tle is another character in The Great Gatsby who Fitzgerald vilifies. She symbolizes desire; her physical description is that of a voluptuous, seductive woman; Nick says she “carried her surplus flesh as sensuously as some women can” (Fitzgerald 29). The first time the reader is introduced to Myrtle, she “wets her lips…and orders her husband” (Fitzgerald 30). Myrtle is having a tawdry relationship with Tom (de Koster 92). Like Daisy, Myrtle is a married woman. However, Myrtle says she only married her husband because she thought he was a gentleman. Her sister says she was once crazy about him, but Myrtle says “the only crazy I was was when I married him!” (Fitzgerald 39). Despite the fact that Myrtle’s husband is a hard-working man who desperately wants to be closer to his wife, she loathes him enough to cheat on him and still feel no qualms about spending his money and living with him. Myrtle does not appear to be very intellectual in the novel. Fitzgerald presents her as nave and low-class. For example, Myrtle reads “Town Tattle” and “Simon Called Peter,” two popular gossip magazines. Nick notices the periodicals when he is in her flat for the first time; on the same day, he witnesses Tom’s abuse of Myrtle. They argue over whether Myrtle has any right to say the name of Tom’s wife, and though Myrtle is surely aware of Tom’s temper, she encourages his rage by shouting “Daisy! Daisy! Daisy!” and “I’ll say it whenever I want to!” (Fitzgerald 41). Tom breaks Myrtle’s nose. This refusal to either leave Tom or make concessions to his violent nature show that Myrtle is incapable of making good decisions and adding to her overall immoral persona. Another similarity in Daisy and Myrtle is materialism. Myrtle is apparently incapable of having real feelings of her own, so she relies on things to express emot...
