Essay Summary:

Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby” explores societal pressures on women, exemplified by characters like Daisy and Myrtle. Women faced limitations and expectations in the pursuit of the American Dream, leading to challenges and sacrifices to conform to societal norms. The novel portrays how women were silenced, dependent, and vulnerable, reflecting the impact of social expectations on their lives. The concept of the “New Woman” emerged to resist traditional gender roles and advocate for equality and empowerment. Fitzgerald uses characters like Daisy to illustrate the constraints imposed by societal expectations on women, emphasizing the struggle for independence and self-worth.

Essay Grade:

Rubric

Total Score: 38/65

Suggestions for Improvement of Structure, Grammar, Vocabulary, Content Length, and Tone

• Work on developing a more concise and specific thesis statement that clearly outlines the main argument.
• Enhance the depth of analysis by focusing less on plot summary and more on interpreting the text.
• Incorporate a wider range of scholarly sources to support your argument.
• Improve the integration of textual evidence into your analysis to more effectively support your claims.
• Ensure consistent use of MLA citation style throughout the essay.
• Extend the essay to meet the minimum word count requirement, allowing for a more comprehensive exploration of the topic.
• Revise for grammar and punctuation to enhance clarity and readability.

Suggestions for Topic-Related Improvements

• Deepen your analysis of gender roles and societal expectations in “The Great Gatsby” by examining how these themes interact with other central themes of the novel, such as the American Dream and moral decay.
• Consider the historical context of the 1920s more thoroughly in your analysis to enhance the reader’s understanding of the societal pressures faced by women during the era.
• Explore the character development of Daisy, Myrtle, and Jordan in greater depth, focusing on how their experiences reflect Fitzgerald’s critique of society.

Essay:

In today’s world, women are faced with many societal pressures and limitations. As women, they face many challenges in order to live up to expectations set by society. Women used to have to follow behind men in order to live up to the American Dream. The American Dream is an idea that every citizen shall have the equal opportunity to achieve success and overall have a better life. F. Scott Fitzgerald explores this topic through his literary fiction, The Great Gatsby. Fitzgerald does this by using women, such as Daisy, Myrtle, and Jordan, to represent many of the flaws held up by the upper class. Fitzgerald does this to help portray them as dependent, vulnerable, and incapable of certain things. The women in The Great Gatsby are faced with challenges such as limited choices and social expectations; As women, they are stereotyped to be someone who they are not, which are seen in their beliefs, behavior, and attitude. The Great Gatsby uses these expectations to pressure the women to try to live up to certain expectations, such as wealth and status, ultimately restricting them from realizing their true worth and potential, which exposes how these restraints help shape the characters. This helps perceive them to be vulnerable, helpless, and ignorant to their surroundings.

Daisy Buchanan’s life, despite wealth and privilege, exemplifies how societal expectations for women in the 1920’s shaped how they are presented from other’s point of view. In chapter 7 of The Great Gatsby, Tom Buchanan, Daily’s husband, often spoke for Daisy when it came to certain things like expressing her opinion. Instead of letting her say what she felt, he budged in thinking she wasn’t capable of expressing whatever she felt the need to say, leading others to believe she was a fool. Tom explained that “The trouble is that sometimes she gets foolish ideas in her head and doesn’t know what she’s doing.” He nodded sagely.” (Fitzgerald 131). Fitzgerald aligns perfectly with this message that women were observed as objects of wealth and status. An example of this is when Tom “knew that Daisy was extraordinary, but he didn’t realize just how extraordinary a “nice” girl could be. She vanished into her rich house, into her rich, full life, leaving Gatsby — nothing.” (Fitzgerald 149). Trapped in this loveless marriage, Daisy really had no voice. When it came to expressing how she felt about things, Tom always jumped in to speak for her because he thought she was just a foolish girl who did not know what she was saying, and therefore had to listen to any and everything he tells her to do. Here’s an instance of social expectations for women. Women are expected to do what they’re told, and if they choose not to, they’d be punished by these overpowered men. Women were basically servants to their husbands, or maternal figures to their children. They were expected to be caring, obedient and passive to whatever should/would happen. Daisy’s story helps readers understand how wanting to pursue the American Dream and achieve great wealth and status can ultimately make women feel trapped and unfulfilled with their lifestyle.

Myrtle Wilson wasn’t a very wealthy woman, but due to trying to fit in with society’s expectations, it led her to a tragic downfall. Myrtle was married to George Wilson, who was pretty poor. Myrtle is very materialistic and loves luxurious things, so she ends up having an affair with Tom, which helps her gain some wealth and a better social status. Myrtle’s living room “was crowded to the doors with a set of tapestried furniture entirely too large for it, so that to move about was to stumble continually over scenes of ladies swinging in the gardens of Versailles (Fitzgerald 29). Based on Myrtle’s living room, you can tell how badly materialistic she was, and how’d shed hrd things just because she liked thm. In order to be considered of great status, women would turn to wealthy men, notwithstanding whatever consequences might have come with it. Even though Myrtle was in a marriage with someone who truly loved her, she still turned her back to be with someone who had better status, more money, and could provide her with better things. Back then, every woman’s desire would be to be more wealthy or they’d often yearn to have a better life. With “better life” came more privileges, so of course women would want to elevate their statuses like Myrtle did in order to get what they wanted. Trying to conform to these standards can result in not being happy with what you really want, and stopping yourself from knowing your true worth and potential.

F. Scott Fitzgerald uses Daisy, Myrtle, and Jordan to symbolize how women back in the 19th century would resist these injustices. The term “New Woman” was created in the 20th century during the time where social expectations for women were shifting. The term was used for women who resisted to abide by gender roles, bias, and unfair opportunities. Hyuns believed that the novel abounds “with 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: shallow, revolting, exhibitionist and deceitful” (1). Women similar to Daisy, Myrtle, and Jordan would usually play the role of being a housewife, child provider, etc. As time progressed, the term was created, and women learned to resist these rules. They realized that it was sexist, and women can do just as a man could do. Social status didn;t matter to them anymore because they could create and build off their own. The “New woman” term helped build their confidence and show their independence, all while fighting for equality and gaining empowerment over their rights.

Although there were many symbols throughout the book, Fitzgerald uses Daisy to help portray how these restraints from social expectations can affect a woman. Daisy was often silenced and put into a category to make her seem like a fool. Instead of speaking up for themselves back then, women wouldn’t talk back, whatever they were told to do, they’d do. Tom thinks “She does, though. The trouble is that sometimes she gets foolish ideas in her head and doesn’t know what she’s doing.” He nodded sagely.” (FItzgerald 131). Despite Daisy having a mind of her own, she never had a chance to speak up for herself. Tom always spoke for her, strictly believing she didn’t know what he was talking about, and that she should stay in her place. Here goes to show how men expected women to act. The society was so messed up, that these women were treated like servants, and only were allowed to do what they were told.

In sum, social expectations have a big impact. The characters in this novel strive to fit into the upper class society, meet wealthy standards, and overall have a luxurious lifestyle. The novel helps highlight how one can get so washed up with trying to pursue such a lifestyle by using sacrifices to get what they want. He also highlights how women are expected to conform to certain gender roles, be restricted to limited actions, and face consequences for not obeying what they are told.