Comparison Of Love And The Great Gatsby

Composers integrate their perspectives on prevailing subject matter based on their zeitgeists. As a result, the exploration of individual aspiration within the perennial themes of love and spirituality allows for greater appreciation of the texts by amplifying the contrasting and corresponding attitudes. Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s, Sonnets from the Portuguese composed in the height of the romantic movement in the Victorian era reflects her growing desire for love through the poetic Petrarchan style. Meanwhile, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby critiques the insatiable yearning for materialism throughout the ‘roaring twenties’ replacing traditional values. As both texts have delved into the representation of love and spirituality within

Browning reflects in her first sonnet on “the sweet, sad years, the melancholy years…” emphasising the substantial loneliness she has experienced as an invalid woman in the Victorian era through the sibilance of ‘sweet, sad’. Through the layout of a Petrarchan sonnet, traditionally associated with the expression of love, Browning exhibits her romance without expectations for Robert Browning. “If thou must love me, let it be for nought/ except for love’s sake only.” The caesura in Sonnet XIV serves to accentuate the need for the affection to be for no reason except for ‘love’s sake’. She is explicitly asking for a pure love that differed from was valued in the Victorian era – a union forming a contract to distribute assets between families. Hence, Browning’s romantic desires are unconventional to those valued in the 1800’s. Her idealism is articulated with a new perspective in each succeeding sonnet, like in Sonnet XXII where she explores her growing attraction through the personification of their uniting souls, “When our souls stand up erect and strong, / face to face,

Scott Fitzgerald scrutinises the Hedonistic nature of America after the First World War to reveal the impetus for idealistic romantic love in The Great Gatsby. The outcome of the First World War resulted in the questioning of idealised romantic love, like that of Elizabeth Barrett Browning, and whether they still serve a purpose after such traumatic events. The titular character, Jay Gatsby, held on to these romantic values throughout his conscription, reflecting Fitzgerald’s attitudes after serving in the war as well. Gatsby’s longing for Daisy Buchanan is embodied by the motif of the green light at the end of her dock. Gatsby is first seen as “he stretched out his arms towards the dark water” where “he was trembling” towards “a single green light”. The vivid imagery of Gatsby trembling at the thought of grasping Daisy yet being slightly out of grasp. The green colour of the light further symbolising the greed and jealousy associated with the idealism of Daisy, the centre of his romantic love. The jealousy arising due to her being married, and the greed of wanting Daisy’s love all to himself – she is merely an