Fitzgerald餾 View of Women in The Great Gatsby

王利娟

基金項目：本文受（2014年）北京農學院教育教學改革立項“非英語專業大學生語言學習策略與語言能力的相關性研究”和（2014年）上海外語教育出版社有限公司全國高校外語教學科研項目“農林院校非英語專業本科生英語學習風格調查研究”資助。Abstract：F．Scott Fitzgerald，the famous American novelist in the 1 920s，is known as the spokesman and laureate of the “The Lost Generation”．Considered one of Fitzgerald餾 representative works and the finest achievement of his literary career，The Great Gatsby is widely recognized as a classic of American literature．The paper is an investigation of the patriarchal ideology and misogyny，with a discussion of their influence on the portrayal of women characters in The Great Gatsby．

Key Words：Fitzgerald；The Great Gatsby；patriarchal

1盇 Review of Patriarchal Ideology in Western Culture

The prevailing belief that women are inherently inferior to men is one of the typical patriarchal assumptions that are frequently under the vehement attack of feminists．In a patriarchal society，men don餿 regard women as truly humans，but objects to fulfill men餾 needs，objects that can be got with power of money．“Patriarchy subordinates the female to the male or treats the female as an inferior male．” In the male瞔entered world，women are the shadows of men，the subsidiaries of men．They don餿 regard women as fully human and just as a form of property，existing for the benefit of men．In the relationship between the two sexes，men are depicted as the protectors and possessors of women，performing the role of a patriarch or master．Women，however，are described as mentally and physically weak．They are in great need of support and protection from men，which is offered at the cost of their submissiveness and dependence．The protection on men餾 part is in essence the domination over women and a prevention of women餾 independence．Women are judged by whether they meet the requirements of patriarchal society or not．When they are in line with the image of “ideal woman” preached by patriarchal culture，they are praised as “angels”; otherwise they are condemned as “demons”．

Such a prejudice against women can be traced back as early as to Aristotle，the great philosopher who once declared that “the female is female by virtue of a certain lack of qualities，we should regard the female nature as afflicted with a natural defectiveness”．And St．Thomas for his part pronounces woman to be an “imperfect man”，and “incidental being．” This is symbolized in Genesis where Eve is depicted as lade from what is called “supernumery bone” of Adam．The prejudice against women thus assigns them to a subordinate accessory and passive position．In the established patriarchal culture women have to view themselves as inferior beings to men，and they lose their true self in the inhibition of patriarchy．Deep-planted in such prejudice against women，the male-dominated society assigns them some stereotypes of femininity：formlessness，passivity，piety，irrationality，silence，docility，spirituality，and confinement．The essence of such stereotypes is that men provide women with protection and support in exchange for women餾 submissiveness and dependence．

The relationship of two sexes portrayed in The Great Gatsby reflects Fitzgerald餾 identification with the Cult of True Womanhood．True Womanhood refers to the widely accepted values in the Victorian Age about women餾 proper roles．According to Barbara Welter餾 “The Cult of True Womanhood，1820-1860”，“the attributes of True Womanhood，by which a woman judged herself and was judged by her husband，her neighbors and the society，could be divided into four cardinal virtues—piety，purity，submissiveness，and domesticity．” These four virtues together define an ideal image for women from a masculine point of view．Since men are always regarded as the movers，the doers，the actors，women should be the passive，submissive responders accordingly．She would depend on him，respect him，and submit to him．A submissive woman can do nothing but be subject to male餾 control．

2盕itzgerald餾 Patriarchal Ideology

Kate Millett in Sexual Politics points out that in literature，a cultural product of the patriarchy consciousness，the male authors reestablish the sexual politics of the present world in their micro-world of the novel through their sexual consciousness．Fitzgerald餾 background and his conceptions of men and women have strongly influenced his portrayal of male and female characters in The Great Gatsby，in which Fitzgerald presents a vivid depiction of feminine world and female characters through a central male consciousness．Fitzgerald once expresses his worry：“It may hurt the book餾 popularity that it （The Great Gatsby） is a man餾 book．” Although Fitzgerald was convinced that The Great Gatsby was a masterpiece，and his finest work to date，he worried that its sales would be hurt by the lack of an “important woman character”．Fitzgerald餾 negative representation of women in The Great Gatsby is closely related to his patriarchal ideology．His attitude toward women is revealed by the relationship between him and his wife．

