Myrtle Wilson

Myrtle is a woman caught between her mundane marriage to George Wilson, a struggling garage operator, and her desire for the wealth and sophistication she glimpses in Tom Buchanan's world. She is vivacious and ambitious, with a flair for social drama and an eye for material comfort—qualities that make her both sympathetic and tragically self-deluding. Her apartment on 158th Street becomes a hub for her affair with Tom Buchanan and occasional social gatherings with other wealthy acquaintances who treat her with a mixture of interest and disdain. Myrtle's vitality and vocal expressiveness mask a deeper vulnerability; she invests heavily in the fantasy that Tom Buchanan will leave his wife, Daisy Buchanan, creating an emotional vulnerability that distances her from her husband even as economic necessity keeps her tied to his garage business. Her hopes are pinned on a precarious social arrangement that can crumble without warning.