The Tragedy of Being Born a Woman Essay - 611 Words

In the story The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the role of the female characters Daisy, Jordan and Myrtle find themselves in conflict with society’s expectations of them. However, they each negotiate the conflict and resolve it. By examining Daisy, Jordan and Myrtle’s roles, one can contemplate how they went about resolving the issue. The beautiful and mesmerizing Daisy Buchanan is the poster child of sociability. She lives a particular lifestyle in the privileged, high class Louisville, which her husband Tom has provided for her. She attracts all sorts of men, including Jay Gatsby, with her classy nature and voice â€Å"full of money†. She is the object of Gatsby’s desire, and represents an elite social class. Her voice is full of†¦show more content†¦She was incurably dishonest. She wasnt able to endure being at a disadvantage and, given this unwillingness, I suppose she had begun dealing in subterfuges when she was very young in order to keep that cool, insolent smile turned to the world and yet satisfy the demands of her hard, jaunty body.† Married to her husband George who owns a gas station, and lover of Tom Buchanan, Myrtle Wilson serves as a representative of the lower class. Through her affair with Tom she enters the world of the elite, and her personality change is remarkable. She conducts a secret life with Tom, where she exhibits all the power and dominance she finds lacking in her everyday life. She eventually suffers a tragic death at the hand of her lover’s wife. In the story, Gatsby is a tragic hero, while Myrtle is portrayed as a ridiculous fool. Gatsby strives out of love, while Myrtle does it out of greed. Is Gatsby seen as a hero because he is a man, or is Myrtle portrayed as a fool simply because she had the tragedy of being born a woman? Myrtle and Gatsby however do have one thing in common; theyre both trying to rise above their class. Like Gatsby, Myrtle isnt happy with the class she was born to. She insists she married beneath her, and she tries to talk about the lower orders as though shes not one of them. Myrtle and Gatsby have quite a bit in common; nonetheless they are completely different people. Throughout this story, as the same as reality, women face the conflict of meeting theShow MoreRelatedEssay on Definitions of a Tragedy: Shakespeares and Aristotles1182 Words   |  5 PagesIn writing a tragedy, there are certain standards and guidelines to which an author or playwright must follow. One such standard is the Aristotelian definition of tragedy and the tragic hero. William Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Macbeth is a perfect mold of an Aristotelian Tragedy. It displays all eight aspects of Aristotle’s definition of tragedy. It is set mainly in Scotland, but briefly in England during the eleventh century. 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