Moral Corruption in Hamlet by Shakespeare and The Great Gatsby by Fitzgerald

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A central theme in which both the works of Hamlet by Shakespeare and Great Gatsby by Fitzgerald have in common is moral corruption. Hamlet and Gatsby are both tragic figures who do not fit into the world they live in. In each story, the protagonist is an outsider, feeling alienated from his society and is also witnessing one that is in moral decline. The cause and effects of this alienation, or isolation, lead to how both characters encounter moral corruption.

Hamlet is isolated when he is alone grieving for the death of his father and because he has been chosen to avenge his father’s death. Hamlet’s anxious feelings of loss and his desire to kill the present king of Denmark make him an outsider to his own family, the Danish court and his countrymen. While, Gatsby's desire to regain Daisy, in a sense, isolates him. He is unimaginably wealthy and is able to throw immense, and extravagant parties, yet Gatsby stands alone from others, wanting only to be with Daisy.

The idea that both of these characters are outsiders in their morally corrupt worlds is a strong connection between the two texts. However, because both characters are alienated from their society, this causes them to encounter moral corruption throughout the book. Their similarities in their undeniable and evident flaws later lead to their tragic downfall.

The moral corruption of Hamlet primarily starts with the marriage of Claudius and Gertrude, which disgusts him. He seems to be overly concerned in the sex life of his mother with Claudius, which is shown when he states: "She married: - O, most wicked speed, to post with such dexterity to incestuous sheets." Hamlet is overly absorbed with his mother's marriage with Claudius, leading to his moral breakdown...

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... so, he adjusts to the morally corrupt values of the easterners. Gatsby would throw large parties in order to gather her attention. Gatsby also gained his money through corrupt ways. As Tom Buchanan mentions, “He and this Wolfsheim bought up a lot of side-street drug-stores here and in Chicago and sold grain alcohol over the counter. That's one of his little stunts. I picked him for a bootlegger the first time I saw him, and I wasn't far wrong,'" (pg. 127) Gatsby is known to be a bootlegger. Since alcohol is already associated with corruption, the fact that he is selling it illegally, makes it even more corrupt. The Great Gatsby illustrates the American Dream and the corruption behind it by how you become more morally corrupt and materialistic the richer you become. Gatsby had was in a ditch of moral corruption before he died and chased a dream that was also corrupt.

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