The Representation of Men and Women in The Great Gatsby

Guys have been overpowering women for numerous years now. The power that guys have over girls is shown all through many distinct operates of literature. Many readers believe that females have less energy than males do in the book, The Wonderful Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald. This statement is accurate, due to the date that this book was written the year 1925, seeing that girls for the duration of that time period had been treated much more as objects rather than being treated as individuals. In The Fantastic Gatsby Ivan Štrba stated “The males constitute ‘the world’” and the women are merely ‘it’s mistress’” (42). In addition to what Ivan Štrba said, there have been numerous feminist scholars that have been known to criticize The Great Gatsby for their way girls are portrayed. I agree, along with many other folks, with the statement that Ivan Štrba stated in response to the novel and will be proving this statement even further. Women and guys may possibly be equal in how guys are supposed to respond when they are spoken to, but Fitzgerald shows that girls are overpowered by guys by way of the way their physical appearance and personality are described. As nicely as how it is looked down on females when they have an affair but it is a lot more accepted by society for a male to have an affair.

The way that Fitzgerald describes females physical look is clearly represented in very different methods than males are throughout the course of the novel. The way Tom Buchanan is described by Fitzgerald in the novel is in a way that he’s not describing him as if he is an attractive man or not. The way he is described tends to make it appear like Fitzgerald does not have an interest in the way a male is described:

A sturdy, straw haired man of thirty with a rather challenging mouth and a supercilious manner. Two shining, arrogant eyes had established dominance over his face and gave him the appearance of usually leaning aggressively forward. Not even the effeminate swank of his riding garments could hide the enormous power of that body—he seemed to fill these glistening boots till he strained the leading lacing and you could see a excellent pack of muscle shifting when his shoulder moved under his thin coat. It was a body capable of enormous leverage—a cruel physique (Fitzgerald 9).

When Fitzgerald described Tom Buchanan’s eyes possessing dominance over his face as properly as getting arrogant, then proceeding to say that even his clothes cannot hide the power his body has, gives an even stronger suggestion that males have a lot more power over girls. It offers a robust and clear dominance that Tom has and also offers the reader a clear feeling that he is a lot stronger and or more dominant than the other characters in the novel. The way that the women are described in this novel is a lot distinct. As a reader, it seemed like Fitzgerald had a larger interest in trying to capture the beauty of women by describing what they are wearing:

Massive couch on which two young ladies were buoyed up as although upon an anchored balloon. They have been each in white and their dresses had been rippling and fluttering as if they had just been blown back in after a quick flight around the residence (Fitzgerald 10)

He had a larger interest in ladies, this is prominent simply because when he described the men he did not incorporate near as much detail in the what the guys were wearing nor in their physical appearance. “Her face was sad and lovely with vibrant factors in it, vibrant eyes and a vibrant passionate mouth—but there was an excitement in her voice that men who had cared for her found challenging to forget” (Fitzgerald 12), the author decided to talk about what the ladies have been wearing ahead of he had described their physical appearance. “Jordan Baker is introduced with an impression that defines her: ‘…chin raised a tiny, as if she have been balancing anything on it which was fairly most likely to fall.’ Throughout the story she is preoccupied with sustaining her precarious image of herself” (Hollister). In his writing, Fitzgerald had made an assumption that the way a women looks is a lot more essential as nicely as the assumption that females are constantly attempting to perform on their physical appearances. Michael Hollister, a university student has written an article on the novel, The Fantastic Gatsby, has also made a statement that in this novel, females are more occupied with producing certain the way they look is exactly where they way them to be as effectively as being acceptable by society, but when he spoke about men he talked about each their physical appearance as nicely as their physical look. The way he did this shows that he had been more concerned about women’s bodies as an alternative of the personality of the girls, given that males have a tendency to not care as considerably about their appears it makes them “Constitute the world” (Štrba).

In the novel, The Fantastic Gatsby, it is not acceptable for a woman to have an affair but it is acceptable for a male to have an affair. Daisy’s husband, Tom, was getting an affair on her with a woman named Myrtle Wilson. As soon as the story went further on, Daisy and Jay Gatsby had reunited, while this occurred he expressed his really like to her and she expressed it back to him as well. The moment Tom discovered out about this he got really mad at her, but when Daisy discovered out about Tom’s affair it was not acceptable by society for her to get produced or upset about it. This had been a surprise to Daisy’s cousin once removed, Nick, when he had identified out about this affair he was not upset or mad about it. Nick and Jordan Baker had been talking collectively and then the telephone rang, it was Tom’s mistress ‘“Why-’ she said hesitantly, ‘Tom’s got some girls in New York.’ ‘Got some women?’ [she] repeated blankly. Miss Baker nodded. ‘She might have the decency not to telephone him at dinner time. Do not you think?’” (Fitzgerald 18). It was normal for males to have affairs on their wives but the females did not think it was okay. The females in the novel have been shocked that Tom was on the telephone with his mistress in front of them, which shows a level of energy that men have more than girls. Tom had not respected that his wife was sitting correct there while he was speaking with his mistress and he had anticipated Daisy to be okay with it. “What a low, vulgar girl!” (Fitzgerald 124) Jordan Baker had stated to Daisy. When this was said to Daisy she did not care due to the fact she was in love with Gatsby and she wanted people to know about their love. This text mentioned that it was okay for a man to have an affair but if a lady had a single she would be regarded and called a unsophisticated and ‘showy’ individual. According to Gatsby she by no means loved Tom, which was not correct because she did lover her husband but the moment she saw Gatsby once more, she knew that she nevertheless loved him. “Tom bought Daisy a pearl necklace before their marriage and implies that he is continuing to get her off, almost certainly because he is continuing to have affairs” (Hollister). ‘Buying her off” is an implication and another instance of how ladies had been observed a lot more as objects than folks. Most males had affairs on their wives in the course of the time period that this novel was written but it was really uncommon for females to have an affair. It was anticipated that females had been to stay loyal as nicely as truthful to their husbands.

In conclusion, I agree with Štrba’s statement on how “men constitute ‘the world’ and females are ‘merely its mistress” (Štrba). Guys are supposed to respond to females when they are spoken to, all of the other proof goes towards what Štrba had stated. Men have much more rights as well as a lot more freedom in the novel and they were permitted to participate in activities that ladies had been not permitted to. It was also produced clear that Fitzgerald thinks females only want to hold their concentrate on their appearance, instead of their personality. Searching at how the portrayal of men and women in The Wonderful Gatsby is, it was made clear that males are more essential than women through Fitzgerald’s eyes.