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

The Portrayal of Women in American LiteratureThroughout American Literature, women have been depicted in many different ways. The portrayal of women in American Literature is a great deal influenced by an antecedents personal experience or a frequent social stereotype of women and their position. Often judgment of convictions, male authors interpret societys views of women in a completely different nature than a female 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 charr only a decade later in the 1930s. In F. Scott Fitzgeralds, The enceinte Gatsby, the main female character, Daisy Buchanan, is portrayed by, Nick, the narrator, only by her superficial qualities. channelise only by Nicks limited view of her, readers a good deal judge Daisy solely on the basis of her superficial qualities (Fryer 43). What the reader sees by dint of the eyes of Nick only appears as a woman whose peevishness and desire for wealth and luxury cost her the love of her life, Gatsby. Nicks narrow perception does not allow one to see that Daisys dotty manner conceals a woman of feeling or that her final irresponsibleness towards Gatsby stems from an acute sense of responsibility towards herself and that Nick clearly does not conceive what motivates her (Fryer 43). One can easily view Daisy as a victim. Fitzgerald clear exposes Daisys direct for stability, which, according to Fitzgerald or perhaps 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 in the buff Women Harbingers of Change. Eds. capital of Mississippi R.Bryer, A. Walton Litz, and Linda Wagner. Studies in Modern Literatu re, No. 86. Ann Arbor, Michigan U-M-I Research 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.