Similarities Between Macbeth And The Great Gatsby

From the Middle Ages in Scotland along with early 1900s “Roaring twenties” period, Scott Fitzgerald and William Shakespeare, two famous authors with their two infamous stories of The Great Gatsby and Macbeth, leave their impact on the world. Although the characters in these stories both faced conflict and ended with the same fatal death, the main characters developed their unique progressive stories. Arguably, one of these main characters, Macbeth and Jay Gatsby, progressive story was the more tragic of the two. Which progressive story was more tragic can be determined by the decisions made by Macbeth or Jay Gatsby based on their motivation, tragic flaw and outside flaws.

The fear of loneliness far outweighs the the fear of snakes and spiders

because never being loved only drives people to a life of isolation. The first time Nick attended one of Jay Gatsby’s party, he was not oblivious to the elegance and exquisiteness of Gatsby's party. “No thin five-piece affair, but a whole pitiful of oboes and trombones and saxophones and viols and cornets and piccolos…...The bar was in full swing, and floating rounds of cocktails permeate the garden outside…….I believe that on the first night I went to Gatsby’s house I was one of the few guests who has actually been invited. People were not invited---they went there“ (Fitzgerald 40). Sophisticated music, expensive alcohol, a manor truly made of money, it's all a lure to start a chain of gossip bringing people to right to his front door. Gatsby masks his loneliness by throwing these extravagant parties, trying to make himself a part of society by socializing and partying even if it means bringing strangers into his home. In a similar fashion, Macbeth’s lust for power stemmed from the fear of never being loved. While Macbeth’s thirst for power grew as the story progressed, his initial motivation came from the proving Lady Macbeth wrong. When Lady Macbeth said the following ; What beast was't, then, That made you break this enterprise to me? When you durst do it, then you were a man;” it was an example of her controlling nature (Act II Scene V). Lady Macbeth manipulated Macbeth into power hungry murderer but by using her own feelings to control him. Lady Macbeth presents herself as a women in an unhappy marriage and due to this Macbeth deems it his responsibility to attain this power and prove that he can be the husband he is supposed to be.
An imperative factor in the characteristics of tragic hero is the fatal flaw of the hero.

Jay Gatsby’s downfall was not due to his love for Daisy but rather due to his resistance to change or his unwillingness to accept change. This is shown when Gatsby says “ “Can’t repeat the past ?” he cried incredulously. “Why of course you can!”......”I'm going to fix everything just the way it was before,” he said, nodding determinedly. “She’ll see.”” (Fitzgerald 110). Gatsby is unwilling to accept that Daisy is not the same person she was back when her and Gatsby were in love. Taking the blame for Daisy’s accident displays that Gatsby is still living off of the idea that Daisy will come back to him and he will live with a ‘happily ever after” ending. On the contrary, there is a clear difference between Gatsby's fatal flaw and the fatal flaw of Macbeth. Macbeth’s lust for power and greed overtook his senses to think rationally. This is exhibited when Macbeth claims ; “Why hath it given me earnest of success,Commencing in a truth? I am thane of Cawdor: If good, why do I yield to that suggestion” (Act I Sc III). Mcbeth found a way to convince himself that he deserves the power he's about to take and uses it as a justification for all the murders he commits and the pain he causes. His downfall was essentially avarice and once he committed his first murder, he was too far

gone.
Everyone at one point in their lives experience an outside influence whether it be peer pressure, the inevitable forces of fate or any prophecies. Daisy holds the most power over Gatsby when it come to the decisions he makes, even during the period of time where the two are broken up and Daisy is married to another man. This is displayed when Nick observes about Gatsby and concludes the following; “It had gone beyond her, beyond everything. He had thrown himself into it with a creative passion, adding to it all the time, decking it out with every bright feather that drifted his way. No amount of fire or freshness can challenge what a man will store up in his ghostly heart.” The life Gatsby has built is designed around the idea that Daisy will come back to him. Every decision Gatsby has made since Daisy entered his life was because of his goal to achieve his dream, Daisy, including illegally selling alcohol, the development from dirt poor to filthy rich. It was all so he could attain wealth and win Daisy back and provide her with the life he could not before, which was the reason for their breakup in the first place. This is different from Macbeth whose outside influence was mainly his own wife, Lady Macbeth. This influence is exhibited when Lady Macbeth displays disappointment by saying “Which thou esteem'st the ornament of life, And live a coward in thine own esteem, Letting 'I dare not' wait upon 'I would,'
Like the poor cat i' the adage?” (Act IV Sc I).

By calling Macbeth a coward, she is essentially degrading Macbeth because his lack of masculinity. Lady Macbeth’s reasoning is that because Macbeth cannot keep Lady Macbeth in a happy marriage by not giving her the power she feels they both are entitled to, Macbeth is not the hero or man he thinks he is, but in fact he is coward. Gatsby and Macbeth greatest influence was in fact their significant others however the intentions behind each S.O’s was completely different. In other words, Lady macbeth wanted a share in the power Macbeth would seize while Daisy had no intention in being the object of Gatsby’s

affections.
Macbeth and Gatsby’s stories developed differently but in the end both heroes met their tragic endings. However, by examining each hero's particular motivations, tragic flaws and outside influences, Gatsby’s progressive story was the more tragic of the two. The entirety of “The Great Gatsby” has no worth because it was built on an idea rather than reality. His status, social class, wealth holds no significance because of the intentions it was fabricated upon. The Great Jay Gatsby had no impact on the West Egg and this is proved when nobody attends his funeral . However, the most tragic aspect of Gatsby’s unfortunate passing was the little meaning he held in Daisy’s life. All his life, he only desired one thing and tried to achieve this by completely reinventing himself from a helpless, poor, farmer's son to a wealthy, prosperous capitalist, but in the end, the value of that transformation was next to nothing. All things considered, the way Fitzgerald and Shakespeare compose their characters reflect their thought about contemporary society. On one hand, the once savior of Scotland, Macbeth brutally murdered a multitude of people just to gain access to the throne but in the end his efforts were futile because it ended in Macbeth's slaughter. On the other hand, Jay Gatsby is illegally selling alcohol, using any means necessary to acquire an abundance of wealth, even taking a blame for an accident that resulted in a death, only to die with a meaningless life and never achieving his one dream, to win back Daisy. This shows that the authors speculation regarding contemporary society is that no matter how hard one tried , not matter what one does to achieve a goal, only fate will determine how life ends, and there really is not anything that can change what fate has in store.