Daisy is a more incendiary
women's activist. Jordan is endorsed as a more manly female person and appears to
oppose the prevalent burden to adjust to ladylike standards. Besides the fact that she
has her own effective vocation, something that most ladies in the 1920s didn't have,
however, her profession is in the male-ruled field of expert golf. Myrtle's portrayal is
more centered around her genuineness, and she is more immediately sabotaged as
fake and, surprisingly, abnormal.

In The Great Gatsby, men are portrayed as rich, regularly oppressive, possessive
providers - results of the more established society before the lady's liberation. In terms
of gender relations, the Great Gatsby sample essay demonstrates how the novel
highlights an aspect of both genders regaining their positions in society. Even though
males have ruled, and women have proven to be dependent on men, both must reframe
themselves as victims of social conventions.

As per Tyson, the novel abounds in 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 which were shallow, exhibitionist, revolting,
and deceitful. Women in the Great Gatsby were accustomed to a great deal of
submission; Daisy's character is an illustration of this. She has a complacent personality
that makes it tough for her to make independent decisions. The male orientation has
ruled the financial and social piece of the general public ensuring that the job of ladies is
decreased to being subjects to the male activity of force. This has been shown
obviously by ladies getting caught in the sexism and control set by men thus making it
difficult for them to remain by their decisions. Their orientation nature directs the
person's decision in the male-overwhelmed world. However, Tyson also argued that one
might see the novel’s bias not as sexist but classist, for all the women described above
belong to the lower social economic strata of society; however there are several male
characters from the same strata who are described sympathetically.
 The woman in this text are shown to be victims of social and cultural standards that
they were powerless to change, emphasizing the power of culture in molding people's
lives. Gender relations are being used to redefine society and culture in new ways, and
the women in this story are actively attempting to modify social conventions by their
attitudes and behaviors.