Portfolio Project
Cyni Randle
feminist view of The Great Gatsby
Women in society are held to a certain standard that they are expected to live by. They are considered caretakers, showing that men view women as weak and unable to do things that would require muscle or a certain level of intelligence. The Great Gatsby is a perfect example of how women weren't treated as equals or respected in their relationships. Women were supposed to be dependent on their husbands, their role in society was to look and act like a “lady”.
Jordan Baker goes against the basic social standards for women in the 1920s not only does she not care about other's opinions she isn’t married. She doesn’t depend on a man for money. Even her name doesn’t conform to gender roles. During that time people did not like the way that Jordan lived. She is viewed as unladylike because as Nick stated “She was incurably dishonest. She wasn’t able to endure being at a disadvantage…” (Fitzgerald 44) the belief that she is dishonest goes against the moral purity women are expected to have therefore her lie is viewed as a masculine trait of competitiveness.
Another character that I want to focus on is Tom Buchanan. He would not be in support of the world's feministic views today. Tom believes that women can’t do the things that a man can. When he found out that Daisy was having an affair with Gatsby he was mad but because he felt disrespected but he was having an affair with myrtle. He believes that it is okay for men to cheat but it’s not for a woman to cheat. He says “I suppose the latest thing is to sit back and let Mr. Nobody from Nowhere make love to your wife. Well, if that’s the idea you can count me out” (Fitzgerald 98) he is hypocritical and doesn't believe that women deserve the same freedom in a relationship as a man.
From a feminist lens, The Great Gatsby implies woman are only objects for men to have and fight over. This story shows how women are actually seen in life, Like objects. Women are not being able to show their full potential because they are being shot down for what they want or the rights they should have. Women are not able to have the same amount of rights as men, because men believe women don’t deserve those rights because they are women and they are “not as smart as men.”
tunnel vision
The American dream of rags to riches
is a dream or a reason
If everyone could do it
It would be a reality
But for some, that dream can become a nightmare
What you want isn’t always what you get
Somewhere along the line things change
And you don’t realize till it’s too late
You see, no one notices that bad
When they get tunnel vision
They become so consumed by fame
Until it happens
The oppression, the hate
It will blindside you, because
If our freedom is taken
The American dream will wither and die
Entry 1: chapter 5 gatsby nick and daisy are having lunch and gatsby is nervous
What is wrong with me
She's here like I wanted but I panicked
She's way out of my league
Maybe that's why she won't talk to me
I just feel so… I don’t know
I made a mistake
I shouldn’t be here, with her
I can’t do this
I have to go
What is this feeling?
I was acting like a child
I throw a tantrum in front of Nick
I hope she didn’t her
Why is this happening to me
What will she think of me?
Will she think I am rude
Does she hate me
Nick thinks she's embarrassed
What would she be embarrassed about?
I am the one that is embarrassed
Entry 2: Summer Nights~ a found poem using the beginning of ch 3 (Gatsby's Party)
An invitation came,
the honor would be entirely Gatsby’s,
if I would attend his “little party.” that night
He had seen me several times, and had intended to call on me long before,
but a peculiar combination of circumstances had prevented it — signed Jay Gatsby
music from my neighbor’s house through the summer nights.
In his blue gardens men and girls came and went
I watched his guests diving from the tower of his raft,
or taking the sun on the hot sand of his beach
Every Friday five crates of oranges arrived from a fruiterer in New York
corps of caterers came down
with several hundred feet of canvas
and enough colored lights to make a Christmas tree of Gatsby’s enormous garden.
By seven o’clock the orchestra has arrived
They are playing yellow cocktail music,
and the opera of voices pitches a key higher.
Laughter is easier minute by minute,
tipped out at a cheerful word
confident girls who weave here and there
among the stouter and more stable,
become for a sharp, joyous moment the center of a group,
and then, excited with triumph
The party has begun.
Bibliography
Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. https://www.wsfcs.k12.nc.us/cms/lib/NC01001395/Centricity/Domain/7935/Gatsby_PDF_FullText.pdf.