To Be A Woman In The Roaring 20's
The confinement of Myrtle Wilson and Daisy Buchanan
Daisy Buchanan
Daisy, as the young wife of Tom Buchanan lives a lavish life, full of partying, white gowns, and expensive jewelry. Although she has obtained stature and wealth, she is in a loveless marriage to Tom who sees her as an adornment to his image. Not only is Daisy confined in the restraints of her relationship with Tom, she also has placed restraints on herself. Daisy became a victim of greed and illusions of grandeur. Her lust for affluence and stature and other material gains caused her to marry Tom. He gave her all of this but also disrespected her, objectified her, and never appreciated her, Perhaps it was fitting that the two be together as she was incapable of truly loving anyone just as Tom was incapable of truly ever loving anyone. They loved the facade that they could create as husband and wife. They loved the image it created. They loved what other people thought of them and what they had more than they loved themselves or each other. For this reason Daisy remained trapped as well as Tom though he had much more freedom than Daisy could have ever hoped for.
Myrtle Wilson
While Daisy could live her lavish life and escape behind the facade of affluence, Myrtle Wilson did not have this luxury. Myrtle as the destitute wife of George Wilson was looking for a way out of her life of poverty. She never found that, she did however find Tom. It would prove an instant attraction on both parts. Myrtle did not make any great attempt to hide her affair nor did she really seem to care at all for her husband, she mistreated him and used him as a means of getting by. She thought Tom would be this Knight in Shining Armor that would save her and run away with her and Tom could not have been further from that. To Tom Myrtle was as an object like his wife Daisy. The two women differentiated when it came to their objectification. While Daisy as his wife served to enhance his image and name, in Myrtle he found sensual pleasure. Daisy gave Tom the image of a wealthy husband with a beautiful wife and child, while Myrtle fulfilled his desires. This is all Myrtle would ever do and be to Tom, an object for him to relieve his sexual desires. Tom would never lover her, nor would he ever make her his wife. Tom cared more about his image, he would not take a woman like Myrtle who was destitute and from The Valley of Ashes and have anything other than an affair with her. He cared too much for the facade that he had created with Daisy to ever consider giving it up. Myrtle never seemed to understand this. Tom just did not love her. This is what ultimately lead to her death. Myrtle truly believed that in the end Tom would save her from George and her life in the Valley of Ashes, this is what promoted her to run out in front of Gatsby's car.
The Demise
Daisy and Myrtle see the beginning of the end as things come to a head when Myrtle and George get into a heated argument in which George assaults Myrtle which prompts her to flee into the street where she is hit by Daisy who is driving Gatsby's car. Myrtle's misguided belief that Tom loved her lead to her death, as well as the deaths of Gatsby and George.
The Price They Paid
In the end the price Myrtle and Daisy paid for their actions proved extremely costly. Myrtle dies and Daisy lost Gatsby. It would not be hard to blame these two women for tier actions but maybe these two women can't help the confines of the society in which they lived. These women while both extremely flawed could not have possibly been born so. Life and circumstance paved the way for them. Daisy was more fortunate to have been born into wealth, while Myrtle would always struggle. Despite the great contrast of their origins they were very much the same woman. They both chose to find happiness in material things, men who never saw their worth to begin with, though Myrtle and Daisy never seemed to see the worth in themselves either.
Why Did This Happen
No one will ever be able to know why F. Scott Fitzgerald chose to have Nick present Daisy and Myrtle in this way, perhaps he wanted show readers that women were not necessarily as free and as jubilant as they were being believed to be. Perhaps he believed that Daisy and Myrtle could serve as cautionary tale for people who might chose to partake in morally depreciating activities, or maybe they were simply created to be tragic by coincidence either way there is no denying that F. Scott Fitzgerald created two very unique and poignant characters when he created Daisy and Myrtle, two women who best exemplified what it meant to be a woman in the Roaring Twenties.