Jordan Baker

Character analysis.

jordan baker great gatsby essay

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Nick might end up "halfway in love" with Jordan, but he consistently describes her as cynical, having seen too much and heard too much to be fooled by anybody.

If that's love, we'll pass.

She's a Pro

Jordan is a golfer—a professional golfer. Already, we know she's different from Daisy. Where Daisy is always fluttering and babbling and giggling and basically acting like a dumb girl (her words, not ours), Jordan is hard, direct, and cynical. And she's bored to tears. We don't know much about her family, except that she has "one aunt about a thousand years old" (1.137), but we know that she and Daisy spent their "white girlhoods" together (1.140). Given the looks that Daisy and Tom give each other, we suspect that she might not be so "white" (as in, pure) anymore.

But there's a problem with her game. She's a cheat. And Nick describes her as not just a golf cheat, but a cheat at life:

Jordan Baker instinctively avoided clever, shrewd men, and now I saw that this was because she felt safer on a plane where any divergence from a code would be thought impossible. She was incurably dishonest. She wasn't able to endure being at a disadvantage and, given this unwillingness, I suppose she had begun dealing in subterfuges when she was very young in order to keep that cool, insolent smile turned to the world and yet satisfy the demands of her hard, jaunty body. (3.158)

Let's break this down: she's dishonest, hard, cool, insolent, and deceptive. Oh, and her body has " demands," which, to us, sounds a lot like sex. Golf, sex, and dishonesty: Jordan may come from the same world as Daisy, but she's a modern woman, with "slender golden arm[s]" (3.19).

Golden arms? Code for tan. Tan? Code for not white. And white means pure . (Check out our " Symbols " section for more on color in The Great Gatsby .)

Jordan may not make a rich, brilliant match like Daisy, but we get the feeling she's going to have a much more successful life. Maybe it won't be happy—we're pretty sure no one in this novel gets to be happy—but she's going to make it in the modern world. In fact, she might be the only one who doesn't end up retreating back West.

So what does Nick see in her, anyway? One of the first things she says to him is that she "hates careless people" (3). Perfect! Nick hates careless people, too. It's a match made in heaven. And Jordan has a little bit of the same glamour that Daisy does; when he's thinking about breaking up with his Chicago girlfriend, he thinks about how that girlfriend gets a little sweaty when she plays tennis. And Jordan, apparently, never sweats at all.

So, like Gatsby, Nick is drawn in by the rich glamour of this world. Unlike Gatsby, though, he's eventually able to see through it, and he recognizes that Jordan, like Daisy and Tom, is nothing but a careless person herself. Even if she's a really sexy one.

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W hy's T his F unny?

Character Analysis Of Jordan Baker In The Great Gatsby

Jordan is a representative of future women in the Jazz Age of America. One that personifies the negatives and the positive aspects of the American Dream in the Great Gatsby. Jordan, during the whole summer, tends to dwell on the word “careless” and “carelessness”. “I hate careless people..”(Fitzgerald 58). This shows her not being self-aware of her actions, it’s ironic since she is the very thing she says she despises. Jordan is a woman of power, one that is insecure about how she gained social recognition, shown by her need to feel superior to other people. 

Jordan’s dishonesty intertwines with her wanting to seem superior in the eyes of high-end society, “Jordan Baker instinctively avoided clever, shrewd men, and now I saw that this was because she felt safer on a plane where any divergence from a code would be thought impossible. She was incurably dishonest. She wasn’t able to endure being at a disadvantage and, given this unwillingness, I suppose she had begun dealing in subterfuges when she was very young to keep that cool, insolent smile turned to the world and yet satisfy the demands of her hard, jaunty body.” (Fitzgerald 46). Jordan wants to be seen as this masculine woman, one who seeps grace and elegance compared to the standard of women in the 1920s. She wants to be seen as this astounding idol who doesn’t fall for petty men who aren’t worth her time. Jordan knows she is astoundingly beautiful and deserves the best man there is in 1920s society, one who is honest, charming and inferior to her in every way. 

Jordan leads Nick around all night, wanting him to see this vibrant and spirited world of the careless rich. Nick is enticed by Jordan’s potent energetic and dominant aura, one that entices him to be attracted to her grace and masculinity. In this quote, we can see his attention to her social status and elegance, “I thought you might be here,” she responded absently as I came up. “I remembered you lived next door to ——” She held my hand impersonally, as a promise that she’d take care of me in a minute, and gave ear to two girls in twin yellow dresses, who stopped at the foot of the steps.” (Nick 34). We can see her ability to encapture Nick with her charisma and self-sufficient nature. Jordan stands out to the naked eye, as this handsome, charming woman with liberated morals and grace. 

Overall Jordan presents herself as an authoritative figure, with a compelling atmosphere of masculinity and self-reliance. She is this new form of a woman that sets their standards and ideals without the help of men and their superiority. Jordan has a sense of shame of how she achieved social consciousness however, she did it out of necessity. As a woman in the 1920s Jordan in every power gained advantage and prosperity, she wasn’t as inferior as Daisy. Women comparable to Jordan were seen as scandalous because they became less inferior in the eyes of men by wanting to experience their ambition and aspirations. 

Meanwhile, Tom in every way is a white privileged man of high society, whose life is idolized by many men in 1920’s society. Yet this wondrous standard of life has led to a crippled love life intertwining with scandals and murder. Tom’s racist tendencies shine through his dialogue, “Well, it’s a fine book, and everybody ought to read it. The idea is if we don’t look out the white race will be — will be utterly submerged. It’s all scientific stuff; it’s been proved.” (Fitzgerald 13). Tom’s eager racist mindset shows his insecurity. The only stable thing in his life is his white privilege, which he profits off of since he was born into wealth and racial stability. 

This leads to Tom’s overwhelming egotistical and narcissistic outlook on society. Tom’s ego is even prevalent in his character description. Nick retorts “Two shining arrogant eyes had established dominance over his face and gave him the appearance of always leaning aggressively forward. Not even the effeminate swank of his riding clothes could hide the enormous power of that body — he seemed to fill those glistening boots until he strained the top lacing, and you could see a great pack of muscle shifting when his shoulder moved under his thin coat. (Nick ?)

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Sat / act prep online guides and tips, how to write a compare/contrast essay for the great gatsby.

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Book Guides

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These compare/contrast essays are an opportunity for you to tie the character similarities and differences to larger observations about society and class, the American Dream , or identity in the novel. They also allow you to practice standard English class skills: close reading, using lines from the text as evidence, and taking a stance and presenting a supporting argument in an essay.

We’ll go over some basic dos and don’ts for writing compare/contrast essays before diving into some analysis of the most asked-about character pairings. Keep reading if you have a Compare/Contrast assignment on the horizon!

Article Roadmap

  • The do's of a compare and contrast essay
  • The don'ts of a compare contrast essay
  • Why some characters are paired for comparison more often than others
  • Nick and Gatsby
  • Tom and George
  • Tom and Gatsby
  • Daisy and Jordan
  • Daisy and Myrtle

What to Do in a Compare/Contrast Essay

Like anything you write for English class, your essay should be clearly organized, with a thesis statement (a one-sentence summary of your argument), and topic sentences for each body paragraph.

