Sarah: Great Gatsby through Queer Theory

In Tyson's queer reading of the Great Gatsby, I thought she brought of two good points both relating to color. The first is the view of the two young women both dressed always in yellow dresses. As Tyson says " These two young women are a striking example of same-sex 'doubles' that function as lesbian signs...the women are portrayed dancing together at the party." (Tyson 344) When reading the book, I passed over the two women in yellow dresses, but Tyson brings up a good point in saying that the two women are the biggest examples of a queer dimension at Gatsby's parties.
Tyson also discussed Gastby's clothing, specifically his " various shades of lavender and pink, two colors that have been long associated with gayness." (345) Tyson talks about the way in which Gatsby's pink suit is portrayed in the novel. It is either showed in a romantic light, by Nick, and a criticized light, by Tom. I thought this was a good point because we have discussed Nick's questioned sexuality, and Tom's overly macho attitude and it supports all the theories we had already discussed.
Overall, I thought the color references Tyson brought up were important because we had talked a lot about color in class and with this new lens it adds just another layer to the plot. My question is do you think that there are more color references in The Great Gatsby that could be seen through a queer lens, and if so do you think Fitzgerald did that intentionally or not?

Queer Theory (Lex)

I agree completely with Lois Tyson's queer reading of the Great Gatsby. For the majority of my reading of F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby" I was noticing all of the ways in which the narrator, Nick, seemed to be homosexual. Nick's feminine characteristics do well to support the argument for his homosexuality on their own, but this essay offered far better evidence than his lack of masculinity. The combination of Jordan Baker's masculinity and Jay Gatsby's femininity, along with the attractions that Nick has for both of these gender-defying characters, scream to the reader that there is no other logical explanation than the existence of Nick's homosexuality. This, however, most readers could deduce on their own. What I most appreciated about Lois Tyson's reading was how it connected the ambiguity of Nick's sexuality with the ambiguity of the text. This connection, now that I realize it, seems obvious, although it clearly was not. Nick's position as the narrator means that the entire text is based off of his character and his views. If Nick's views are non-straight, that changes the entire perspective of the text from heterosexual to homosexual. I think it would be beneficial to anyone interested in furthering this study of Nick's homosexuality and its effect on the text's ambiguity to read "The Great Gatsby" again, this time with the knowledge that everything is seen from the perspective of a gay man. Furthermore, I believe that this aspect of the text in fact raises the complexity of the novel. This book is irrefutably a novel of romance, but this romance gains a layer of meaning when one realizes that this book is, in fact, a critique of heterosexist relationships through the eyes of a homosexual. With each new theory applied, the intricacy of "The Great Gatsby" skyrockets in a way that is hardly fathomable. I am baffled at the knowledge that I am only beginning to understand the incredible complexity of this novel, and can only hope that the theories to come with continue to add these layers of depth to the "Great American Novel."