The Great Gatsby - Do Notions of Love Cause The Tragedy?

• Love causes Gatsby to be disillusioned from the rest of society.
  • “can’t repeat the past, why of course you can.”
  • Absurd that he even believes in this notion. Love blinds him to so much that he only focuses on material love on Daisy
• Tom’s abuse of love to get his own way
  • “I see you’re an Oxford man”
  • Tom does later feel remorse and shows signs that he did actually love Daisy
    • “Once in a while, I go off on a spree and make a fool of myself but I always come back.”
  • This contrasts with Daisy who does the same and later has to have to ended because Tom feels threatened that “Mr Nobody from Nowhere” is about to steal his wife.
• Myrtle’s love for Tom is ultimately lust but will always remain that for Tom.
  • Similar to Gatsby, Myrtle to blinded by her lust and does not stop until the very end when it is forced upon her through death.
• Daisy’s lack of love for her child.
  • Shows that she knows about society and the plight of women if she knows that women were more likely to become “beautiful fools, that’s all she’ll ever be, a beautiful little fool”
• Gatsby’s love for money
  • “her voice was full of money” which shows how material he is about love
• Nick’s love for Gatsby.
  • “You’re worth the whole damn bunch put together”
  • Gatsby plays a role akin to Dan Cody which Cody himself played for Gatsby.
  • Possible feelings for Gatsby
• Willison’s death which reinforces the idea that love causes tragedy
• Nick’s love for Jordan which is intended to symbolise a new kind of love but cannot as Jordan cannot provide for him.