The Great Gatsby: Gender Roles in The Roaring Twenties

Table of Contents

• The Traditional Expectations of Men and Women in 1920s America
• Gender Roles as a Source of Confinement and Betrayal
• Ambiguity and Subversion of Gender Roles
• The Broader Implications of Gender Roles in The Great Gatsby
• Bibliography

The 1920s, or the Roaring Twenties as folks like to call it, was a time when America saw a lot of change. It was all about jazz, big money, and new ways of living. F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote "The Great Gatsby" right in the middle of this whirlwind. In his book, he talks about how men and women were expected to act back then. These roles sometimes held people back or led them down paths they didn't really want. Let's dive into what these roles meant in "The Great Gatsby" and what that says about society back then.

'The Great Gatsby: Gender Roles in The Roaring Twenties'

The Traditional Expectations of Men and Women in 1920s America

In "The Great Gatsby," society's stuck on pretty strict ideas about men and women. Guys were supposed to be tough, confident, and bring home the bacon. They had control over just about everything social. Look at Tom Buchanan - he's rich, strong, and doesn’t think twice about bossing people around. He sees his wife Daisy like she's a trophy or something there just for him.

Women? Well, they were expected to stay home and keep things neat. Daisy is basically what everyone thought a woman should be back then: dainty, kind of helpless, always looking up to the men in her life. Her world revolves around Tom and keeping her status shiny.

Then there's Myrtle Wilson, who wants to live life on her terms but ends up paying dearly for it. Her story shows just how little freedom women had at that time.

Gender Roles as a Source of Confinement and Betrayal

"The Great Gatsby" does a good job showing how these set-in-stone roles mess with people's lives. Characters get trapped by them and can’t be their true selves. Take Daisy - she's stuck in a marriage without love and can't chase her dreams because that's not what society expects from her. Sticking to these old rules leads her to let down Gatsby in the end.

Tom's idea of being the typical man makes him treat both Daisy and Myrtle badly. He cheats on Daisy and doesn’t care about Myrtle's feelings because he thinks he's better than them just because he’s a guy. This way of thinking causes lots of problems.

Ambiguity and Subversion of Gender Roles

But hold on - "The Great Gatsby" isn't all doom and gloom about gender roles. Some characters push against these ideas. Jordan Baker doesn't play by the same rules as other women; she's independent, knows what she wants, and goes for it without apologies.

And Jay Gatsby? He's got his own way of bending the rules on what being a man means. He chases wealth not just for its own sake but trying to fit into the upper crust - yet he never really fits in fully. It's like an empty dream he can't quite catch.

The Broader Implications of Gender Roles in The Great Gatsby

The gender roles Fitzgerald writes about don't just show us 1920s America; they make us ask bigger questions about identity, power, and what we're all chasing after anyway – you know, that American Dream stuff.

Fitzgerald uses these themes to talk about how sticking too closely to gender norms can break people down or hold them back from finding out who they really are.

In wrapping up, "The Great Gatsby" digs deep into how folks lived with these set ideas during the Roaring Twenties through characters like Daisy Buchanan, Tom Buchanan, Myrtle Wilson, Jordan Baker, and Jay Gatsby himself. It asks us to think again about why we follow certain expectations while hinting at the potential for personal freedom if we dare step outside those lines.

Bibliography

• Fitzgerald, F. Scott (2004). The Great Gatsby. Scribner.
• Bruccoli, M.J., ed (1991). New Essays on The Great Gatsby. Cambridge University Press.
• Tate, Mary Jo (2007). Critical Companion to F. Scott Fitzgerald: A Literary Reference to His Life And Work. Infobase Publishing.
• Mizener, Arthur (1965). The Far Side Of Paradise: A Biography Of F.Scott Fitzgerald. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
• Curnutt, Kirk (2004). A Historical Guide To F.Scott Fitzgerald. Oxford University Press.