Gender Roles in The Great Gatsby :: F. Scott Fitzgerald

Gender Roles: In some respects, Fitzgerald writes about gender roles in a quite conservative manner. In his novel, men work to earn money for the maintenance of the women. Men are dominant over women, especially in the case of Tom, who asserts his physical strength to subdue them. The only hint of a role reversal is in the pair of Nick and Jordan. Jordan's androgynous name and cool, collected style masculinize her more than any other female character. However, in the end, Nick does exert his dominance over her by ending the relationship. The women in the novel are an interesting group, because they do not divide into the traditional groups of Mary Magdalene and Madonna figures, instead, none of them are pure. Myrtle is the most obviously sensual, but the fact that Jordan and Daisy wear white dresses only highlights their corruption. ï‚ § What’s Fitzgerald’s implicit views of modern women in this novel? Daisy and Jordan dress the part of flappers, yet Daisy also plays the role of the Louisville rich girl debutante. A good question to ask is perhaps just how much Daisy realizes this is a â€Å"role,† and whether her recognition of that would in any sense make her a modern woman character. ï‚ § How significant is Nick’s final repudiation of Jordan Baker to the novel’s larger critique of modernity? ï‚ § Why is the novel so intrigued by Myrtle Wilson’s â€Å"immediately perceptible vitality† (30), on the one hand, yet almost viciously cruel in its mockery of her upper class pretension on the other hand? (see for example, pp.29-35 where Nick contrasts Myrtle’s â€Å"intense vitality† with her and her sister Catherine’s laughable attempts to posture themselves as modern society women. Indeed, Nick twice remarks Catherine’s plucked and redrawn eyebrows as affronts to her â€Å"nature† (see p.34, and again at the very end on pp.171-172). What’s up with that?) Even if they disagree about other issues, all feminists believe patriarchal ideology works to keep men and women confined to traditional gender roles so male dominance may be maintained. Utilizing the precepts of Feminist criticism, it could be argued â€Å"The Great Gatsby† promotes a thinly veiled patriarchal agenda. Through Fitzgerald’s treatment of the three women in â€Å"Gatsby†, as well as masking the possible homosexuality of a central character, the novel seems to promote only the traditional gender roles, swaying uncomfortably from any possible variance.