And you should definitely have an overall argument! The point of the compare/contrast essay isn’t for you to just list the differences and similarities between two characters, you need to take those observations and make a larger argument about the novel as a whole . That larger argument allows you to practice writing an essay that contains an argument, which is a skill that nearly all English teachers are focused on building.

To take a quick example, don’t just list the differences between Tom Buchanan and Jay Gatsby. Instead, make an argument like, “Fitzgerald’s portrayal of wealthy New York society through Jay Gatsby and Tom Buchanan allows him to critique both old money and the newly rich, while reserving his most pointed critiques for the old money crowd.” (Obviously, that’s just one example, and there are dozens of potential arguments you could make while comparing and contrasting characters in Gatsby!)

Make sure to address your larger argument in each body paragraph as you draw out the similarities and differences between the two characters. Don’t get caught in the weeds as you tease out the many differences and similarities in each character pair. Always link back to the bigger picture.

Finally, analyze each quote you use – in other words, don’t stick a quote in your essay and do nothing with it. Make sure to explain how and why the quote demonstrates a key similarity or difference, and what that means for your bigger argument.

What to Avoid in a Compare/Contrast Essay

Don’t just list differences and similarities without an overarching argument . Although you can definitely start brainstorming by making a list of similarities and differences, just presenting that list in essay form won’t get you a good grade, since you need to go deeper and explain what the similarities/differences suggest about the novel as a whole.

And, on the other side, don’t make big claims without some evidence from the text to back them up . For example, don’t say “Tom is selfish while Gatsby cares about others.” Prove those two separate claims (Tom is selfish” and “Gatsby cares about others”) with relevant lines from the book. (And if you’re having a hard time locating good quotes, find a digital version of Gatsby you can search using the CTRL-F function. It’s a lifesaver when gathering relevant quotes for an essay!)

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Why Are These Characters Paired Most Often?

We will tackle these major pairings in the next sections of this article:

Nick Carraway and Jay Gatsby

Tom buchanan and jay gatsby, tom buchanan and george wilson, daisy buchanan and jordan baker, daisy buchanan and myrtle wilson.

Before we dig into the analysis, you might be wondering: “why are we only comparing characters of the same gender?” or maybe “why not other pairings? Why not Jordan and Myrtle, or Nick and Tom?” We are focusing on these specific pairings because they are by far the most commonly asked about pairs in essay prompts and discussion topics for The Great Gatsby . And we want this guide, first and foremost, to be helpful to students as you work on assignments involving Gatsby!

Furthermore, these pairings help teachers get you to explore some of the novel’s larger themes . For example, comparing Daisy/ Myrtle or Tom/George can help you explore the differences between the wealthy and the working class . Comparing Daisy/Myrtle or Daisy/Jordan can help you explore the changing status of women during the 1920s. Comparing Tom and Gatsby can get at the old money/new money divide. Finally, differences between Nick and Gatsby raise some of the novel’s larger questions about the American Dream , repeating the past, and identity. In short, these pairings have become common because they each allow fairly easy access to one of the novel’s larger issues.

That’s not to say you couldn’t also explore some of those themes by comparing, say, Jordan and George, or Daisy and Gatsby, but cross-gender compare/contrast essays can be challenging because the status of women and men is so different in the novel. If you are interested in seeing how a particular male and female character are paired, you may be better off studying them through the lens of love, desire, and relationships in the novel, or through the way they relate to one of the novel's symbols or motifs.

With those thoughts in mind, let's jump into the top 5 pairings! For each pairing, we will suggest a few possible larger arguments you can either build from or disagree with, but these are far from comprehensive! You should add to our analysis of the characters and come up with an argument you’re excited about.

Quick Note on Our Citations

Our citation format in this guide is (chapter.paragraph). We're using this system since there are many editions of Gatsby, so using page numbers would only work for students with our copy of the book. To find a quotation we cite via chapter and paragraph in your book, you can either eyeball it (Paragraph 1-50: beginning of chapter; 50-100: middle of chapter; 100-on: end of chapter), or use the search function if you're using an online or eReader version of the text.

Although Jay Gatsby and Nick Carraway vary both in outlook and temperament, they are also alike in interesting ways. Despite somewhat similar desires, attitudes, and social positions, Nick and Gatsby make very different choices during the novel.

Love and Romance . Nick and Gatsby both want women that are out of their reach, although in different degrees. Daisy is miles above Gatsby in terms of social class. Jordan and Nick are of the same social status, but Jordan doesn't seem free to make her own decisions since an aunt controls her financial life. There is a significant passion gap between Gatsby and Nick as well. Gatsby obsesses over Daisy - he has thought of nothing else for five years, going as far as to buy a house across the bay from her just in case she notices. Nick, meanwhile, is attracted to Jordan's cool and self-sufficient demeanor, but he is clearly not in love with her, as he himself notes ("I wasn't actually in love, but I felt a sort of tender curiosity" (3.159)). 

Approach to Women.  Both men are not particularly interested in the inner lives of the women they want to be with. Gatsby is devastated when Daisy doesn't want to renounce her relationship with Tom completely. Similarly, Nick cavalierly discounts Jordan's penchant to lie, cheat, and generally be cynically uninterested in other people, and then is deeply disappointed when she acts this way after Myrtle's death.

Class and Social Standing.  Although both Gatsby and Nick are outsiders to the wealthy communities of East and West Egg, Nick is a much more in-between character socially than Gatsby. Nick is familiar with the ways of the old money crowd because of his own family's privilege and the fact that he is related to Daisy. Gatsby is not only self-made, but is a criminal who is desperate to pass as part of the old money elite without knowing its customs or rules of behavior. What isolates Nick from East Egg life is his Midwestern values and the importance he places on morality and decency. Gatsby is isolated from everyone by the fact that he can never actually be himself - he is always playing a role and putting on his "Oxford man" persona. It may be this sense of feeling out of place that connects them.

Outlook and Temperament.  Gatsby is an optimist (almost to a delusional degree) while Nick is a realist who finds Gatsby's idealism inspiring and admirable. Gatsby believes in his ability to shape his own life and future, which makes sense since he has managed to transform himself from a farmer to a successful gangster, to impersonate an "Oxford man," and to accumulate a fantastic amount of wealth in a very short time. This belief in his power translates to Gatsby being sure that he and Daisy can go back to their month of idyllic love ("'Can't repeat the past?', he cried incredulously. 'Why of course you can!'" (6.129). Nick tries his best to be an objective realist and to reign in his tendency to judge others. He is deeply in awe of self-directed men like Gatsby, and even Wolfshiem (Nick is amazed to think that one man could be behind a huge event like the rigged World Series). 

Ambition.  Gatsby dreams of greatness. As a young man his mind “romped like the mind of God,” and so as an adult, he seems to have made good on this promise by buying the most ridiculous mansion and throwing the most extravagant parties (6.134). Nick is much less ambitious in comparison. While he comes to New York seeking excitement, he doesn't want to be the wealthiest bond salesman on Wall Street or to have the biggest house. He is happy to be an observer at the edge of the drama rather than being in its midst.

