Brooke Lippman English 10 Nemeroff May 30, 2023 The Price of Perfection The objectification of women displayed in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby” is a commentary on the evolution of beauty standards and the importance of wealth and “things” in society then and now. Material wealth and how you present yourself are two essential factors to qualify as ‘society’ then; however, when thinking about culture today, what defines us? Fitzgerald’s depiction of Daisy illustrates what was socially acceptable for women during the 1920s. Tom’s ability to give “her a string of pearls valued at three hundred and fifty thousand dollars” (Fitzgerald, 76) is a commentary on the importance of wealth as well as the idea of something pulling Daisy …show more content…
Fitzgerald’s commentary on the word ‘nice’ can be interpreted to mean pleasant or wealthy. However, if he was attracted to her because she was kind, wouldn’t Gatsby talk about their time together in relation to this? Her economic status, paired with the civilized aspects of being wealthy, is genuinely what Fitzgerald means when saying “nice” as he spends the following two pages talking about “her rich house” (Fitzgerald, 149). The text demonstrates that the underlying “thing” Gatsby loved the most was her wealth. It was the fact that “he had never been in such a beautiful house before” (Fitzgerald, 148). that more so attracted Gatsby to Daisy rather than Daisy …show more content…
The implications of social media on teens, adults, and children have forever altered the standards of beauty as well as the general upbringing of young adults. Today, teens globally use apps like Instagram, Tiktok, and Snapchat daily, scrolling through pictures and posts of friends, family, mutuals, or celebrities. It has created empowerment but also unease for many females. How people present themselves on social media today has the same effect as how people would have presented themselves at Gatsby’s parties then. The value in society of having “things” is still prevalent as material things like named brand clothing and other items, along with the status associated with cars and even with private schools, are viewed by many from a social or wealth perspective. However, the hold over our society today is more prominently amplified by the beauty standards advertised by social media. Engendering these false depictions of what you should look and act like is more detrimental to society as the effect of it begins earlier. In “The Great Gatsby,” characters like Daisy do not hide behind a screen like our population does today. Yes, Daisy does wear this “mask” of how she feels (don’t love this mask of how…) through her actions and appearance, but social media’s cloak is far worse than faking it till you make it. It becomes a game of who can look like they
In F. Scott Fitzgerald's famous novel "The Great Gatsby", the author paints a vivid picture of the roaring twenties, a time of wealth and extravagance for many Americans. However the wealthy of this time period would often commit corrupt and hollow acts during this time period, simply for personal gain. Fitzgerald's novel mainly centers around the newly wealthy Jay Gatsby, and his love for the beautiful but married Daisy Buchanan and the things he would do to try and win her over. Through his portrayal of the characters and their actions, Fitzgerald explores the theme of the hollowness or selfishness, among the rich and wealthy of this time period.
In conclusion, Fitzgerald demonstrates through the character Daisy, how in the 1920s, society saw women as objects because of their
In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby deceives everyone around him concerning the legitimacy behind his wealth, claiming that he had become affluent through respectable means. Gatsby’s deception is intended to regain Daisy Buchanan’s love, which he had long-missed ever since before he went to war. However, with this deception, Fitzgerald makes clear the hypocrisy and deceit present in the 1920’s – deceit not only within relationships and interactions but also in the very mantra of the United States, the American dream. Fitzgerald reveals his views with Gatsby’s superfluous luxury, which he prominently displays, whether in the form of lavish parties or a grandiose house. He takes every opportunity to make his wealth known; for example, he often offers a multitude (and often excessive) of favors to Nick, implicitly desperate to make his wealthy reputation spread across the city.
This is Fitzgerald’s satirical poke at 1920s America’s misplaced prioritization of material wealth over spiritual wealth. Gatsby became so enamored by her voice that he based all of his actions on winning Daisy over. Her voice contains the promise of vast riches. However, Gatsby is too late to realize that money is the only thing her voice promises. However, Gatsby does not see that attaining wealth and power does not equal happiness.
In life, others see many examples of people with all the riches of the world, but don’t end up with merriment and satisfaction. Throughout the story of The Great Gatsby, the reader is given perspective on the rich and poor conflicts of the roaring 20’s, where people either live in luxury or live in dirt. A character by the name of Jay Gatsby has all this wealth but isn’t happy because of a missing desire for the love of Daisy Buchanan. The author explores this idea through items and events that exploit the character of Jay Gatsby’s loneliness. In The Great Gatsby, author F. Scott Fitzgerald reveals how material wealth does not bring happiness through symbols of the Green Light, the extravagant parties, and the pool.
In F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel "The Great Gatsby," the pursuit of wealth and the corrupting influence it can have on individuals is a well-known theme. Set in the 1920s, a time of unpredicted economic growth and excess, the novel portrays a world where natural wealth is often equated with personal wealth. The characters in the novel are obsessed with wealth and status, to the point where it becomes a tunnel vision that can cause them to overlook other important aspects of life, such as love, relationships, and overall morality. One character who exemplifies this theme is Jay Gatsby himself. Gatsby's desire for wealth and a lavish lifestyle is evident throughout the novel.
