- Critical interpretations for the Great Gatsby
- used by myself for the OCR: English literature and language specification (H074, H474)
- however, it can be used for other specifications
- achieved A* with these notes (combined with others I have uploaded)
When the novel failed to sell well, Fitzgerald himself suggested that this might be due to the aversion of female
readers to the emotionally passive and undeveloped female characters. In the 1970s, the rapid rise of feminism
introduces new debates about the novel.
Feminist criticism has been concerned to reveal how literary works have supported or challenged the assumptions of
a male dominated social order, often called patriarchal society. A basic approach may show us how the lives of
characters reflect patriarchal values or suggest alternatives.
Fitzgerald limits his portrayal of his women characters by having his narrator as a misogynist who declares
‘Dishonestly in a woman is a thing you never blame deeply’. Such a narrator cannot be expected to reveal any
empathy with a woman’s feelings.
Tom Buchanan is clearly an embodiment of those patriarchal values. He likes to exercise power over women and
treat them as his possessions. When Myrtle upsets him, Tom asserts his authority through violence and breaks her
nose. Daisy seems to have no will of her own and follows Tom. When she does choose to exercise her will, Tom gets
angry and says, ‘Nowadays people begin by sneering at family life and family institutions, and next they’ll throw
everything overboard and have marriage between black and white’. A feminist critic might cite this as an example of
how the traditional family unit in American society, dominated by the male’s powerful role as husband and father,
has constrained the lives of women. In this outburst we see how Tom’s desire to maintain control spills over into
over racism.
A feminist approach may also point out that Jay Gatsby’s obsession with an idealised version of Daisy does nothing
to help the actual woman to achieve her liberation.
It has been argued that Fitzgerald portrays America as female, writing of her green breast which ‘had once pandered
in whispers to the last and greatest of all human dreams’, whereas the dreamers are male. ‘Daisy’s failure of Gatsby
is symbolic of the failure of America to live up to the expectations of the men who ‘discovered’ it. America is female;
to be American is male; and the quintessential American experience is betrayal by a woman.’ Women are like the
‘American Dream’ because they are fantasised about but blamed for male characters’ failure to achieve their
dreams.
Daisy compares her hair to her daughters ‘old yellowy hair’ then at other times ‘dark shining hair’ is said to lie like ‘a
dash of blue paint across her cheek’ – the ambiguity lets Daisy symbolise both ‘the fair and the dark women of
romantic literature’. Traditional stereotypes cast fair-haired women as innocent and dark-haired women as
dangerous temptresses. Daisy is both light and dark-haired, she symbolises Gatsby’s ideal and his downfall.
Marxist criticism:
A Marxist literary critics might focus on the lives of George and Myrtle Wilson, running a garage in the valley of
ashes, in order to show how workers were oppressed in America during the 1920s.
Fitzgerald explores the wealth and poverty in New York society, as well as class tensions between East Egg and West
egg. He gives valuable insights into the negative aspects of the post-war economic boom.
The Wilsons are condemned by the economic system to remain poor, and to live in a bleak environment. The
wealthy – who never seem to work – live in luxury, in houses that are compared to palaces, and behave like lords in
a feudal society of the European middle ages. The rich seem to be trying to roll back time, to reverse the history of
class struggle and go back to an earlier social order.
A Marxist approach might criticise Jay Gatsby for denying his working-class roots, for using criminal means to enter
the ranks of the ruling class and for then behaving like a knight in an old-fashioned romance, with Daisy as the grail
at the end of his quest.
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