Nick and Gatsby Essay Ideas

Here are potential arguments to build on or disagree with based our observations. These are certainly not the only possible arguments, so be creative! Make sure your essay considers what the similarities and differences between Nick and Gatsby reveal about the novel as a whole.

  • Nick is a passive person and Gatsby is active, which is why Gatsby is the hero and Nick simply the observer.
  • Nick has much more in common with Gatsby than he thinks he does, which explains why he becomes so enamored of him.
  • Nick serves as a foil (someone who serves as a contrast) to Gatsby, which makes Nick the best possible observer of Gatsby.
  • At the end of the novel, Tom says that Gatsby “threw dirt in [Nick’s] eyes, just like Daisy’s,” meaning that both Nick and Daisy were taken in and could never see the true Gatsby: a narcissist and a criminal. Tom is right - the whole novel is Nick trying to spin a negative character into a positive one.

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As they battle over Daisy’s love, Tom Buchanan and Jay Gatsby sometimes seem surprisingly similar - particular in their self-centeredness, wealth, and concern with appearances. At the same time, these surface parallels point to major conflicts in their social class, and say a lot about the world of the novel.

Appearance.  Gatsby is driven by his materialism to be very invested having fashionable clothes, a beautiful mansion, and visually overwhelming parties - for him, the outfit is the thing that makes the Oxford man . Meanwhile because Tom doesn't have to dress the part of the moneyed elite to be one, he is instead very attuned to the behavior of others. This is why he immediately sees how fake Gatsby's persona is, both because of Gatsby's overly ostentatious clothes, and because of how much Gatsby misreads the fake invitation from the Sloanes. Tom is never fooled into thinking that Gatsby is anything other than an upstart, and mostly likely a criminal one.

Self-Centeredness.  Tom and Gatsby are both completely selfish, and fully convinced that their desires have to be acquiesced to by those around them. Tom, for example, starts his affair with Myrtle by pressing himself against her on a train platform - basically, his version of flirting is bodily assault. Gatsby, meanwhile, also thinks nothing of starting an affair with a married woman, assuming that his obsessive feelings are enough to justify any behavior.

Wealth.  Despite the fact that both are unimaginably rich, these men come from totally different sides of the big money divide. Tom comes from old money and is forever worried about the encroachment of the nouveau riche, minorities, and others onto what he thinks is his. At the same time, Gatsby is the most successful of the novel's many ambitious social climbers, using his lack of ethical scruples to parlay his criminal activity into a higher social status.

Power.  Tom loves being powerful and wields his power directly. He is physically aggressive and uses his body to threaten and intimidate (Nick, for one, is clearly very cowed by Tom's bulk). He is also quick to violence, whether it's socially sanctioned - like his football accomplishments - or not - like when he breaks Myrtle's nose without a second thought. Gatsby also holds significant power, but his methods are much more indirect. Still, whether he is offering Nick some illegal bond trading action, or showing off his get-out-of-a-ticket-free card to a cop on the highway, Gatsby is clearly happy to be in control of a situation.

Love. Tom and Gatsby both seem to be in love with Daisy. But what does that really mean to each of them? For Tom, Daisy is clearly partly appealing because she completes his horse-riding, East Egg, 350-thousand-dollar pearl necklace lifestyle. He cheats on her because he clearly has never denied himself anything, but he also understands Daisy as a person. He knows that she is too weak to leave him, but he also loves her enough to tolerate her affair with Gatsby and to stay with her after Myrtle's murder. Gatsby's love, on the other hand, is in some ways purer because he so idealizes Daisy and connects her to all of his other hopes and dreams. But this love is overly pure - he doesn't really seem to know Daisy as anything other than an idealized object, and is incapable of accepting that she has led a life apart from him for five years.

Tom and Gatsby Essay Ideas

In a compare/contrast essay, you can’t just present a list of similarities and differences. You also need to have an underlying argument you’re supporting. Feel free to take these at face value or as jumping-off points for your own thoughts.

  • Tom loves Daisy as a person, Gatsby loves her as an idea.
  • Both Tom and Gatsby’s tendency to control women and see them as prizes reveals the misogyny of the 1920s.
  • Although Tom sees Gatsby as someone from an entirely different class than him, what they have in common (selfishness, affairs, obsession with appearances) makes a larger argument for an overall moral hollowness of the rich of any class.
  • We see both Gatsby and Tom through the eyes of Nick, who worships one of them and hates the other. In reality, they are both much more similar than different, and their different treatment reveals Nick's insecurities and biases.

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At first, most readers see Tom Buchanan and George Wilson  as opposites. But, these markedly different characters face very similar circumstances and offer two takes on masculinity and power in the novel.

Appearance and Presence.  Where Tom is strong and cowering, George is meek and shrinking. Tom exudes power and confidence while George tends to just fade into the background. These differences are borne out in the way these two men interact with the world. Tom is violent towards others, while George’s instinct is to be passive or to try and escape situations, the notable exceptions being his locking up of Myrtle and murder of Gatsby. Tom is confident, privileged, and assured while George is timid; George is “ruled by his wife” where Tom is selfish and acts on his own desires.

Reaction to Adversity. There is a dramatic difference in the way the two men react to the fact that their wives are cheating on them. Tom notices Daisy’s love for Gatsby and immediately starts making power plays. On the other hand, George discovers Myrtle’s affair and is undone by it. Nick compares the two men in a memorable description:

“the shock had made him physically sick. I stared at him and then at Tom, who had made a parallel discovery less than an hour before--and it occurred to me that there was no difference between men, in intelligence or race, so profound as the difference between the sick and the well. Wilson was so sick that he looked guilty, unforgivably guilty--as if he had just got some poor girl with child" (7.160).

In this description, Tom is “well” and George is “sick.” These are certainly arresting ways to describe Tom's more traditional masculinity and George's less overtly masculine character. Tom is self-assured in the face of adversity and immediately takes action to win Daisy back, insisting on driving Gatsby's car, bullying those around him into driving to Manhattan, and using his romance skills to remind Daisy of the pluses of their relationship. Meanwhile, George's weakness makes him look sick and guilty as he contemplates Myrtle's betrayal and is driven to violence to reassert his power over her.

Approach to Women.  Both Tom and George assume they know what’s best for their wives: Tom dismisses Daisy’s professed love for Gatsby despite their obvious closeness, while George is determined to take Myrtle out west once he learns about the affair. But, while it seems that Tom does fundamentally understand Daisy and is right about her unwillingness to leave their marriage, George is unable to hold on to Myrtle either emotionally or physically. She is killed trying to run away from him.

Tom and George Essay Ideas

Differences in attitude and outcome, despite a relatively similar situation, reveal some unexpected truths about the world of the novel. Argue the reverse of any of these topics for a really provocative essay!

