The Vilification of Women in The Great Gatsby and Ethan Frome Women have played an important role in American literature. Unfortunately, this role was often negative, without cause to be so. Edith Wharton’s Ethan Frome and F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby are examples of American literature in which women are needlessly vilified.In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald presents three women in an especially bad light. Daisy Fay Buchanan, the narrator’s cousin, is the most obvious. Daisy is selfish and materialistic. She married her husband, Tom, because he was wealthy when he proposed to her. She ignored her true love, Jay Gatsby, because he was poor; this fact is evident when the two meet again after years apart and Daisy sees that Gatsby is rich now. Gatsby bought the house right across the bay from Daisy so he could be near her (Fitzgerald 83). Daisy admires all of his possessions and even considers leaving her husband for him, but in the end remains with Tom. This action is evidence of Daisy’s selfishness; the moment of their reunion means everything to Gatsby and nothing to Daisy, except for a game to help Daisy pass the time during her idle days (Magill 1144). The selfishness of Daisy is a detail that thrusts her into the role of a villain in the novel.Daisy’s selfish nature is magnified a hundred times at the end of the novel. Driving home after an uncomfortable evening with Tom and Gatsby, she strikes and kills Tom’s mistress in Gatsby’s car. Daisy allows Gatsby to take all the blame for the accident. As a result, Myrtle’s husband kills Gatsby. To add insult to injury, Daisy does not even show up at Gatsby’s funeral, despite her role in his death. This uncaring personality further shows her selfishness and causes Daisy to look even worse to the reader. Daisy’s interactions with her daughter display her self-absorbed nature plainly. Nick asks about the littl...