Living in a world that is just starting to consider the possibility that women may have the right to be independent citizens capable of making their own decisions，trained by her mother with loving permissiveness，Zelda displays all the characters of the modern women in the 1920s．She was a heedless and modern Southern belle with many suitors and little concern for convention，free瞫pirited，imaginative and thoroughly spoiled．“Zelda was a natural beauty，with red-gold hair，fine features，and a graceful body．But what distinguished her from other young women was her spirit—playful，often rebellious，and even reckless．” This character was closely related with her family education．As a conservative，Episcopalian，upper middle-class family，her family embodied the tradition and conservatism of the South and reflected the general mores of Montgomery at the turn of the century．“As an icon of the Jazz Age，she struggles against her traditional southern upbringing and its societal constraints to create a new，independent identity…”

Fitzgerald餾 hindrance to Zelda餾 creative talents in writing and desire to keep her in family shows his patriarchal tendency．While those challenging the values are criticized as being selfish and insincere，women conforming to the True Womanhood are appreciated as “the angel in the house”．In such a patriarchal culture，women are always the “second sex”，the subordinate beings，and even exchangeable objects．They are called a half of the world，but actually a half inferior to the other half．

In a very real sense，Zelda is a flapper who not only has adventurous behavior and avant mind but also possesses a kind of innate and rich giftedness．Zelda had a mind as witty as Fitzgerald in that era，her affirmations of “I am assuming that the Flapper will live by her accomplishments and not by her flapping” and “the best flapper is reticent emotionally and courageous morally” are a kind of creed for the flappers to their independence．Like Nicole tried to recover her consciousness，Zelda struggled to establish her own identity outside that of her husband．

At various times in her life she threw herself into three creative avenues：writing，dancing，and painting—all areas where she had exhibited talent in her youth．She had once pursued her dream of becoming a painter．Fifty-four watercolor paintings and delicate paper doll constructions exhibited on April 19th，2001，in the Upper Gallery at Ursinus College，demonstrated her artistic talents to some extent．The exhibition highlighted her artistic expression as a painter of brilliantly colored，whimsical，sometimes fantastical works of art and illuminated her flights of fancy，views of the changing early 20th century，and perhaps even fears．What餾 more，she was a writer．With her husband餾 guidance，Zelda began to write and publish essays and short stories that appeared under a joint byline or sometimes under her husband餾 name．

Fitzgerald regards Zelda as a symbol of part of his success．He was ambivalent about Zelda餾 struggle for her individuality and self-expression．Although Zelda often expressed an extravagant love for Fitzgerald，and he loyally supported and wrote affectionately to her，they quarreled bitterly and endlessly over her ambitions as a writer and painter，her sexuality，and her right to work and to be independent．Zelda repeatedly said that she wanted a divorce，but without any money of her own，and without the means of earning any，she was utterly powerless in the relationship．Tension and an element of competition crept into their relationship as Zelda餾 proficiency as a writer grew．After trying her hand at writing yet finding herself overshadowed by her well-known husband，Zelda turned toward ballet，which she had shown marked talent for as a child，in a continuing search for an arena of personal accomplishment．But as with her writing，and later with painting，ballet became an unhealthy obsession．

All that has been mentioned above exemplifies Zelda Fitzgerald餾 lifelong struggle to create her own artistic identity．Known primarily as the beautiful and eccentric wife of a talented writer，Zelda餾 search for her own identity was tangled in the web of a disintegrating marriage and a downward spiral into mental illness．But her private struggle for self-expression and happiness took place amid the turbulence of a troubled life．She struggled against her southern upbringing and its social constraints to create a new independent identity，not just for herself but for all American women．Zelda餾d story remains relevant to nowadays women who face similar challenges．

References：

Bruccoli，M．J．& Bryer，J．R．F．Scott Fitzgerald in His Own Time：A Miscellany．Kent，OH：Kent State University，1971．

Cooperman，Stanley．F．Scott Fitzgerald餾 The Great Gatsby〖=M〗．Beijing：Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press，1996．