The Incomplete Modern Women

寧曉然

The Great Gatsby is known as a Chronicle of the Jazz Age. This paper combines the analysis of the female characters with the special historical backgrounds in the 1920s. It attempts to find out the progressive points of the three females as modern women as well as the incompleteness showed on them. It is wished that the indulging roots of the female characters can be understood, and a more objective appraisal of them can be given through this thesis.

Key words: The Great Gatsby, female, incomplete modern woman, Jazz Age

I. The main female characters in the Novel

In the novel the three main female characters are Daisy Buchanan, Jordan Baker, and Myrtle Wilson. They respectively come from the upper, middle and lower class and own distinctive dispositions. However, they share some common qualities--- seeking after vanity, money worship, frivolous indulgence and so on.① Daisy is the wife of Tom, who is a wealthy olive player. In an accident Daisy hits Wilson. Gatsby shoulders the responsibility and is killed by Wilsons husband. Jordan Baker is a friend of Daisy. She keeps the ambiguous relationship with Nick. Myrtle Wilson is the wife of a small proprietor of a garage. Due to her vanity, she becomes Toms lover. At last, she is hit by Toms car, which is being driven by Daisy.

Ⅱ. Daisy Buchanan as an Incomplete Modern Woman of upper class

The imperfection of Daisy is firstly displayed in her money-worship attitude. Aspirations or morals are far from her. She lacks of the basic sincerity and her heart is overwhelmed by money.② Spiritual emptiness leads her to regard money as the most important thing and the safest guarantee for maintaining a luxury life. When she chooses her husband, money is the most crucial factor. Nick comments it as this: “It was full of money---that was the inexhaustible charm that rose and fell in it, the jingle of it, the cymbals song of it. High in a white palace the kings daughter, the golden girl......” [p152]

The unfulfillment as an incomplete modern woman is secondly showed in her passive ways in handling marital problems. Daisy still holds the traditional concept of marriage. There were many double standards between man and women in marriage in that era. The distinct one is that man can have lovers besides his wife, while women cant do that. Being a victim of the patriarchal society, Daisy accepts the double standards, and bears all the bitterness in her heart.

Ⅲ. Jordan as an Incomplete Modern Woman of middle class

As a modern woman, Jordans career is of much progressive meaning. She is a golf player and has won some prizes in tournaments. “It was not until the 1920s that women athletes began to come to their own, and in some cases, they competed successfully against men.”③The career of Jordan is of positive meanings. Nevertheless, there is still much imperfectness in her characters. Nick once says Jordan is incurably dishonest. At her first golf tournament she moves the ball secretly in order to win. Several people witness her fault. Jordan makes them shut up with the use of money. Jordan is dishonest without doubt, but the text also implies that it is impossible for women at that time to succeed in an unrecognized area. The way towards gaining equal right is far from completeness.④

Jordans imperfect disposition as a modern woman is displayed in other aspects as well. She is a selfish woman and lacks a sense of responsibility. Nick sees her stop a car in the rain without covering hood and then lies about it. Nick feels the unbearable indifference and selfishness of Jordan. Although he is attracted by her fair appearance, he leaves her in the end.

Ⅳ. T Myrtle Wilson as an Incomplete Modern Woman of lower class

As an incomplete modern woman, firstly the imperfectness of Myrtle is her blind money worship and vanity. Her husband pours all his heart on her, however, she is oblivious of it and becomes a lover of Tom, whom she recognizes on a train. Although her husband loves her a lot, she looks down upon him and often ridicules him. Myrtle never understands or values the deep love from her husband. What she cares for is money.

As an unfulfilled modern woman, her incompleteness is also displayed on her deception of herself. She wishes to change her life so intently that she persuades herself to believe that Tom will leave his wife and ask her to marry him. As a matter of fact, in Toms heart, Myrtle is just a lower woman. Myrtles self-deception is also the cause of her doomed tragedy. When seeing Toms car, she crazily wants to stop it. At that time Daisy is in the driving place. She is so nervous that she cant escape to hit Myrtle. Myrtle is dead in the accident and the fundamental reason lies in herself.

Ⅴ. Conclusion

The three women in The Great Gatsby---Daisy Buchanan, Jordan Baker, and Myrtle Wilson are the female representatives of the upper, middle and lower classes. Daisy is empty, money-oriented and still follows the traditional views in marriage. Jordan Bakers career shows her modern womans status. But she is dishonest, and lacks a sense of responsibility. Myrtle Wilsons unfulfilled characters are reflected by her blind money worship, and defiant of the lower-class people. She also is liable to deceive herself. To conclude, the three female characters all own progressive aspects and shortcomings. On the one hand, their degenerated behaviors are too mad and deserve to be blamed. On the other hand, they are the victims of the society, and worthy of being pitied. Consequently we should take them as a group of transitional females towards the complete modern women.

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