Literary Temper/Literary Criticism Project
Fate and Gender in The Great Gatsby
The Use of Naturalism and a Critique of Women’s Roles in Fitzgerald’s Masterpiece
Naturalism
The basic tenets of naturalism suggest:
Mankind is trapped
No one can change the circumstances of their birth and existence
The universe is indifferent to our desires, comfort and needs
Each person plays a part in keeping the machine of humanity going, but the machine is not dependent on any one individual
The force of Naturalism in The Great Gatsby
Gatsby rebels against his circumstances
Through ingenuity, he nearly conquers the constraints of time
In the end, he is punished for pushing against the structure of society
Is Gatsby Free?
Gatsby is haunted by the past
His dreams become entwined in something he can’t have
Daisy is an unobtainable grail
His efforts are fruitless
The plot reinforces the feeling of entrapment
Daisy can’t leave a loveless marriage
Nick fails at his attempts to become a rich investor
Myrtle is tossed aside and killed for wanting more from life
Gatsby watches his dreams die before being murdered
The patriarchy and repression of the feminine in The Great Gatsby is an extension of naturalism
Myrtle Wilson
Used and deceived by both her husband and Tom Buchanan
Trapped in a life of poverty
Resorts to illusion and fantasy to make her existence bearable
Killed by her lover’s wife’s lover
Jordan Baker
Employs devious, immoral behavior as a way to exert control over men, leaving her empty and shallow
Recklessness is her only way to rebel in a patriarchal society
Daisy Buchanan
Employs cognitive dissonance to deal with Tom’s infidelity
Is relegated to the object of desire in her relationships with men
Exhibits societal-taught helplessness--can’t act for her own happiness because of societies rules
Fitzgerald’s dark vision of the American dream exposes the ways in which the systems of society conspire to keep us in our place, yet we still strive, hoping and believing that with enough effort our dreams will be reality