Two Female Epitomes of Literature in the XX Century

Posted on May 23, 2017 by 18phaml

The Great Gatsby – a novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald and The Sun Also Rises, written by Ernest Hemingway are two of the most influential books that shaped what American literature is now. Written in the late XX century, both novelas succeeded in showing different perspectives of how corrupt and lost Americans have become after the destructive World War I inside and outside of the country. With brilliant language, unique styles and excellent thoughts, the two also delivered to the world two of the most iconic women in literature: Daisy Buchanan in The Great Gatsby and Lady Brett Ashley from The Sun Also Rises. Both were born in the same time period, one slightly earlier than the other one. They share similar social background and are even shaped by similar world events, yet they are very distinctive. Nonetheless, the two ladies flourish the roles they play in each of the book and shape the two classics by constructing the barbaric and superficial society, giving readers a view of women at the time and giving insight to other characters in the book.

Daisy Buchanan in The Great Gatsby is portrayed as a dream that the main character, Gatsby can never achieve. Daisy falls in love with Gatsby when he is still a military officer but decides to marry Tom Buchanan, an aristocrat, while Gatsby is in the war. After returning, Gatsby dedicates all of his time making money, building his own mansion right next to the Buchanan’s and hosting luxurious parties just to win Daisy back. In reality, Daisy is not the illusion that Gatsby has been worshipping. She is beautiful and charming, but also careless and shallow. This is shown when she hits Myrtle, Tom’s mistress, and runs back to Tom while letting Gatsby take the blame and look over her all night, “watching over nothing” as his dream is now shattered and dead (Fitzgerald 145). Gatsby spent his whole life chasing after Daisy but received nothing instead and is unexpectedly betrayed to at the end of the book. Throughout the whole novel, Daisy Buchanan not only represents the American Dream that Gatsby longs for but also the amoral values of the American aristocracy during the 1920s. Daisy is the epitome of the decline of the American Dream as well as the hollowness of the upper class in the country that F. Scott Fitzgerald tries to describe at the time.

On the other hand, Lady Brett Ashley is an independent, charismatic woman who not only Jake, but all four men in The Sun Also Rises dream of but can never fully have. She is different from other women: short hair, male name and usually refers to herself as chap. Brett comes off as an antagonist because her disruption of relationships between men. Cohn, for example, beats Jake, “the best friend” Cohn has ever had (Hemingway 47), as he is frustrated that Brett is not with him. Along with his action, Cohn’s values are ruined and he is never the same after loving Brett. Brett also acts as a threat to Romero, the young new generation when she seduces him. In addition, her presence constantly reminds other men, Jake especially, of his impotence and makes him anxious about his own manliness. However, Lady Brett is also a victim of the war herself. She lost her true love during the war, so she wanders aimlessly from men to men to find refuge and another original love. Overall, Brett symbolizes a challenge to men’s masculinity and the search of the whole Lost Generation to their own shelter and love. Her character enhances the most important themes of the novella: the aimlessness and insecurity of males after World War I.

In general, the two characters share a lot in common but also individually contrast from each other. Both are seen as possessions that a man should achieve in order to show their power and ideal. Tom’s control of Daisy’s past allows him to hinder her from leaving with Gatsby. Meanwhile, Mike and Romero wants Brett as their own by asking to marry her and even request that she “grow her hair out” and be “more womanly” (Hemingway 245). Cohn, in contrast, wants Brett to be with him to romanticize his idea of an “…affair with a lady of title” (Hemingway 181). Daisy Buchanan is similar Lady Brett Ashley as they both are unable to show a sincere love to any man. Daisy’s cynical characteristics even show in her way of treating her own child, who she rarely mentions, and is indifferent to. Daisy fails to be committed to either of the men. Additionally, she cannot see the love that Gatsby has dedicated for her because she fails to love someone fully and sincerely herself. Daisy chose wealth over her own romance and emotions; therefore, she can never be happy with either her marriage or her affair. The same goes with Brett as she refuses to be dominated by any man and would rather leave than change herself and settle down. Brett cannot understand the sense of sacrifice needed in love. This is why Brett moves from one to another without ever experiencing the notion of love. However, in The Great Gatsby, Daisy is powerless to choose between two of her men. In fact, she does not realize what she is doing until the consequences are in front of her eyes: “…and as though she had never, all along, intended doing anything at all. But it was done now. It was too late” (Fitzgerald 132). Daisy is then forced to leave with him after that. After all, she should be condemned for her incapability to stand for herself and take responsibility. On the contrary, Brett is celebrated because has her own opinion on who she chooses to stay with. Even though she does not acknowledge that she is hurting all the men around her, saying it is “the things that a woman goes through” (Hemingway 188) and thinks that leaving Romero was an act of sacrificing herself: “I’m not going to be one of these bitches that ruins children.”(Hemingway 246). Still, Brett is different from Daisy as she is a more feminist and stronger and has her own freedom to do whatever she wants compared to Daisy.

In summary, Lady Brett Ashley has Daisy Buchanan’s inability to sincerely loves another but also advanced to being an independent and feminist character. Daisy and Brett played their own important roles in the novels by depicting an image of women at the time, symbolizing the most essential theme of the books and adding depth to the main characters. Both F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway have successfully created two iconic women in American literature.

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86 Responses to Two Female Epitomes of Literature in the XX Century

  1. 18phaml says:
    May 25, 2017 at 9:08 pm

    I love Brett in The Sun Also Rises! At first Brett and Daisy seem to have nothing in common but as I read more and more about them, they do have some similarities. I like Brett better as she has an opinion about what she wants to do. Brett shows an improvement in the role of women in the XX century. In this essay I tried to compare and contrast the roles of two ladies in these two novellas, showing the main difference between them and celebrate Brett as a feminist. I need to work more on the transition between each paragraph. It’s quite embarrassing when I submitted this essay, I wrote World War II instead of Word War I, a fatal mistake in my opinion as History is my favorite subject.

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