Similarities Between Othello And The Great Gatsby

"Love is the answer to everything. It's the only reason to do anything. If you don't write stories you love, you'll never make it. If you don't write stories that other people love, you'll never make it." (Ray Bradbury) Love has always been a prominent subject in literature due to its relatability. Authors have often used love to convey certain messages, to move their stories along or simply to further captivate the reader's attention. Both F. Scott Fitzgerald and William Shakespeare take advantage of this by including love into their pieces of writing. Othello and The Great Gatsby both demonstrate similar portrayals of love. The love that is depicted between characters, the author's general message surrounding love and the use of love as a sub-theme all prove that these two publications resemble one another.

In both books, various relationships are presented to the reader.

Although, most of these ties are negative and based on a multitude of misconceptions. In The Great Gatsby, Daisy and her husband Tom share a form of love that can easily be described as superficial. Despite the fact that the couple is has been married for many years now and Tom claims that “he loves Daisy” and in “his heart he loves her all the time” (Fitzgerald 125), there is no real proof that their relationship is truly based on love due to the fact that Tom has been having an affair with another woman in town. Their marriage is majoritarily based on their love for money and the perks of being wealthy. Near the end of the novel, Nick, the story’s narrator, states

that:
“It was all very careless and confused. They were careless people, Tom and Daisy - they smashed up things [...] and retreated into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together [...] I shook hands with him [...] Then he went into the jewellery store to buy a pearl necklace - or perhaps a pair of cuff buttons [...]. (170)

This quote serves as evidence that their marriage is positively dysfunctional. Tom and Daisy’s marriage is based on money, not true love. This embodiment of superficial love can also be seen in Shakespeare’s work. In Othello, the relationship that Iago and his wife, Emilia, share also represents a one-dimensional love. Throughout the majority of the play, Emilia does her best to please Iago; as seen when she steals Desdemona’s handkerchief. It is clear that she does this solely to make her husband happy, her words at the time are:
“‘I am glad I have found this napkin:
This was her first remembrance from the Moor:
My wayward husband husband hath a hundred times -
For he conjured her she should ever keep it -
That she reserves it evermore about her
To kiss and talk to. I’ll have the work ta’ken out,
And give’t Iago: what he will do with it
Heaven knows, not I:
I nothing but to please his fantasy.’” (Shakespeare 68)

However, after handing the piece of cloth to her husband, Iago solely rewards her with the line “A good wench: give it to me [...] Go, leave me.” (69) Iago merely uses Emilia as his tool to acquire certain things: there is no proof that he truly loves her. In addition, further analysis would lead the reader to believe that Iago simply does not have the ability nor the desire to love due to his evil nature. Although the reasons for their dysfunctional marriages differ from one another, both of these pieces display characters who portray similar ideals on relationships by giving a negative image to marriage.
Fitzgerald and Shakespeare both used their stories to convey messages on love that were relevant to the time period from which their books were written. Fitzgerald’s work, which was written shortly after the events of World War 1 and during the Jazz Age, gives a chilling and detailed image of how society itself operated in the 1920s. A generation where materialism was what people sought for and intimacy between man and woman was of very little importance. According to many historians, the 1920s represented a time of great wealth for the United States as it “quickly became the wealthiest country in the world with no obvious rival.” (Truman) F. Scott Fitzgerald takes advantage of this and puts before his readers a cynical portrait of themselves, inciting reflection. In addition, he uses Nick as an example of what people should strive to be more like. His perception of love during this era is mostly negative. He despises the American Dream and through many of his characters, such as Gatsby, he shows how people were blinded by their money. Back then, people believed that money could buy love and happiness:
“He had come a long way to this blue lawn and his dream must have seemed so close that he could hardly fail to grasp it. He did not know that it was already behind him, somewhere back in that vast obscurity beyond the city, where the dark fields of the republic rolled on under the night.” (Fitzgerald 171)

