The Portrayal of Women in American Literature Essay -- Papers Essays

The Portrayal of Women in American LiteratureThroughout American Literature, women cast off been depicted in many different ways. The portrayal of women in American Literature is often influenced by an authors personal experience or a frequent societal stereotype of women and their position. Often times, male authors interpret societys views of women in a completely different nature than a distaff author would. While F. Scott Fitzgerald may represent his main female character as a victim in the 1920s, Zora Neale Hurston portrays hers as a strong, free-spirited, and independent woman only a decade later in the 1930s. In F. Scott Fitzgeralds, The Great Gatsby, the main female character, Daisy Buchanan, is portrayed by, Nick, the narrator, only by her looking qualities. Guided only by Nicks particular view of her, readers often judge Daisy solely on the basis of her superficial qualities (Fryer 43). What the reader sees done the eyes of Nick only appears as a woman whose im patience and desire for wealth and luxury cost her the neck of her life, Gatsby. Nicks narrow perception does not allow nonpareil to see that Daisys silly manner conceals a woman of feeling or that her final irresponsibility towards Gatsby stems from an acute sense of responsibility towards herself and that Nick clear does not understand what motivates her (Fryer 43). One can easily view Daisy as a victim. Fitzgerald distinctly exposes Daisys need for stability, which, according to Fitzgerald or mayhap the mentality of the time period, can only be found in a man. Her need for stability was immediate, and she attempted to satisfy that need through something tangible, something close at hand (Fryer 51). This need that Fitzg... ...en as one.BibliographyWorks CitedFryer, Sarah Beebe. Fitzgeralds New Women Harbingers of Change. Eds. Jackson R.Bryer, A. Walton Litz, and Linda Wagner. Studies in Modern Literature, No. 86. Ann Arbor, wampum U-M-I inquiry Press, 1988. 43, 51, 54-55.Gladstein, Mimi Reisel. The Indestructible Women in Faulker, Hemingway, andSteinbeck. Eds. A. Walton Litz, Thomas C. Moser, and Linda Wagner. StudiesIn Modern Literature, No. 45. Ann Arbor, Michigan U-M-I Research Press,1986.57-58, 86-89.Goodman, Susan. Edith Whartons Women Friends & Rivals. Hanover UniversityPress of New England, 1990. 72-75.Peters, Pearlie Mae Fisher. The Assertive Women in Zora Neale Hurstons Fiction, Folklore, and Drama. Ed. Graham Russell Hodges. New York, New York Garland Publishing Inc., 1998. 132, 139, 141, 143.