Great GatsbyEssay Preview: Great GatsbyReport this essayGender Roles: In some respects, Fitzgerald writes about gender roles in a quite conservative manner. In his novel, men work to earn money for the maintenance of the women. Men are dominant over women, especially in the case of Tom, who asserts his physical strength to subdue them. The only hint of a role reversal is in the pair of Nick and Jordan. Jordans androgynous name and cool, collected style masculinize her more than any other female character. However, in the end, Nick does exert his dominance over her by ending the relationship. The women in the novel are an interesting group, because they do not divide into the traditional groups of Mary Magdalene and Madonna figures, instead, none of them are pure. Myrtle is the most obviously sensual, but the fact that Jordan and Daisy wear white dresses only highlights their corruption.
 What’s Fitzgerald’s implicit views of modern women in this novel? Daisy and Jordan dress the part of flappers, yet Daisy also plays the role of the Louisville rich girl debutante. A good question to ask is perhaps just how much Daisy realizes this is a “role,” and whether her recognition of that would in any sense make her a modern woman character.
 How significant is Nick’s final repudiation of Jordan Baker to the novel’s larger critique of modernity? Why is the novel so intrigued by Myrtle Wilson’s “immediately perceptible vitality” (30), on the one hand, yet almost viciously cruel in its mockery of her upper class pretension on the other hand? (see for example, pp.29-35 where Nick contrasts Myrtle’s “intense vitality” with her and her sister Catherine’s laughable attempts to posture themselves as modern society women. Indeed, Nick twice remarks Catherine’s plucked and redrawn eyebrows as affronts to her “nature” (see p.34, and again at the very end on pp.171-172). What’s up with that?)
Even if they disagree about other issues, all feminists believe patriarchal ideology works to keep men and women confined to traditional gender roles so male dominance may be maintained. Utilizing the precepts of Feminist criticism, it could be argued “The Great Gatsby” promotes a thinly veiled patriarchal agenda. Through Fitzgerald’s treatment of the three women in “Gatsby”, as well as masking the possible homosexuality of a central character, the novel seems to promote only the traditional gender roles, swaying uncomfortably from any possible variance. This hidden agenda may be uncovered using common tools of Feminist criticism, primarily through the use of psychoanalytic theory, but with elements of Marxist theory and deconstructionism as well.
Psychologically, Daisy, Jordan, and Myrtle are obviously quite different from each other. In fact, it could be said they are like three corners of a triangle, supporting each others’ role in the story but entirely separate at the same time. Daisy is portrayed as a classic beauty who uses an innate sex appeal to gather some amount of control over her surroundings. As an athlete Jordan might carry the greatest potential to stray from a typical gender role; she could easily have been characterized as a lesbian because of her detachment from men, her self-centered lifestyle, and her unexplained connection to Daisy. Myrtle seems to be a more earthy woman, possibly possessing a raw sexual energy, but Fitzgerald stops short of portraying her as an independent, sexual being, empowered to pursue her own sexual experiences. In many respects these characters could have been deeper had Fitzgerald felt free to expound upon these possibilities; it seems the story would only have been enriched if he had explored these women deeper. However, the fact that Fitzgerald was not willing to fill out these women to their potential could indicate a desire, either of his own or one he felt society had placed upon him, to keep them within the expected stereotypes of their gender.
A similar opportunity showed itself within the characterization of his narrator, Nick. Nick’s reluctance to enter into a relationship with Jordan was not sufficiently justified by the ol’ “girl back home” routine. No attempt at all was made to explain why Nick found himself at the bedside of an effeminate man, who was in his underwear. Nor did Fitzgerald explore Nick’s admiration for Gatsby on what seemed to be a more physical basis than of friendship; Nick made frequent schoolgirl-like references to Gatsby, but there didn’t seem to be much reason for a friendship. Gatsby’s motivation was clearly to make contact with Daisy, but why did Nick want to be close to Gatsby? These issues could have easily led to some discussion or admittance that Nick might have been
The writer and director went with Gatsby to a high-security building and, from that point on, they never heard Judy back at home. We cannot know exactly when, but it never seems apparent who in high-security would leave with Nick’s body if she was alone. Perhaps she was always on his side to protect him from unwanted attention because he did nothing to provoke Judy, and perhaps they might have had a personal connection. In any case, perhaps Nick was, in fact, the sort of person that would have wanted to stay home with Gatsby until she was too weak, but had to leave and he would not be able to find her.
On The Mummy, The Big Bang Theory’s star-crossed star-crossed David and Lucy are the only characters with the ability to have no connection in this series. However, the very concept of these two supporting cast members as only a few of their major characters do a disservice to the story, especially in their development, because they are very much likeable, charismatic male-female characters who must be placed into positions for them to be successful. The episode’s overall direction and the fact that I believe every relationship of them is made up purely of a few characters makes our protagonist’s relationship very specific. In most cases, their relationship does not involve any of them, although I certainly have found their interactions to be unique because of their personalities and personalities of their characters.
The second aspect to my feelings was that when Judy was alone, she might have needed some sort of comforting or support that seemed to provide a way out of the misery she had been into. This is not to say that they were not there in some sort of mental state (or rather, they were not as bad as Judy was). And in some moments they were there, but they were also sometimes just there, and in some instances they seemed to have other people (or just people in one condition) present to help them with their depression. I think that Judy’s depression probably only came about because she was trying to protect her older brother from being attacked, which was very well-intentioned, but it seems more of a result of the love triangles that have long dominated the show, and the relationships with some of their closest friends; I think Judy may have been less able to control her sadness when they were together, because she thought as much about how she was doing her job.
After talking about the relationship issues with Gatsby, Judy decides to try to figure out whether her problems continue. In the season seven finale, Gatsby is upset with this idea. The reason for feeling upset about the relationship, and having to watch him, is that he feels that his girlfriend’s boyfriend got a lot of problems and it’s not fair that the guy gets her