  • The fact that Tom manipulates George into killing Gatsby and then himself (which allows Tom and Daisy to walk away from the entire affair without consequence) shows the huge privileges of having money in the novel.
  • Nick's approach to Tom and George shows his admiration of a physical, brutish, domineering kind of masculinity. 
  • The fact that the relatively good guy turns into a murderer while the bad guy lives to cheat another day is a very cynical take on what happens in a world without a moral compass.

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Despite Daisy Buchanan and Jordan Baker 's similar “white girlhoods” (1.140) in Louisville, their attitude and motivations are quite distinct, making them really interesting to compare and contrast.

Attitude and Outlook.  Both Daisy and Jordan display an entitled, bored attitude that’s typical of Fitzgerald’s depiction of the old money segment of wealthy New York society. The fact that they are introduced in tandem, both lying on the couches in their white dresses, speaks to their initially similar attitudes. But soon we see how different their takes on this kind of life are. Daisy is increasingly despondent, even nihilistic, asking in Chapter 7 , “what shall we do today, and tomorrow, and for the next thirty years?” (7.74).  Jordan meanwhile is a pragmatic opportunist, who sees possibilities everywhere, arguing that “life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the fall” (7.75). In other words, Daisy’s pessimistic attitude from Chapter 1 comes through again, while Jordan, despite coming across as cynical and sharp, actually still seems excited about the possibilities life has to offer.

Appearance and Personality.  Both Daisy and Jordan very alluring in their own way, though Daisy’s allure comes through her enchanting voice and feminine charms, while Jordan is masculine, “jaunty,” witty, sharp, and physical. Daisy maintains a squeaky-clean reputation despite moving with a fast crowd, while there are plenty of rumors about Jordan’s cheating in golf, and Nick comments on her dishonest attitude. More significantly, Daisy is incredibly self-absorbed while Jordan is very observant.

Role in Society.  Daisy seems caught between what society expects of her and some deeper, more powerful desires she can’t name, resulting in restlessness, depression, and her affair. Daisy is sticking to her prescribed societal role by marrying and having a child, while Jordan plays golf, “runs around town” and doesn’t seem to be in a hurry to marry, at least in the beginning of the novel. Perhaps Jordan is still somewhat optimistic about the possibilities of life since she hasn’t settled down yet, while Daisy realizes that nothing major in her life will change at this point. Jordan, meanwhile, is content to chase after fun and intrigue via other people’s bad behavior. And she doesn’t get dragged down by the tragedy in the book – on the contrary, she is callous in how little Myrtle’s death seems to shake her, coolly calling Nick the next day and asking him to meet like nothing has happened (8.50-61). Perhaps her motivations are a bit less accessible to the reader since her role was significantly downsized between some of Fitzgerald’s earlier drafts. But in any case, as we watch Daisy struggle in her marriage, what we see of Jordan is cool, calm, collected, and rather uncaring.

Daisy and Jordan Essay Ideas

So what are some possible conclusions we can draw from Daisy and Jordan’s characters? One of the most common strategies is to tie the differences between these women onto one of the book’s larger themes, like the role of society and class or the American Dream . Another is to think about an important feature of the novel, like Nick’s narration, and see what these two characters can reveal about it. With those strategies in mind, here are some potential arguments you could argue for or against!

  • Jordan and Daisy, because they are generally disempowered, both use their sexuality in different ways to gain power, with different results.
  • Despite Jordan’s overt cheating and lying, Daisy is, in fact, the more morally compromised person.
  • The way Nick treats Jordan versus the way he describes Daisy reveals the novel’s preoccupation with Gatsby above all, to the detriment of the female characters.

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While Daisy Buchanan and Myrtle Wilson obviously come from very different backgrounds and have conflicting motivations, they also have some surprising similarities.

Physical Appearance.  Daisy and Myrtle both derive power from their looks. Myrtle's comfort with her voluptuous body is clearly appealing to Tom, while Daisy's magnetic voice and ethereal presence obsess Gatsby. Throughout the novel, Myrtle is frequently reduced to being just a body - one to be used or violated by those around her. Tom sees little in Myrtle besides someone to either rub up against, have sex with, or punch at will; George resorts to imprisoning Myrtle while she eggs him on to "beat" her (7.314) the way Tom does; and finally, Daisy gruesomely rips Myrtle's body apart with a car. Meanwhile, Daisy's voice also serves to make her less of a person in her own right and more of an idealized, mythic figure from fairy tales. For Gatsby, Daisy's voice is appealing because it is "full of money" (7.105) - he is attracted to her not because of who she is, but because he sees her as a prize.

Social Standing.  Myrtle puts on the airs that Daisy has been born and raised with. This allows Myrtle to wield considerable social power within her group, as seen by how her guests fawn on her at the Manhattan party she throws. Daisy, in contrast, never exerts such overt power over a group – rather, she seems to move with crowds, doing what it expected of her (for instance marrying Tom despite still loving Gatsby). 

Love and Relationships.  Daisy and Myrtle’s marriages are strikingly quite different. Daisy and Tom are able to stay together even through serial affairs and murder. They end up loyal co-conspirators, protected by their wealth. Meanwhile, Myrtle has nothing but disdain for George despite his evident love for her. Still, both women use affairs with other men as a way to escape. Daisy wants to get away from an increasingly unhappy marriage and try to recapture the spontaneity and possibility of her youth, while Myrtle loves the status that her affair with Tom grants her. However, both learn that they can’t escape forever through their affairs. Obviously, their biggest difference is that Daisy gets to walk away from the novel unscathed, while Myrtle gets killed. 

Daisy and Myrtle Essay Ideas

Here are ways to write about these different women who face similar choices with dramatically opposite conclusions.

  • Despite their similarities in action and motivation, Daisy is protected from any lasting harm by her wealth and old money status, while Myrtle is punished for the same behavior, revealing how the class system in America protects the wealthy.
  • The novel refuses to give any inner life to women, and instead reduces them to their physical qualities no matter what social class they come from. Daisy and Myrtle's similar treatment by the narrator and by the men around them shows that gender trumps class when determining status. 
  • Daisy and Myrtle’s similarities reveal how hollow the progress of the women’s movement really was at that point in time. Despite the big gains the movement made in the early twentieth century, including winning the right to vote and pushing for more freedom in how they could dress and act, both of these women’s lives aren’t vastly improved. They’re both trapped in unhappy marriages, they both rely on their looks/charms/sexuality to get what they want, and neither of them has even a chance of pursuing a fulfilling life through a career.

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What’s Next?

Now that you’ve gone over the novel’s most popular compare/contrast pairings, check out our analysis of the novel’s romantic pairings in our guide to love, desire, and relationships in The Great Gatsby .

Have an essay about a symbol or motif? Get started with our symbols overview  and motifs overview.

Still a little hazy on some of the plot elements in Gatsby? Not to worry, we have you covered with our complete book summary !

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Character analysis of Jordan Baker

In The Great Gatsby, written by Francis Scott Fitzgerald, Jordan Baker was portrayed as being reckless and dishonest, having the arrogant attitude of many of the people of her time, but also having the characteristics of modern-day women. This classic novel was written on the glitz and glamour of the Jazz Age, on the wealth and greed of the people during the Jazz Age, and also on the American dream and the corruption of it. Jordan Baker is, first of all, depicted as having an arrogant attitude. This side of Miss Baker is shown when she first starts conversation with Nick.

