Compare And Contrast The Great Gatsby And Sonnets

1609 Words4 Pages

Both Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby (1924) and Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s (EBB) Sonnets from the Portuguese (1846) explore the concept of human aspirations; dealing with aspects of the desire to be loved, spiritual and physical fulfillment and disillusionment against mortality. These elements establish and affect the identities of individuals against different social contexts. Although The Great Gatsby develops a pessimistic and cynical viewpoint regarding to the nature of human aspirations which impacts our identity; Elizabeth Browning’s Sonnets juxtaposingly expose a more idealistic and optimistic side of aspirations where it is something that people can approach with sincerity and courage.

In the Sonnets from the Portuguese, EBB writes a real and sincere love affair story; exploring the growing love for Robert Browning and reveals a personal, spiritualised illustration of her aspirations for what love should be. She idealised love …show more content…

The perception of love being portrayed as timeless is sustained throughout as in Sonnet LXIII ‘and if god choose, I shall but love thee better after my death,’ illustrating that love transcend into her spiritual realm. However, from the experience of loving, she understands that earthly love is mortal in Sonnet XIV ‘Do not say I love her for her smile - her look...for these things maybe changed,’ and that these human traits based on physical attraction are perishable, as conveyed in Sonnet XXII ‘with darkness and the death hour rounding it’. This negative imagery has provided experience and understanding for EBB, allowing her to shape her identity and accept the reality. Her realisation that love cannot be idealised, but a spiritual understanding that transcends the mortal realm allows the growth of the persona as she learn from her own experiences about the complex nature of

Open Document