The Changing Roles of Women in Literature: A Streetcar Named Desire and The Great Gatsby
The Role of Women in A Streetcar Named Desire
Stella Kowalski: The Subservient Woman
Stella exemplifies society’s preconceptions of femininity during the time the text was written. As the dutiful housekeeper and obedient wife, she is a symbol of femininity. From a current perspective, however, she is considered to be a downtrodden and oppressed woman. Her character represents absolute passivity due to her largely domestic and subservient role.
Stella is almost a prisoner in her own home, continuously indoors from the outset of the play. Her character is subjugated by the language used; she is rarely called by her name and is continuously referred to as “honey”, “baby”, or “sweetie” instead. This highlights the feminine struggle for equality within contemporary society; her name is not used to confirm her identity – instead, she is branded by patronizing and demeaning labels which stifle her individuality.
Stella is often trivialized physically through the violence her husband subjects her to. For example, Stanley’s response to her request for help clearing the table:
“(He hurls a plate to the floor.) That’s how I’ll clear the table! (He seizes her arm.) Don’t ever talk that way to me!”
Stanley extends his dominance over Stella by abusing his position and his physical strength. It is an example of the significance of how the bodily disproportion between the masculine and the feminine can be abused by men. Strikingly, Stella is not insulted by these unnecessarily violent reactions; instead, she continues to remain consistent with the stereotypical subservient woman.
Stella rarely makes a decision for herself and is not affronted by Stanley’s incessant interference in her affairs. The one time she shows some initiative is when she sends for the doctors to relocate Blanche to the mental institute at the play’s conclusion. Even here, she cannot do so without the other characters’ support, showing her constant search for approval, not only from Stanley but from everyone surrounding her.
The women in the play must simply accept the violence and the injustice that is forced upon them in order for life to continue. Eunice states in the play’s conclusion: “Life has got to go on. No matter what happens, you’ve got to keep going on.”
Blanche DuBois: The Contested Feminine
Another aspect of gender representation Williams asserts in A Streetcar Named Desire is the position of the female contesting gender stereotypes. This is presented through Stella’s sister, Blanche DuBois.
Blanche is from the ‘Lost’ Old South; Belle Reve, her childhood home, is a place that has shaped Blanche and is the epitome of the Southern states. It is associated with the America of the past. Therefore, Blanche is the binary opposite of Stanley. The Old South can be seen as the decaying world, which has been corrupted; a new political world has come, and this has caused a new kind of class battle. Stanley wins through brute force, and the old is exorcised for the new.
Blanche is aware of this inherited and fake world; she plays on her Southernness, and it is a self-aware performance, just as she is aware of the emotional baggage of her past. She is a series of parts; she can play the Southern, genteel lady, but she is playing roles and performing to cover up her guilt and sadness for losing and rejecting her homosexual husband and triggering his ensuing suicide.
Blanche is evanescent and nervous. She needs power to form her own identity; she is interested in symbolic power – yet despite playing the feminine, she is actually transgressive. Though Blanche does display what are considered to be feminine qualities, such as her obsession with her appearance and flirting, her other more masculine features are emphasized to outweigh them; for example, her reliance on alcohol.
A Streetcar Named Desire illuminates many of the certainties pertaining to American society’s mindset towards men and women’s gender roles in the fifties. Williams deals with both male and female typecasts as well as society’s reaction to those who question these presumptions, or indeed misunderstandings, as the case may be.
The Role of Women in The Great Gatsby
During the 1920s, the role of women under men was undergoing a drastic change, and it is shown in The Great Gatsby by two of the main female characters: Daisy and Jordan. One was domesticated and immobile, while the other was not. Both of them portray different and important characteristics of the normal woman growing up in the 1920s.
The Changing Image of Women
The image of the woman was changing along with morals. Females began to challenge the government and society. Things like this upset people, especially men, because this showed that they were losing their long-term dominance over female society.
Daisy Buchanan: The Domesticated Wife
Daisy is in a relationship where she is unhappy. Not only is she unhappy, but she is also immobile and has no say in just about anything that goes on. Relationships in the 1920s were just like this scenario. Women were dominated by their husbands and unhappy. They were objects that were to be domesticated and be under the command of “the man.”
It was during this time that women were starting to take a stand and be in charge. They were done with standing on the sidelines while their husbands had reign over their lives. In the beginning of the twenties, a change was made. On August 18, 1920, the 19th Amendment was ratified, giving women the right to vote. This gave women the chance to have a voice in the government. Giving women the right to vote was the first step to helping them emerge from the shadows of a male-dominated society.
Jordan Baker: The Independent Woman
Daisy wanted to drive Gatsby’s car and was cheating on Tom. Jordan was a golf champion. It was usual for the men to be dishonest to their spouses, but not for women. Driving cars was considered a “man’s thing to do.” Also, there were certain sports that women just weren’t supposed to play. Along with the emergence into society came a new set of morals. Women were beginning to think and act for themselves. They changed the man-made stereotypes that they had been brought up to think into something brand new.
“Never had a drink before, but oh how I do enjoy it!” (Gatsby pg.76)
Daisy Buchanan, who always tried to act in the past, said this quote. Women were starting to smoke and drink, which was seen as unacceptable. They changed the way they looked and felt. Also, there was the beginning of the “working woman.” For example, Jordan had a job being a professional golfer, whereas Daisy relied on Tom’s money to get by. Although there weren’t that many women at the time getting jobs, and the salary was sometimes ridiculously low (at around the pay of a child), this was just another step that women took to show that men were no longer the dominant species.
The Rise of the Flapper
Many of the rebellious women attended Gatsby’s parties. Before the twenties, women were expected to dress in dark colors and conduct themselves in an orderly manner. The hemline was strictly below the ankle, and hair was to be worn long. The women were told to “hold their tongue.”
Daisy was trying to stay in the past by obeying her husband and following the “rules.” At the beginning of the roaring twenties, this changed. The normal look of a feminist of the 1920s was the flapper look. She wore dresses that came above her ankle and bold makeup. She cut her hair short so that it was by the neck. She danced “obscene” dances like the Charleston. The flapper was determined to express herself and break free from tradition. They were mostly seen in the big cities and college campuses.
The women are no longer caring about being domesticated and under control. In The Great Gatsby, Daisy cheated on Tom and was intimate with Gatsby. Daisy, the domesticated wife of Tom Buchanan, was trying to stay in the past, but you can see by the way she is with Gatsby; she is already exhibiting the rebellious behavior of the flapper woman. Women at the time were only supposed to be intimate with their husbands. Men, on the other hand, were “allowed” to do whatever they pleased. This was another thing that women wanted to change. Women wanted the same sexuality rights as men. Women had to fight through ideas like this to gain their “freedom.”
Conclusion
The female characters of The Great Gatsby represented the two types of females of the time period: the women who were willing to break free (Jordan) and the women who weren’t (Daisy). The American woman was finally getting the chance to show the world what she was made of. She was willing to break free of tradition and challenge her authority. She wanted to show man that she was in charge of herself and that she will no longer be repressed. The American woman would dress boldly and do whatever she pleased. When men would oppose, she would not take no for an answer and get whatever she wanted. It is because of the courageous women of the twenties that the modern-day women have the ability to do whatever a man can.