You live in the West Egg,’ she remarked contemptuously” (11). Jordan is obviously looking down upon Nick because he lives in the West Egg which is for the so-called “new money. ” The same day, Jordan gives a remark that makes the reader infer that Jordan is too good to date Nick. She says “I haven’t heard a word” (19). Jordan gave this comment to Daisy after Daisy implied that Jordan and Nick gettogether. Jordan, like many of the other inhabitants of the East Egg, thought of herself as having much more grace and dignity than the people of the West Egg and also as being superior to them.

The recklessness of many people during the Jazz Age is also portrayed through Jordan Baker. She is often lazy, dishonest, and blunt. Tom Buchanan remarked to Jordan at times how he wondered how she got anything done (11). Miss Baker is also a very dishonest character. There was a rumor going around that she moved her golf ball during a tournament to win (58).

It was said of her that she would do almost anything to win or at least to get her way. Nick Carraway, who was very fond of Jordan also said that “She was incurably dishonest. 8). Jordan Baker is also shown to be a very reckless driver. She carelessly stated that “It takes two to make to make an accident. “(59). She also strongly suggested that she hoped she would never meet anyone as careless as herself. (59). Jordan Baker is also a very blunt woman. She stated her opinions rather openly. She was the first to tell Nick of Tom’s mistress (15). F. Scott Fitzgerald often emphasized the recklessness of the American people and used Jordan Baker as a prime example to do so.

Although Jordan Baker was characterized by many bogus traits, she did have her strong-points. Jordan Baker was part of the American dream. She was a primary example of modern women. She was self-sufficient and very independent. Women from many years back were thought of as feeble creatures who needed men to support them, but Jordan Baker helps prove this wrong. She is a self-made woman. First of all, Jordan is a very masculine name which proves that she is definitely very independent as well as self-sufficient.

She is described as “hard” and “small-breasted” (11). She was also described as “a young cadet” whichproves that she is self-sufficient (11). Jordan Baker is also depicted to be very independent because she is a golfer (19). Not many women of her day, or before that, were active in sports such as golf. Jordan also has a carefree attitude because it is said that she is a drinker. She also smokes and haves sex; not because there is pressure on her to do such things, but because she is gratified by these activities.

Jordan Baker truely started up the American dreamfor women. Jordan Baker was an essential character in the writing of The Great Gatsby. She depicted the recklessness, dishonesty, and arrogance of many people of the East Egg; on the other hand, Jordan Baker represented the independence and self-sufficience of women. Fitzgerald gave Jordan a crucial role in his masterpiece The Great Gatsby because of her characteristics of the bad things were in light during the Jazz Age and also of the good that came out of this extravagant time period.

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Jordan Baker American Dream

Jordan Baker is a complex and intriguing character in The Great Gatsby. She is a professional golfer, but her true passion seems to be manipulating others. Jordan is very good at hiding her true feelings and motives, which makes her a difficult person to understand. She is often cold and distant, but she also has a sharp wit and a sharp tongue. Jordan is not the most reliable or trustworthy person, but she does have a certain charisma that draws people to her. Overall, Jordan Baker is an enigmatic figure who fascinates and intrigues readers.

In The Great Gatsby, by Francis Scott Fitzgerald, Jordan Baker was depicted as being rash and unscrupulous, with the haughty attitude of many of her era’s people, but also having modern-day womanhood qualities. This renowned novel was written during the glitz and glamour of the Jazz Age, about money and avarice throughout the Jazz Age, as well as on the American dream and its corruption. Jordan Baker is initially characterized as having a haughty disposition. When she first starts speaking to Nick, this facet of Miss Baker comes out.

The way she handles herself and the way she speaks to people show that she is used to getting what she wants. It is also clear that Jordan is not very honest when she is talking to Nick about Daisy and Gatsby’s relationship. She tells Nick that Gatsby and Daisy had an affair while Daisy was still married to Tom Buchanan, but later it is revealed that this was not true. Overall, Jordan Baker seems like a typical woman of her time: wealthy, arrogant, and dishonest.

However, there are some aspects of Miss Baker’s character which make her more modern. For example, Jordan is a professional golfer, something which would have been quite unusual for a woman in the 1920s. She is also shown to be independent and strong-willed, refusing to let anyone control her. Overall, Jordan Baker is a complex and interesting character, with both modern and traditional characteristics.

“‘Yes, you live in the West Egg,’ she sneered. ‘I don’t talk to losers,’ Nick thought; it was what he had heard Daisy say a few times when they were apart. His eyes moved down her body and came upon her hand.

Jordan was also a dishonest person, as is shown by her profession as a professional golfer. Cheating was common among professional golfers at that time, and Jordan was no exception. Jordan also cheated on Nick when she was dating him. She was seeing another man on the side while she was still seeing Nick.

This shows that Jordan was not a very trustworthy person. Lastly, Jordan Baker is also quite stuck up and arrogant. She thinks very highly of herself and does not really care for other people. Jordan is one of the many people in The Great Gatsby who are not really what they seem.

Jordan Baker is a character in The Great Gatsby who is not really what she seems. At first glance, she appears to be a nice and polite person. However, upon closer inspection, it is revealed that she is actually quite dishonest, stuck up, and arrogant. Jordan is not someone to be trusted. She is very self-centered and does not really care for other people. Overall, Jordan Baker is not a very good person.

Jordan Baker, too, is an example of reckless behavior during the Jazz Age. She is frequently negligent, untrustworthy, and outspoken. Tom Buchanan has said to Jordan on occasion that he was perplexed as to how she achieved anything (11). Miss Baker is also a notorious liar. There was a report that she moved her golf ball during a match in order to win (58).

Jordan is also very blunt. When Gatsby tried to kiss her, she told him “I can’t” and walked away (9). Jordan doesn’t seem to care about anyone or anything. The only thing she seems to be interested in is playing golf and winning. Jordan Baker is an interesting character because she displays some of the characteristics of many people during the Jazz Age.

She is reckless, dishonest, and blunt. However, she also shows that she is capable of being hardworking and determined when it comes to playing golf. Jordan is a complex character that helps to show the reader the different sides of the people during the Jazz Age.

Jordan Baker is a significant character in The Great Gatsby because she embodies many of the traits associated with the Jazz Age. The recklessness, dishonesty, and bluntness of Jordan Baker are all indicative of the times. The fact that she is also capable of being hardworking and determined shows that there were still some good qualities present during the Jazz Age. Jordan Baker is an important character in The Great Gatsby because she provides a glimpse into the lives of people during the Jazz Age.

Her reputation was that she would go to any length to win or at least obtain her way. Nick Carraway, who admired Jordan greatly, noted that she was “incurably dishonest” (8). Jordan Baker is also shown to be a terrible driver. She declared, “It takes two to make an accident.”

