Myrtle Wilson is a significant secondary character in The Great Gatsby. She is the wife of George Wilson, a mechanic and used car salesman who owns a garage in the impoverished "valley of ashes," a bleak area between New York City and the wealthy suburbs of East and West Egg. Myrtle is also the mistress of Tom Buchanan, a wealthy and powerful man from the upper class
. Myrtle is portrayed as a loud, brash, and ambitious social climber who is deeply dissatisfied with her lower-class life and her marriage to George, whom she sees as uninspiring and lacking status. She mistakenly believed George was a gentleman before marrying him but soon realized he had little money or social standing. Myrtle tries to escape her social position by engaging in an affair with Tom, who buys her gifts and rents her an apartment in Manhattan where she pretends to live an upper-class lifestyle. She believes Tom genuinely loves her and might leave his wife Daisy for her, though Tom views Myrtle merely as a possession and never intends to marry her
. Myrtle's character embodies the theme of the American Dream's false promise to those born outside the wealthy elite. Despite her efforts to climb the social ladder, she remains trapped by her class and ultimately meets a tragic end. She is accidentally killed when she runs into the street to stop a car she believes Tom is driving, but Daisy, Tom's wife, is actually behind the wheel and hits her. Myrtle's death highlights the brutal reality that those from lower classes cannot truly escape their social status or the consequences imposed by the upper class
. In summary, Myrtle Wilson is a lower-class woman who seeks to improve her life through an affair with Tom Buchanan but is ultimately doomed by her social position and the harsh realities of the world Fitzgerald depicts in The Great Gatsby
