Female Charcaters in The Great Gatsby

[ysmith91]

Hi All,

I have just joined this forum and believe it could be very beneficial towards work related to my EPQ.

I am currently an alevel student in my last year at college and I am doin an Extended Project Qualification based around the subject of English. Last year for my AS i studied the Great Gatsby for my English Literature course. I really think this is a truly amazing book and Fitzgerald is most certanly a splendid writer!

Seein as i enjoyed studying this text so much I figured I would focus my EPQ around this.

For my EPQ i have decided to focus on the female characters within the Novel. One thing i must do inorder to complete my EPQ is carry out primary research for my project and i figured a group liek this may be a key place to start.

So, If you are familiar with the Great Gatsby or the representation of woman around that time period I would really really appreciate it if You'd be able to help me by posting you views related to thsi topic. It can be siply opiniated, or whta you believe the characters to represent, how Fitzgerald presents them, possibly refer to a screen play of it.

All material will really be appreciated


Hope to hear from you all soon


ThankYou

Yas x

[neilgee]

I think Fitzgerald's view of women is largely a negative one, what are we as readers supposed to make of Gatsby's death after Daisy returns her affections to her husband, are we not supposed to dislike her? I think we are.

Isn't it This side of Paradise that's about a woman with mental problems who is saved by the love of a man who she then disregards as she recovers?

I think Fitzgerald was a woman-hater.

[irishpixieb]

I don't think that Fitzgerald hated women. That guy had a lot of tragedy in his life, mainly his wife going literally insane and also cheating on him. I don't think he hated women, though because I believe he had a series of girlfriends and no misogynist would date girls. He actually dropped dead right in front of one of his girlfriends...but anyway, The Great Gatsby...he doesn't portray women in a positive light. Daisy is hardly the most faithful wife and Jordan is flirtatious and not really serious. In Gatsby, I believe that he simply sees women as fickle and not really intimate, but he certainly doesn't hate them!

[hellsapoppin]

Some bio data I've read over the years suggest that Fitz's female characters were largely portrayals of his wife Zelda. She was said to be a neurotic, a spendthrift, one who loved to draw attention to herself, and much inclined to drink. I understand that she reportedly drank to such an excess in front of friends that she embarrassed herself and him. While he loved her very much she persisted in her excesses. This led to much difficulty in their marriage but it was one he would not break under any circumstances.