An Interpretation Of The Great Gatsby From The Perspective Of Feminist

Known as the spokesman of the Jazz Age, Francis Scott Fitzgerald is one of the mostfamous American novelists in the early20th century. It is generally acknowledged that TheGreat Gatsby is his representative work. On the surface, the novel covers a love tragedy toan adult, but in fact it truly records the ethos during the1920s in American society:bootlegging, all sorts of movie stars, different views of professional women on life and love,different attitudes towards current ethical standards and social and cultural customs.Because of the profound thinking and proactive warning in the novel, it further helpsFitzgerald to establish his prominent status in the history of literature in the20th century. Inspite of its contribution to literary, it is a fact that women’s images are negatively portrayedin this novel. It is easy for readers to feel Fitzgerald’s negative attitude toward women, whoare fully subordinated to the male, especially the heroine Daisy. With the development offeminist literary criticism, it is necessary to reinterpret the work from a new perspective. Inthis paper, The Great Gatsby will be interpreted by means of close reading of text from thefeminist perspective.The thesis consists of the introduction, three chapters and conclusion.The introduction part introduces the author and his works, together with hiscontribution and status in American literary history. In addition, the development offeminist literary criticism and relevant theories are discussed. The first chapter analyzesFitzgerald’s ambivalence for new women: on the one hand, he thinks new women representthe new values like freedom and rebellion; on the other hand, he is worried that theyrepresent moral decadence. The negative portrayal of female characters, to a certain extent,reflects his views on women and men’s attitude toward women in American society at thattime. The second chapter and third chapter analyze the text of The Great Gatsby byutilizing the method of feminist literary criticism. The thesis firstly reveals the patriarchalconsciousness, prejudice, misogyny and double moral standards embedding in the narrationof Nick towards female characters, especially in the interpretation of Daisy. DismantlingNick’s patriarchal discourse, the heroine Daisy is analyzed and interpreted from thefeminist perspective. It is easy to come to the conclusion that in the patriarchal society, women like Daisy are the victims of the society at that time, and Daisy is also the victim ofGatsby’s American dream. In the meanwhile, female consciousness is, more or less,reflected in Daisy. Thus, the negative portrayal of women characters is unfair in the novel.