It should be noted that while Daisy was the most vivacious and affable of them all, she also strongly urged that she hoped she would never encounter someone as negligent as herself. (59) Jordan Baker is another outspoken woman. She stated her opinions plainly. She was the first to reveal Tom’s lover to Nick (15). Scott Fitzgerald frequently stressed the recklessness of American citizens and used Jordan Baker as an example.

While Jordan Baker may have been dishonest and a bit reckless, she was also a very independent woman. She was one of the first women to take up golf professionally (8). This showed that she was not afraid to go against societal norms. Jordan Baker was also shown to be quite intelligent.

Nick stated that “She had a slender, small-breasted body, with an erect carriage which she accentuated by throwing her head back. Her voice was low and insistent…Her eyes were sad and they had looked sad even when they shone”(14). Nick Carraway is often considered to be a reliable narrator and his opinion of Jordan should be taken into account.

Jordan Baker is a complex character with many layers. While she may seem dishonest and reckless, she is also shown to be a very independent and intelligent woman. Fitzgerald uses Jordan Baker as a prime example of the recklessness of the American people.

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The Great Gatsby

Jordan baker: immoral vs. balanced anonymous 11th grade.

In every story, there are characters which serve to give the text purpose and drive the plot. Whether the character is dynamic, complex, round or flat, successful pieces of literature must include well-developed characters to propel the story. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby , Nick Carraway’s love interest, Jordan Baker, has very distinct characteristics which make her a confusing character to understand. Fitzgerald depicts her as a lying and deceitful professional golfer who is not only a cheater in her sport, but also cheats in her life. However, throughout the novel, Nick Carraway describes her as a balanced human being; this duality makes her development hard to comprehend. The reader begins to question why Fitzgerald contradicts his depiction of Jordan, since he describes her as immoral, yet stabilized at the same time. Jordan Baker is not actually balanced. On the contrary, throughout the book she struggles to stabilize her life as professional golfer and socialite, and uses this duality to mask her immorality. Jordan Baker initially appears as maintaining her moral balance, yet with some effort.

At the beginning of The Great Gatsby , Nick Carraway meets Jordan Baker for the first time at Tom and Daisy Buchanan's...

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Character Analysis of Jordan Baker in The Great Gatsby

The Great Gatsby is a classic novel that was written by Francis Scott Fitzgerald. This novel shows the glamour and chic of the Jazz Age, as well as greed and wealth of those who lived at that time. It tells the story of the American dream and its corruption. Jordan Baker is one of the main characters of The Great Gatsby novel. She is represented as a dishonest and reckless woman with the arrogant attitude towards others, which was typical of the elite during the Jazz Era. The first proof of her arrogance is exposed in her very first dialogue with Nick when she looks down on him and says that he’s living in West Egg in contrast to herself, living in the East Egg. She has a high opinion of herself and thinks that she’s superior to those who live in the West Egg.

Another trait inherent in the society of the Jazz Age is recklessness. Jordan Baker also has this trait, as she often expresses her bluntness, dishonesty, and laziness. Tom Buchanan often wonders how Jordan gets anything done. Her recklessness is also expressed in the way she drives a car when she says, "It takes two to make an accident." As for Miss Baker’s another negative trait, dishonesty, it is also often mentioned in the novel. For instance, there is a rumor that Miss Baker moved her golf ball in order to win a tournament. Nick Carraway, who likes Jordan very much, also says that "she was incurably dishonest." The list of negative traits of Jordan Baker doesn’t end here because she is also portrayed as a very blunt woman.Throughout the book, she states her opinions rather openly. For instance, she is the first person who tells Nick about Tom's mistress. Recklessness of American people is often emphasized by F. Scott Fitzgerald in The Great Gatsby, and he obviously uses the character of Jordan Baker as a number one example of that trait. However, along with her negative traits, Jordan Baker has strong sides. Firstly, being a very independent and self-sufficient woman, she is a living example of the American dream. She proves wrong the idea that women are feeble creatures who can’t exist without men’s assistance. There’s also something masculine about her; namely, her name “Jordan” and the descriptions of her as a "small-breasted" and "hard" woman. Jordan Baker is also a highly emancipated woman: she plays golf, drinks alcohol, smokes cigarettes, and has sex not because of the pressure on her but because that is what she wants. Jordan Baker proves to be an essential character in The Great Gatsby novel. Fitzgerald gave Jordan such an important role in his novel because he wanted to emphasize both the bad and the good things and traits that were dominant during the extravagant Jazz Age.

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In The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald uses a technique of "narrative syncopation" to deliver key information on the offbeat , away from the emphasis of a scene or a sentence, slipping it under the reader's attention. Th is is both a "jazz" style and a strategy for concealing potentially scandalous material, such as the racial secret of the novel: the family relationship between Daisy and Jordan Baker. In the same way a jazz band can transform a sentimental pop song, Fitzgerald takes a sentimental love story and weaves it into a racial and social history of "Th e Jazz Age. " Daisy's "low, thrilling" voice holds the reader on the romantic theme, while in the background, off the beat, Fitzgerald constructs and deconstructs a jazz history of the world, that is, the New World: America.

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This paper explores how ideas about gender are captured in literary works, and how such ideas are reinforced, revised or rejected in (re)translation. It does so by examining the two Dutch translations of The Great Gatsby, focusing on the characterization of Daisy Buchanan. The analysis draws attention to the influence that translators may – either consciously or unwittingly – have on gender stereotyping. By cataloguing the differences in the portrayal of Daisy Buchanan between the first translation and the retranslation, this paper sheds light on the ideological implications of translation choices and the way they affect how readers perceive characters and their gender roles. The analysis shows that both translations, but the older translation in particular, paint a more negative picture of Daisy than the original does: both make Daisy more manipulative and emphasize her perceived seductiveness. The comparison shows that translation decisions may have serious impact on the way in wh...

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It is apparent that Fitzgerald had not only represented the commercialism, consumerism and carelessness of the Jazz Age in the best fashion, he had himself become the Age by moulding his life in an equally careless way. The “gaudy spree” of the age is not better represented in any other work than The Great Gatsby. The melancholy tone of jazz music can best be heard in Gatsby’s parties in their opulent consumerism, violent drinking and dispirited humanity: yet the hollowness of it all becomes apparent when the reader learns that Gatsby himself is not interested in all this because he hosts the parties to attract only one woman, Daisy. The superficiality of the motive of the disinterested host can only be redeemed with the full understanding of the symbolic significance of the quest; till then the noise is only of decadence.

