Gatsby Contextual Knowledge Flashcards
What does Robert Browning write of the relationship between one in love and one pursued in his poem ‘Life in a Love’ ?
‘So long as the world contains us both, While one eludes, must the other pursue’
How can Browning’s ‘Life in a Love’ be used in critical context of Gatsby?
It can be used (most likely within introduction) to emphasise the key theme of pursuit of desire, wealth and romantic gain despite the differing contexts. It demonstrates a literary history of the normalisation of a hard pursuit for love and relationships.
How does W.B. Yeats present the notion of classism and accepting pain as an element of romance in his poem ‘He Wishes For The Cloths of Heaven’?
‘But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.’
How can ‘He Wishes For The Cloths of Heaven’ be used in the context of Gatsby?
It can be used to demonstrate a literary understanding of the implication of relationships involving those of different classes, and so can compare to that of Gatsby’s regards for Daisy in his willing to wish for wealth and Capitalist gain to impress or become accepted within this relationship. Similar to Thomas Parke D’Invilliers: ‘Lover, gold-hatted, high-bouncing Lover, I must have you!’
What are the old English terms for Daisy Fay’s name and how does this create a basis for her characterisation?
‘Fay’ comes from the Middle English ‘faie’ or ‘fairy’ thereby allowing for her characterisation as flighty and ethereal by nature; this emphasises her ultimate status as barely omnipresent and without true characterisation.
How does the motif of the ‘green light’ present Gatsby’s obsession with the American Dream and economic lust?
Whilst additionally, the notion of the green light as a colour is reflective of money and American dollars, it can also be potentially linked to the initial Dutch settlers of America who sailed towards the ‘green breast’ to claim and colonise it as their own; It represents possession, ownership and economic greed or lust, thereby links Daisy immediately to economically inspired romance.
What is Nordicism?
It was a school of thought in the 20th century that claimed the Nordic race were the race most in danger of being taken over by other races.
What did Fitzgerald say his attitude to Nordicism was?
‘Nobody has greater contempt than I have for the recent hysteria about the Nordic theory’
How does Fitzgerald’s love story with Zelda parallel Daisy and Gatsby’s relationship?
Fitzgerald met Zelda when serving in the First World War and and fell in love with her but could not marry her for her refusal to until he became successful. He therefore married her once he achieved success with ‘This Side of Paradise’
How did Zelda influence Fitzgerald’s presentation of women?
He used her exact diary extracts in the character of Rosalind Connage in ‘This Side of Paradise’ and used her supposed stating that her daughter Frances would be a ‘beautiful little fool’ in the character of Daisy.
What did Zelda say regarding Fitzgerald’s lifting of diary excerpts and taking her own material?
‘Mr Fitzgerald seems to believe that plagiarism begins at home’
