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The New Women of the Twentieth Century
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A rethorical essay on how women are depicted and portrayed in F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel The Great Gatsby.
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1English III
19 February 2020
The New Women of the Twentieth Century
The 1920s were always considered as a decade of dramatic changes for women. For
instance, the Nineteenth Amendment passed, granting them the right to vote, society started
embracing unmarried women who worked in jobs other than domestics, and women became
involved in making important decisions in distinct aspects of life. Prior to the 1920s, the main role
women performed in their lives was to look after their husband and children, but in The Great
Gatsby, a novel written by Francis Scott Fitzgerald, women seem to care more about themselves,
their place in society and becoming selfish and unfaithful towards their families or friends. In the
novel, Fitzgerald’s message about this new culture is clearly conveyed: the social freedoms and
appearances of the woman of the 1920s were not a tolerable image.
A flapper, a trendy modern young girl who wore short skirts, smoked cigarettes and drank
forbidden liquor was one of the latest roles for women in this decade. In The Great Gatsby, all the
women are depictions of the 1920s flapper girls . Take, for instance, the case of Daisy, who selfishly
seeks her independence from motherhood, and as a result she is depicted as a false, selfish gold-
digger who has an extramarital relationship with Jay Gatsby. Yet another example of unfaithfulness
is Myrtle and Tom’s affair, and as a result of the relationship, Myrtle is portrayed as another selfish
woman as she pushes Tom to leave Daisy and cheats on her husband, George Wilson. Another kind
of unfaithfulness is shown in Jordan Baker. Not only is she unfaithful to her childhood friend Daisy
by not telling her about the affair Tom is having with another woman, but she is also a dishonest
golfer. In fact, Jordan cheated in the golf tournament which made her successful, leading the reader
to infer that Fitzgerald believes women can not earn success without dishonesty; only men can.
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