Zeitgeism In F. Scott Fitzgerald's 'The Great Gatsby'

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Texts are able to represent the zeitgeist in which they are written, depicting the inherent values within their time period. Elizabeth Barrett Browning's [EBB] poetry "Sonnets from the Portuguese" [SFTP] depicts the strict Victorian constraints under which society abides by. Contrastingly, F Scott Fitzgerald's [FSF] The Great Gatsby [TGG] depicts a society representative of the abandonment of conservative views and rules, unveiling a luxury world of freedom, despite Prohibition. Texts are able to represent time periods due to the influence of values within their respective societal constructs. Ultimately, through a comparative study, the contrast created by these vastly different texts exemplify the vastly different values individuals place …show more content…

FSF novel TGG challenged sacrilegious and religious values, replacing them with the material fetishes of the flamboyant jazz age built upon material greed. A key motif in the novel is the billboard that oversees the 'Valley of Ashes', with the symbolic eyes of an optometrist, T J Eckleburg looking down on the metaphor of consumer waste, "But his eyes… brood on over the solemn dumping ground," anthropomorphically presents the god-like omnipresent, evidence that materialism has taken over the importance of a religious God. Theriomorphic metaphor of Gatsby's party guests "men and girls came and went like moths," implies hedonism has taken over from previous, conservative and religious motivations for society. In the ultimate scene that exemplifies this contextual shift, Gatsby's apple-green shirts overwhelm Daisy. Moved to tears, Daisy exclaims "I've never seen such- such beautiful shirts before" Material fetishism is evident in the colour green symbolic of jealousy and the specific use of "apple" being a biblical allusion for temptation. Ultimately, a comparative study of TGG reveals a societal disregard for religion, and a replacing of spirituality with material or hedonistic, individual

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