Inside the story
Meet Myrtle Wilson
Myrtle Wilson is George Wilson’s restless, vital wife, living above his struggling garage in the desolate valley of ashes. Feeling cheated of glamour and wealth, she is Tom Buchanan’s mistress and transforms into a feverish, self-important woman when she escapes with him to the city.
On the page
A thickly built woman in her mid-thirties, faintly stout, who carries her surplus flesh sensuously, with an immediate, smouldering vitality about her. She has a fair, slightly flushed complexion, dark eyes, and dark hair. Her face holds no conventional beauty, but a warm, blooming energy. She wears a snug dark-blue crepe dress, later an elaborate cream chiffon gown when playing hostess.
