Essay Comparing Hamlet And The Great Gatsby

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In William Shakespeare’s play Hamlet and F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby, conflicts exist among characters, prompting them to take action against each other. As a result, revenge becomes a mutual theme between the two literary works. Although differing in the effects on readers’ opinions of vengeance, both Hamlet and The Great Gatsby reveal that acts of revenge lead to tragedy through the progression of character flaws. The characters in Hamlet face their downfalls as a result of vengeance. Prince Hamlet, the play’s protagonist, dies in an attempt to avenge his father’s death. As part of his plan against King Claudius, Hamlet modifies the play The Murder of Gonzago to prove Claudius guilty of treason. With the conscience of a criminal, …show more content…

During his quest for revenge, Hamlet is flawed in that he reveals himself as knowing too much information, which leads him to his own demise. Likewise, Laertes also faces his tragic fall as a result of vengeance for his family. Upon finding out the deaths of his sister Ophelia and his father Polonius, Laertes blames Hamlet and plans to kill him with a poisoned sword during a “friendly” fencing combat. However, Laertes gets a taste of his own medicine as he is injured with that exact sword by Hamlet and dies afterward. Laertes’s grief for his late sister and father takes away his calmness and causes him to act entirely on his id. As a result, Laertes dies under his own act of vengeance. Through the development of character flaws, the tragic falls of Hamlet and Laertes appear as outcomes of vengeful behavior. Similarly, characters in The Great Gatsby suffer tragedy as a result of revenge. In the novel, Daisy rekindles her romance with Gatsby as a form of retaliation against Tom’s extramarital affair. Her decision exacerbates Tom’s pre-existing spite toward Gatsby, whom Tom considers a bourgeoisie wannabe for attempting to climb the social ladder through illegal …show more content…

The Great Gatsby, on one hand, emphasizes acts of vengeance as a form of anger relief, as portrayed in Tom’s false accusations about Gatsby due to pre-existing conflicts in romance. On the other hand, Hamlet establishes revenge, particularly Hamlet and Laertes avenging the death of a loved one, as a code of honor. As a result, even though both works convey the idea that vengeance causes tragedy, characters in The Great Gatsby are prone to criticism, whereas those in Hamlet are justified for their actions. Finally, the two pieces of literature differ in their readers’ final impressions of justice. Hamlet ends with the majority of characters deceased, implying that all characters succeed in their quests for revenge, and at the same time, pay the price for their own spiteful behavior. Therefore, upon reading the play, readers gain a sense of relief knowing that justice is rightfully earned. The Great Gatsby, however, reveals tragic endings only for the proletariat–represented by the Wilsons–as a result of not only their own wrongdoings, but also the bourgeoisie’s. On the contrary, the lives of Tom and Daisy–the bourgeoisie in question–remain unaffected in spite of all their bad

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