Ann Arnold
Ms. Hemingway
AP Literature & Composition
20 March 2014
Importance of the Adultery Motif Adultery is a defining motif in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby as well as T.S. Eliot’s The Waste Land. Written from modernist perspectives, these two works seek to portray modern, industrial society in its most genuine light. Doing so it involves exposing and illustrating the overpowering sexual natures individuals possess. There are three specific occurrences of the motif in the novels that best exemplify its meaning. In The Great Gatsby, Tom Buchanan has an affair with Myrtle Wilson, one of extraordinary extravagance and luxuriousness. In addition, Daisy has an affair with Gatsby, formerly known as Jay Gatz, one that occurs due to the stigma against relationships between members of West Egg and East Egg. Likewise, Eliot references Queen Elizabeth I and her politically motivated affair with the Earl of Leicester in the third section of The Waste Land, The Fire Sermon. Both authors use the motif of adultery to define one of the overarching themes of America during this period following World War I, a gilded persona. Eliot and Fitzgerald seek to illustrate how on the outside America possesses the image of a strong, industrial nation full of economic and political bravery. At the same time, however, they demonstrate how within America there is a vast population of corrupted, lost individuals. Despite their common motive, Eliot and Fitzgerald use the adultery motif to highlight different meanings within these two works. Eliot uses the motif in The Waste Land to show how adultery is simply an exhibition of humans losing the invigorating sense of passion in their lives. On the other hand, Fitzgerald uses the motif in The Great Gatsby to show adultery is the result of a society losing lacking confidence. Understanding the relationship and romantic background of Queen Elizabeth I and the Earl of Leicester is critical for interpreting Eliot’s use of this particular belief. Originally known as Robert Dudley, the favored courtier of Queen Elizabeth made his rise to fame when he became her Master of the Horse, a highly regarded royal appointment. Their previous flirtatious encounters were now allowed to evolve into a very passionate, lustful affair. These intense feelings of bliss obviously had a profound impact on Dudley, who promised King Philip of Spain the return of Catholicism to England in exchange for helping him obtain Elizabeth’s hand in marriage. (Britannia). An arrangement of this sort simply could not be compatible with Elizabeth, whose primary goal was to settle the religious unrest created by the rivalry between Catholic and Protestant views. Furthermore, the prosecution of English Protestants by France and Spain made it a political necessity to ultimately resolve the disputes on the Protestants. (Britannia). The political ambitions of Elizabeth I obviously forced her to keep her relationship with Leicester a secret and contradict her persona as the “Virgin Queen”. Eliot references this historical and biographical context in order to exemplify the idea that adultery is simply a byproduct of the moreal downfall every individual possesses. Eliot seems to suggest that this downfall revolves around the greed for power. He uses the example of Elizabeth refysing to marry Leicester due to possible political consequences to llustrate this idea. Essentially, Eliot defines the moral downfall of a man specifically as the curse of being preoccupited with power. Chris Miller says, “The Waste Land is concerned to return to the sexual act a significance which the alienated poetry of the city describes as utterly lacking; a significance which is not that of the free individual making his or her own sexual choices, but that of sacrament, institution, and duty” (Miller). Miller essentially argues that Eliot’s objective is to restore sexual intercourse a sense of passion and freedom. His view is supported
THE GREAT GATSBY.. In the Great Gatsby the story is narrated in the past tense and seen through the eyes of Mr Nick Carraway.He is a young man from Minnestota, who after serving in World War 1, went on to New York to learn the bond business. He moves to the West Egg and soon becomes friends with his neighbour, the mysterious Jay Gatsby. Fitzgerald, the author uses the the settings of the East and West Egg to present the differences in the classes and the demise of the American dream in the…
11 (3) 22 April 2013 Lies and Deceit Frederick Scott Fitzgerald’s Great Gatsby portrays a rich man who obsesses over the love of his past and as a result ends his life. Lies and deceit take a major role during the novel, the biggest lie of them all being Mr. Jay Gatsby himself. All humans are innately dishonest and superficial which reveals the characters true disposition and as a result leads to discontent and in Gatsbys case, death. Frederick uses Symbolism, Characterization, and Diction to…
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald In F. Scott Fitzgerald's 'The Great Gatsby' he proves the American dream to be nothing people pretending to be something they're not in hopes of a better life. So is the American dream still a living dream today? Well you would think it would be because you still hear some people still talk about it here and there, so that's what I hoped to find out. Here are some things I discovered in the process. It seems the American dream is very popular in American…
The Great Gatsby Sandra Barco [School] American Lit 6/15/2013 Mr. Peskin During the roaring twenties social class was an important aspect of society. Scott Fitzgerald writes the Great Gatsby. He symbolizes “The American Dream” by the elaborate life of the rich and famous. He introduces Gatsby the millionaire that was once in love with Daisy who is related to the narrator of the story a second cousin once removed. Gatsby is drafted to the war and loses contact with his first love Daisy…
vs. Gatsby In the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, in chapter two Tom Buchanan throws a Manhattan party that is later juxtaposes the Gatsby party in West Egg. Fitzgerald uses this comparison to depict the 1920’s as a period, after the war, corrupted with social and moral values. Although both parties of Tom and Gatsby’s are filled with booze and drugs, the purpose behind the parties are very diverse. Gatsby has parties simply to attract the attention of Daisy Buchanan. Gatsby himself…
On the surface, The Great Gatsby is a story of the thwarted love between a man and a woman. The main concept behind the novel encompasses a much larger, less romantic scope. Although the actions takes place over a mere few months during the summer of 1922 and is set in a circumscribed geographical area, The Great Gatsby is a highly symbolic meditation on 1920’s America as a whole, in particular, the disintegration of the American dream in an era of unprecedented prosperity and material excess.…
However, by the 1920s, this dream has become into only a desire for wealth, even if the actions necessary are illegal. As a matter of fact, F. Scott Fitzgerald did not us the words “American Dream” throughout his world-acclaimed the novel, The Great Gatsby, but it is apparent that he shows the impossibility of achieving happiness in the American Dream. Through symbols, Fitzgerald proves how the original idea of American Dream is slowly decaying. The novel shows that the American Dream is fading away…
| |Jay Gatsby | His idealistic and unrealistic way in which he saw Daisy. He molded her into a view he | His obsession for her love and wanting her to love him and get married drove | | |liked, a view of perfection. |him to great ends. His sacrifice…
Augustine, Nick Bell AP Literature 12 August 2014 There are the good, the bad, and then, the neutral. Some characters are neither good nor bad, such as Jay Gatsby in the The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The Great Gatsby is a memoir to Jay, written by his best friend Nick. It focusses on Jays obsession with a Daisy, a girl from his past who he chases after, until he give his life for her. Jay got money illegally to become rich, but what he does for others makes us see him as not…
likely I shall ever find again. No Gatsby turned out all right at the end; it is what preyed on “Gatsby, what foul dust floated in the wake of his dreams that temporarily closed out my interest in the abortive sorrows and shortwinded elations of men.” (6) formal diction and tone use of time: in the end use of imagery (adjectives): foul dust shortwinded elations abortive sorrows use of metaphor: the wake of his dreams The narrator is describing the character Gatsby showing that in the narrator’s…