Notesale: Turn your study into money

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Compare how the authors of two texts you have studied present ideas about romantic commitment
The ‘Roaring Twenties’ context of Fitzgerald’s writing greatly influences his presentation of romantic commitment in the Great Gatsby; the new found wealth of many Americans translated itself into hedonistic pleasure - this is most evident in Tom Buchanan
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Fitzgerald could have chosen to present this early characterisation of
Tom as a serial adulterer impartially, however alongside Nick’s consistent pejorative descriptions of him as
“arrogant”, “supercilious” and “pathetic” (p12 and p18) it’s clear that Fitzgerald means to pass judgment on
Tom’s flippant attitudes towards commitment and monogamy
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This is unintentionally very similar to how modern readers interpret many Cavalier poems of the 17th century - in particular, The Scrutiny by Richard Lovelace showcases
many of the same misogynistic attitudes to monogamy and commitment that Tom does 400 years later in the
Great Gatsby
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In both texts, the women are held to much stricter standards than the men who are permitted to explore
“unplowed-up ground” or have a string of affairs throughout the course of the novel - for example the imagery of him buying a “pearl necklace” from a jewellery store in the final chapter insinuates he has started
another affair after the death of Myrtle
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Fitzgerald’s other main exploration of romantic commitment is through Gatsby’s unrequited love and pursuit
of Daisy: despite only meeting her once in 1917 his desire to be with her only increased once they parted Miss Baker’s idealistic description of him looking at Daisy “in a way every young girl wants to be looked at
sometimes” (p73) is how he continued to see her in their years of parting: with naive, rose tinted glasses
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Fitzgerald continues this naive
view of romance and commitment into their eventual meetings - Gatsby’s admission to Daisy that he has collected “clippings - about you” (p90) over the years, whilst verging on stalking, is a clear example of Gatsby’s
consistent commitment to Daisy, her being and her whereabouts even though they’ve been apart
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” (p92), perhaps reflecting the author’s belief that the culture of exponential
greed in 1920s America will never leave anyone satisfied
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The regular four sexains with their even line length and predictable ABAB rhyme scheme imply to
the reader that this pining for ‘Cynara’ is a cycle that the persona doesn’t want to break out of; the cycle of
seeking “bought red mouth[s]” and “roses riotously amongst the throng” in a fruitless attempt to “put thy
pale lost lilies out of mind” will continue
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It can be argued neither Dowson nor Gatsby are truly committed to real people, instead they
are committed to the idealised and half-remembered person that only exists in their heads
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Both authors present this unconventional romantic commitment as invariably leading to the other person being elevated to unrealistic and unhealthy standards: Fitzgerald presents Gatsby’s commitment to Daisy as leading to his downfall - his pursuit of Daisy led
to a deathly “holocaust” in the penultimate chapter - and the postmodern interpretation of Dowson’s obsessive love can clearly see how his “faithful[ness]” to this fictionalised woman is leading the persona to imminent downfall

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