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s 1925 novel, The Great Gatsby, is full of themes of wealth, love, and tragedy, as well as a subtle but powerful representation of gender. During the time this book was written, women’s suffrage had begun, so women were taking their first steps towards equality with men. The three main women characters in the novel - Daisy Buchanan, Myrtle Wilson, and Jordan Baker- all have things in common but can be vastly different; they reflect both man and society’s view of women in the early 20th century. The Great Gatsby portrays the characters Daisy, Myrtle, and Jordan as stereotypes of women during the 1920s, which is shown through their behavior, beliefs, and ultimate fates and their personalities display both powerful and potentially harmful stereotypes of women at this time.
In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald portrays love, obsession, and objectification through the characters Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan. Some might say their love was true and Gatsby’s feelings for her was pure affection, while others say that he objectifies and is obsessed with her. Perhaps Gatsby confuses lust and obsession with love, and throughout the novel, he is determined to win his old love back. At the end of the novel, Gatsby is met with an untimely death and never got to be with Daisy. The reader is left to determined if Gatsby’s and Daisy’s love was pure and real, or just wasn’t meant to be.
An important theme in The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is the corruption of morals because of wealth. It doesn’t matter if one comes from old or new money, wealth will corrupt the morality of even the humblest. The first example of wealth corrupting morals is in the indifference to infidelity between the married Tom Buchanan and Myrtle Wilson. The next example of wealth corrupting morals is seen in Jordan Baker’s actions to keep her luxurious lifestyle. Third, Jim Gatsby’s pursuit of wealth lead to the corruption of his morals.
In Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, Daisy is portrayed as a modern woman; she is sophisticated, careless and beautifully shallow. Daisy knows who she is, and what it takes for her to be able to keep the lifestyle she grew up in, and this adds to her carelessness and her feigned interest in life. In all, Daisy is a woman who will not sacrifice material desires or comfort for love or for others, and her character is politely cruel in this way. Daisy’s main strength, which buoyed her throughout her youth and when she was in Louisville, is her ability to know what was expected of her and feign cluelessness.
Gatsby travels back to the first time he saw Daisy at her grand home and goes into vivid detail of her house, “There was a ripe mystery about it, a hint of bedrooms upstairs more beautiful and cool than the other bedrooms of gay and radiant activities taking place through its corridors and of romances that were not musty and laid away already in lavender but fresh and breathing and redolent of this year’s shining motor cars and of dancers whose flowers were scarcely withered”. Gatsby goes into the nitty-gritty details of Daisy’s home, calling it ‘beautiful’, ‘gay and radiant’ and ‘breathing’ in order to demonstrate how symbolic the home is to him. This is the first taste of the upper class that Gatsby has ever experienced and serves as the true epitome of wealth to Gatsby. He falls in love with the newness of her home and the activities of the rich. Because of Gatsby’s love for the home, when he sees Daisy become consumed by her own luxuries, he feels betrayed; “She vanished into her rich house, into her rich full life, leaving Gatsby-nothing”.
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s 1925 novel, The Great Gatsby, is full of themes of wealth, love, and tragedy. Also during the time this book was written, women’s suffrage had begun, so women were taking their first steps towards equality with men. The three main women characters in the novel: Daisy Buchanan, Myrtle Wilson, and Jordan Baker, all have things in common but can be vastly different; they reflect the view of women in the early 20th century. The Great Gatsby portrays the characters Daisy, Myrtle, and Jordan as stereotypes of women during the 1920s, seen in their behavior, beliefs, and their ultimate fate.
In the novel The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald characterizes the 1920s as an era of decayed social and moral values. One of the major themes explored in this novel is the Hollowness of the Upper Class. The entire book revolves around money including power and little love. Coincidentally the three main characters of the novel belong to the upper class and throughout the novel Fitzgerald shows how this characters have become corrupted and have lost their morality due to excess money and success and this has led them to change their perspective towards other people and they have been portrayed as short-sighted to what is important in life. First of all, we have the main character of this novel, Gatsby who won’t stop at nothing to become rich overnight in illegal dealings with mobsters such as Wolfsheim in order to conquer Daisy’s heart.”
But what gave it an air of breathless intensity was that Daisy lived there—it was as casual a thing to her as his tent out at his camp was to him” (158). The phrase “breathless intensity” characterizes Gatsby’s reaction to seeing such wealth, and the word “air” expresses a sort of intangibility of her wealth. The juxtaposition between Gatsby and Daisy’s perspectives, “breathless” versus “casual,” allude to an insurmountable gap between the idea of the self-made man and the difficulty of actually achieving upward class mobility in America. Here, Fitzgerald suggests that true wealth and class also require a comfortability and casualness toward luxury as evidenced by his comparison of Daisy’s house to Gatsby’s tent. Even when Daisy is ready to leave Tom and Gatsby has the extravagant lifestyle, he is not satisfied.
Today everyone is obsessed with social media. People are easily influenced by almost everything they come across on the internet including appearance and body image. In todays generation it is so common to be unhappy with the way you look. All this is due to societies high standards on the way we “should” look. With social media you can do many things, including pretending to be someone you are not.