The Great Gatsby female characters

Subject: Literature
Type: Analytical Essay
Pages: 4
Word count: 880
Topics: Book, Feminism, Gender Equality, Gender Roles, The Great Gatsby
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Introduction

When compared to their male counterparts, the female characters in “The Great Gatsby” are seldom granted the same level of plausibility as those males. This is especially true of Daisy Buchanan. In comparison to men, females have a far greater breadth and depth of individual differences. Myrtle Wilson, Jordan Baker, and Daisy Buchanan each have great sway within their spheres of influence. They have their very own goals, imperatives, and necessities that they carry with them on the inside. Unfavourable character traits are assigned to the women due to their gender make the women’s use of power and influence an essential component of the story’s storyline.

Power and Influence

According to Gao (2021),he initial amount of control that Jordan Baker has over the resources at her disposal remains considered to be modest. As a result of the fact that she is a professional golfer, she remains considered to be a member of a more privileged social group. Nick does not say “she was a golf champion” at any point in the conversation. Her high social position and power, especially over Nick, go hand in hand together like peanut butter and jelly. It is not difficult to see that she has some control over Nick, particularly in light of all the allegations that Nick and Jordan are romantically involved with one another. According to him, she “responded absently as [he] came up” in the book during one of their first interactions. After that, he says, “she gripped my hand impersonally as a promise to care for me in a minute and listened to two girls in twin yellow gowns at the foot of the stairs.”

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At this stage in the novel, Jordan and Nick are just casual acquaintances, and she has a broader network of friends within the social scene than he does. On the other hand, Nick finds her intriguing, so he is willing to be patient anytime she chooses to concentrate on anything other than him. Even though Jordan’s objectives and prerequisites remain never specified in the novel, it is abundantly evident that she has an excellent need for romantic satisfaction and that she engages in a number of dates to satisfy that yearning (Zeven and  Dorst (2021). Tom thinks her parents should not allow her to travel the country irresponsibly. In popular culture, Jordan is a strong woman who wants men’s attention but cannot obtain it. The dichotomy between her desire and her inability to achieve it contributes to this image.

Social class

According to Gao (2021), Daisy Buchanan is also an example of broader and more consistent power distribution and societal influence. As a result of the fact that she is more robust than Jordan and comes from a higher social position than Jordan. Someone once said that Daisy and Tom “destroyed things and people, then withdrew back into their wealth, extreme carelessness, or whatever held them together, leaving other people to repair the damages caused.” Daisy, who comes from an affluent family and can avoid facing the consequences of her decisions, mistakenly believes she has more agency than others. Daisy’s influence on Gatsby is significant because of the time they spent together in the past. Daisy had hit Myrtle, and Gatsby let his affections for Daisy to persuade him that he was to blame. Gatsby believed that Myrtle’s injury was his fault. Nick inquired as to whether or not Daisy was operating the vehicle, and Gatsby responded.

Alternatively, Daisy has such a powerful hold on Gatsby that he would fabricate a confession to save her from the consequences of her actions. Daisy is also human, which means she has her own needs, desires, and requirements. According to Pambudi at el.(2018), to satisfy her craving for excitement and mischief while still leading the life of luxury that she has become used to. Consequently, she is resolute in her commitment to maintaining her relationship with Gatsby and her pursuit of affluence. Her anxieties in this area and her fixation on living a life of continual extravagance are pretty similar to Myrtle’s. Daisy remains often characterized as an arrogant power-hoarder and influence-avoider whose desires, motivations, and expectations remain exaggerated to an unreasonable degree.

Conclusion

Although the women in The Great Gatsby have varying degrees of power and influence depending on their social rank and how they carry out their activities, on the whole, the women in the novel have less authority than the male characters. This is the case even though the women in the novel have varying degrees of power and influence depending on how they carry out their activities. Each has unique interests, motives, and requirements, which may vary from reasonable to irrational depending on the individual. As a result of her social standing, Jordan remains nonetheless considered to have a degree of power and influence that may remain classified as falling somewhere in the center. Tom, Daisy is a very influential person with a large amount of authority. According to Pambudi at el. (2018), because of her lower social position than the other two, Myrtle has the least amount of authority and influence of the three. All these remain to be various instances of the numerous types of power and influence that can still be achieved, particularly by women who are inherently denied authority due to their gender.

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  1. Gao, Y. (2021). A Feminist Approach to The Great Gatsby. International Journal of Frontiers in Sociology3(6).
  2. Pambudi, H. A. R., Sembiring, B., & Damayanti, I. (2018). The Portrayal of Women in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald and It’s Relationship to Indonesian Women On Education. Journal of English Education and Teaching2(4), 48-67.
  3. Zeven, K., & Dorst, A. G. (2021). A beautiful little fool? Retranslating Daisy Buchanan in The Great Gatsby. Perspectives29(5), 661-675.
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