In this passage, Fitzgerald states that even though Gatsby had built a great fortune for himself, his money could not fulfill his dream of being with Daisy; no amount of money could make him acceptable in Daisy’s life of inherited wealth. Much like the message that Fitzgerald conveys, Shakespeare equally gives love a negative image: one that also eerily reflected the relationships from the time period from which it was written. Othello, which was written in the 16th century, echoes an image of love that is true to the Elizabethan era. Back then, people would often get married without putting much thought into it and there were many common misconceptions. One of those misconceptions consisted of a lack of awareness. Additionally, it was normal for a girl to get married at a young age. It can be said that Desdemona and Othello loved each other unwisely as it is clear that their marriage is based on a false pretense:
“‘She wished she had not heard it, yet she wished
That heaven had made her such a man. She thanked me,
And bade me, if I had a friend that loved her,
I should but teach him how to tell my story,
And that would woo her. Upon this hint I spoke:
She loved me for the dangers I had passed,
And I loved her that she did pity them.’” (Shakespeare 23)

Due to Desdemona’s young age, it is natural for her to have fallen in what she believes is love solely because of the stories Othello told. Despite the fact that these two novels were written centuries apart, both authors put forward negative embodiments of love that match the time period from which they were written.
Both pieces of writing contain various forms of love and love so happens to be a prominent theme throughout both books. Both authors use the theme of love to fuel more important themes and to further convey their messages. In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald uses love to highlight various themes such as wealth, visions of america and notably the theme of gender. Love goes hand in hand with the theme of gender as gender roles become evident to the reader through the character’s romantic relationships. Tom establishes dominance over his partners, Daisy and Myrtle, using physical force:
“People disappeared, reappeared, made plans to go somewhere, and then lost each other, searched for each other, found each other a few feet away. Some time toward midnight Tom Buchanan and Mrs Wilson stood face to face discussing, in impassioned voices, whether Mrs Wilson had any right to mention Daisy’s name. [...] Making a short deft movement, Tom Buchanan broke her nose with an open hand.” (Fitzgerald 39)

In this passage, it is said that Tom punches Myrtle in the nose to get her to stop talking. Shortly after this passage, the novel’s narrator records the reaction of the other people in the room at the time of this incident, it seems that no one considers this behaviour abnormal. In Othello, Shakespeare uses love to put an emphasis on the various themes as well such as jealousy,gender and primarily the theme of race. Love influences race as the main character in Othello, Othello, a black man who happens to live in a white man’s world falls in love with a white woman, Desdemona. As a black man of wealth and power, Othello is clearly distinguishable as an outsider. Brabantio, Desdemona’s father, refuses to accept the fact that his daughter married a black man:
“O thou foul thief,
Where hast thou stowed my daughter?
Damned as thou art, thou has enchanted her,
For I’ll refer me to all things of sense -
If she chains of magic were not bound -
Whether a maid so tender, fair and happy,
So opposite to marriage she shunned
The wealthy curled dearling of our nation
Would ever have - t’incur a general mock -
Run from her guardage to the sooty bosom
Of such a thing as thouh: to fear, not to delight.
Judge me the world if ’tis not gross in sense
That though hast practised on her with foul charms,
Abused her delicate youth with drugs or minerals [...]” (Shakespeare 14)

In this passage, Brabantio accuses Othello of using witchcraft because of his skin colour. Regardless of the fact that both authors use the sub-theme of love to underline different themes, both writers used love to add significance to their other, more identifiable motifs.
The love that is depicted between characters, the author’s general message surrounding love and the use of love as a sub-theme are all evidence that Othello and The Great Gatsby are similar to one another. Much like society, ideals on love itself have also changed over the course of time. Current literature depicts images of love that are much different than the ones observed in past literature. One of the biggest changes would be the acceptance of homosexual relationships such as in The Mortal Instruments, an ongoing and popular book series, who features a couple of gay characters, notably one of the main characters that goes by the name of Alec Lightwood. At the time that both of these books were written, though centuries apart, homosexuality was rarely discussed. This change in literature is of such great importance because it authenticates the changes in society that have manifested themselves in the 21st century.