Stefan Pantović

The seminar paper deals with the topics of ambiguous life-style of the characters in the novel The Great Gatsby written by F.S. Fitzgerald, the connection between their abundance and immorality, as well as the results of that kind of behavior on other people’s (and their own) lives. The main focus is on the characters of Tom, Daisy, Gatsby and Nick, the relationship between those characters, and different point of views on their (im)morality. What is more, the reader will easily notice the novel’s link with the age it was written in, but also the link with the present. It also deals with the complex emotional entanglements between the members of different classes and, eventually, the consequences of such behavior. Many researchers have hinted at absolute morality of Nick, but, unlike that, it is questioned here, but not excluded when compared to the others. In the end, this paper gives answers to the questions (1) what the result of affluence is, (2) what influenced the immorality, and (3) what is the result of such conduct. Key words: The Great Gatsby, immorality, affluence, life-style, characters, Roaring Twenties

Ahmed Maklad

The thesis explores how the literary status of Fitzgerald’s novel published in 1925 evolved from being dismissed to becoming a canonical work of American Literature after the death of its author. The role of criticism and adaptations and how they intertwined to popularize the novel among the academic elite and the general public is examined. Four critical studies in different decades of recent history are analyzed to show the different approaches to the novel as well as its relation to the American Dream. The thesis suggests that the four critical studies discussed reflect viewpoints impacted by the cultural and socio-economic factors that marked the decade of their appearance: Kermit Moyer (1973), Ross Posnock (1984), Ray Canterbery (1999), and Benjamin Shreier (2007). Their approaches demonstrate the many ways The Great Gatsby can be viewed and thus its richness as a text. The three film adaptations of the novel in turn depict directors’ take on the novel as well as exhibiting the limitations, predilections, and technical possibilities of the time of their production: Nugent’s (1949), Clayton’s (1974), and Luhrmann’s (2013). The controversial aspects of these adaptations as indicated by reviews and articles, which evaluate them as to how they present Gatsby and the American Dream, have increased the debate and the interest in the novel. Though the novel is located in the U.S. in the Roaring Twenties associated with the Jazz Age, it continues to speak to present audience by evoking issues related to class, mobility, ethics, and romance.

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The Great Gatsby: Analysis and Feminist Critique

The great gatsby: abstract, introduction, the great gatsby: summary and analysis.

This Great Gatsby essay explores one of the greatest novels written in the 1920s. It was created in the days when the society was by far patriarchal, and the concept of the American dream was different. Essays on The Great Gatsby usually explore how much men had dominated society, which led to women discrimination and objectification; the novel will help us understand the concept of feminist critique.

The feminist critique is an aspect that seeks to explore the topic of men domination in the social, economic, and political sectors. It aims to expose how much women characters have been discriminated in the society through the study of literature. This sample essay on The Great Gatsby will apply the concept of feminist critique with reference to the F. Scott Fitzgerald’s work to expose some of the aspects of patriarchal society as revealed in the novel.

The Great Gatsby starts by bringing in a male character, Nick Carraway, as the narrator. First, the narrator is just from the First World War and seeks to settle and takes a job in New York. Searching for wealth and happiness, he rents a bungalow in West Egg next to a generous and mysterious bachelor Jay Gatsby, who owned a mansion.

Nick describes the mansion as “a colossal affair by any standard – it is an imitation of some Hotel de villa in Normandy, with a tower on one side, spanking new under a thin beard of raw ivy, and a marble swimming pool, and more than forty acres of lawn and garden” (Fitzgerald 1).

The introduction analysis brings out a theme of male occupying a more significant portion of wealth. These two men were relatively young and yet so rich to own such property at their age. The mentioned women, Daisy, Jordan, and Myrtle, are just an attachment to the men in the society since they all at some level depict an aspect of lack of independence since men dominate every aspect of life.

Socially, men seem to dominate in the relationships in The Great Gatsby. Tom’s financial power sets him way ahead of that he can afford to have an affair outside marriage. That’s what he does in an open way as he invites Nick, Daisy’s cousin, to meet his mistress Myrtle Wilson. Nick’s reflection on the relationship between Tom and Daisy, Tom, and Myrtle shows a break of social norms.

Tom’s relationship with the two women is abusive and of so much control. He abuses Myrtle publicly in the name of making her straight by even beating her. Tom comes out as a man who has so much power to bully everybody, including Myrtle’s husband Wilson, he also has so much control in Daisy, his wife.

Usually, one will expect that Nick being a cousin to Daisy, will resist seeing their close relatives get involved in extra-marital affairs. Nick being a man, supports other men, Tom and Gatsby, in their moves. After knowing that Gatsby had been in love with Daisy before she got married, he allows reconnection to happen in his own house although Gatsby’s credibility was still in question to him.

He admires Gatsby’s having “an extraordinary gift for hope, a romantic readiness he had never found in any other person and which it was not likely he could ever find again” (Fitzgerald 1). This admiration overpowered his questions on Gatsby’s character and that of his company. This shows that men’s dominance was critical since women were to follow what the men wanted them to, not their choices.

The novel was written in a time when men could batter women if dissatisfied by their actions, absolutely ignoring women’s rights. In the meeting with Myrtle, when an argument ensued between Tom and the mistress, Tom broke her nose to shut her up. The whole thing looks normal and even when George complains to him, he is not moved by his cry.

Tom is the dominant character in the novel. He harasses people starting with his wife, his mistress, George and even Gatsby. Tom is seen doing the same thing Gatsby does, dating a married woman, but he has the guts to confront him on his affair with Daisy. When Myrtle died, he fires a battle between Gatsby and George by convincing him that Gatsby had an affair with Myrtle.

George kills Gatsby before killing himself as a sign of revenge. The revenge was purely egotistic to reclaim his position as Myrtle’s husband since his status as a man on top of the relationship had been invalid. This leaves a mark in moral decadence, which only happens in a patriarchal society that cannot be controlled by any other voice than the male voice.

The novel has so much influence geographically and culturally due to the approach used and the structure itself. Tom Buchanan’s treatment of his wife and mistress and Gatsby’s manipulation of Daisy, Tom’s wife, brings out the aspect of male domination. The male has a dominant part in the exploitation of power in the relationships, and marital status is nothing of a worry when one wants to pursue their mistresses. Men in the text have idolized women, and they justify their reasons for the exploitation of women.

For example, Gatsby’s life is made true by the fact that he managed to have a relationship with a lady he had loved before. He does everything to get her, which include him “buying a house in West Egg just so that Daisy would be just across the bay” (Fitzgerald 1). This was a crucial sport in being strategic in his plans.

Tom, on the other hand, uses his physical and financial powers to prove that he is in control. He and Gatsby set social structures that attract women to them. However, Nick, the narrator, was not able to relate with the unpredictable and manipulative Jordan Baker. Jordan Baker’s character of believing that she could do as much as a man could do scared him away. She is unlike Daisy, who chose to stay with Tom, although she was in the relationship for financial gains.

Gatsby describes her as one with “voice is full of money” (Fitzgerald 1). For Jordan’s belief in herself, Nick later blames his failure to cope with her on her partying, smoking, and drinking character without really revealing that he had the same character as being pragmatic.

Women in the great gatsby had been accustomed to so much submission; an example is in Daisy’s character. She has a complacent kind of character that makes it difficult to make her own decisions.

She exhibits incapacity to have an independent sense of self-will that Gatsby takes advantage of to win her by flattering her with words like “You always have a green light that burns all night at the end of your dock” (Fitzgerald 1). The fact that she had a relationship before with Gatsby was enough to lead her in deciding to have an affair with him.

Myrtle also belongs to the same types of women as Daisy as she engages in a relationship with another woman’s husband just because they met and liked each other. This aspect manages to bring out a clear definition of gender roles and identity in the earlier days when the novel was written. Men ask, and women respond without looking at what could be affected in their decisions.

The Great Gatsby sample essay shows how the novel brings out an aspect of both genders reclaiming their positions in society in terms of gender relations. Though the male has dominated, and the female has proven to be dependent on men, they both need to redefine themselves as the victims of social norms.

The male gender has dominated the economic and social part of the society making sure that the role of women is reduced to being subjects to the male exercise of power. This has been shown clearly by women getting trapped in the misogyny and manipulation set by men hence making it hard for them to stand by their choices. Their gender nature dictates the character choice in the male-dominated world.

The male exercise their power over the significant female characters by ensuring that they remain the sole financial sources, and the women exercise their dependence by remaining in their marriages despite their involvement in affairs outside marriage. Though there are men like George, who have lost their position, they still exhibit their ego by defending their marriages.

Fitzgerald, Scott. The Great Gatsby. University of Adelaide, 2005. Web.

  • Short Summary
  • Summary (Chapter 1)
  • Summary (Chapter 2)
  • Summary (Chapter 3)
  • Summary (Chapter 4)
  • Summary (Chapter 5)
  • Summary (Chapter 6)
  • Summary (Chapter 7)
  • Summary (Chapter 8)
  • Summary (Chapter 9)
  • Symbolism & Style
  • Quotes Explained
  • Essay Topics
  • Essay Samples
  • Questions & Answers
  • F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Biography
  • Chicago (A-D)
  • Chicago (N-B)

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Bibliography

IvyPanda . "The Great Gatsby: Analysis and Feminist Critique." October 28, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-great-gatsby/.

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  1. Jordan Baker Character Analysis in The Great Gatsby

    Jordan belongs to the upper crust of society. Although she moved to the east coast from somewhere in the Midwest, she has quickly risen among the social ranks to become a famous golfer—a sport played mainly among the wealthy. Yet Jordan's rise to social prominence and affluence is founded on lies. Not only did she cheat to win her first ...

  2. Best Character Analysis: Jordan Baker

    Jordan Baker in The Great Gatsby is like that friend. A close friend of Daisy Buchanan's, Jordan dates Nick Carraway during the novel and plays a crucial role in reuniting Daisy with the titular Jay Gatsby. A couple of years younger than Daisy, Jordan is single and a professional golfer, which sets her apart from her married friend.

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    Jordan Baker Character Analysis. Jordan Baker. A friend of Daisy's who becomes Nick's girlfriend. A successful pro golfer, Jordan is beautiful and pleasant, but does not inspire Nick to feel much more than a "tender curiosity" for her. Perhaps this is because Baker is "incurably dishonest" and cheats at golf.

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    Jordan is a golfer—a professional golfer. Already, we know she's different from Daisy. Where Daisy is always fluttering and babbling and giggling and basically acting like a dumb girl (her words, not ours), Jordan is hard, direct, and cynical. And she's bored to tears. We don't know much about her family, except that she has "one aunt about a ...

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    Jordan is a representative of future women in the Jazz Age of America. One that personifies the negatives and the positive aspects of the American Dream in the Great Gatsby. Jordan, during the whole summer, tends to dwell on the word "careless" and "carelessness". "I hate careless people.."(Fitzgerald 58).

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    Gatsby retains the American Dream in its purest form. A. He has the quality of the original seekers of the dream—the pursuit of life, liberty, and happiness. III. He adheres to the precept of ...

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    Jordan Baker is perhaps the most forgettable of The Great Gatsby 's core cast of characters. Even the novel's narrator, Nick Carraway himself, admits to having "lost sight of Jordan Baker" altogether for at least a few weeks of the narrative, encouraging readers and critics alike to regard her character as more or less dispensable ...

  9. How to Write a Compare/Contrast Essay for The Great Gatsby

    In a compare/contrast essay, you can't just present a list of similarities and differences. You also need to have an underlying argument you're supporting. Feel free to take these at face value or as jumping-off points for your own thoughts. Tom loves Daisy as a person, Gatsby loves her as an idea.

  10. The Great Gatsby Chapter 3 Summary & Analysis

    Every Saturday night, Gatsby throws incredibly luxurious parties at his mansion. Nick eventually receives an invitation. At the party, he feels out of place, and notes that the party is filled with people who haven't been invited and who appear "agonizingly" aware of the "easy money" surrounding them. The main topic of conversation is rumors ...

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  12. Character analysis of Jordan Baker Essay

    Character analysis of Jordan Baker. In The Great Gatsby, written by Francis Scott Fitzgerald, Jordan Baker was portrayed as being reckless and dishonest, having the arrogant attitude of many of the people of her time, but also having the characteristics of modern-day women. This classic novel was written on the glitz and glamour of the Jazz Age ...

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    Jordan Baker is a friend of Daisy Buchanan, the love of Gatsby's life; she spends endless hours in Daisy's company. She also acts as the causal lover of the narrator, Nick Carraway and tells him the story of Jay Gatsby's past. Jordan Baker comes from old money and like Daisy, she is spoiled. In this time, money is everything and there can ...

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    Jordan Baker is a complex and intriguing character in The Great Gatsby. She is a professional golfer, but her true passion seems to be manipulating others. Jordan is very good at hiding her true feelings and motives, which makes her a difficult person to understand. She is often cold and distant, but she also has a sharp wit and a sharp tongue.

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    At the beginning of The Great Gatsby, Nick Carraway meets Jordan Baker for the first time at Tom and Daisy Buchanan's... Join Now to View Premium Content GradeSaver provides access to 2313 study guide PDFs and quizzes, 10989 literature essays, 2751 sample college application essays, 911 lesson plans, and ad-free surfing in this premium content ...

  16. Character Analysis of Jordan Baker in The Great Gatsby

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    for his relationship with Jordan Baker is long overdue. In his 1979 essay "Another Reading of The Great Gatsby," Keath Fraser writes of his puzzle-ment that so few readers comment on narrator Nick Carraway's ambivalent sexuality, citing both textual and extra-textual evidence to discuss what he

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    902 Words. 4 Pages. Open Document. Jordan. Jordan Baker represents the new women in the Great Gatsby, through her appearance, characterization and narrative. Jordan Baker is a perfect example of the modern woman as associated to the Jazz Age. In a world ruled by man, she consistently marks her dominance and place through her ambition.

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    In this essay, I've analysed the role and representation of the female characters in F. Scott Fitzgerald's work: Daisy Buchanan, Jordan Baker and Myrtle Wilson. Why these three women embody the concept of the American Dream is also one of the main research questions.

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    The Great Gatsby essay explores the gender roles, analyzes patriarchy in the Roaring 20s. Learn the Great Gatsby essay examples that prove the period's misogyny. ... Nick, the narrator, was not able to relate with the unpredictable and manipulative Jordan Baker. Jordan Baker's character of believing that she could do as much as a man could do ...

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    In The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald Jordan Baker is a strong female character in comparison to the other women, specifically rich women in the time period. This is similar to George Orwell setting up Julia in his novel 1984. Julia also has different views and values from other women in her time period.