3.2.2
Chapter Two: Love & Historical Context
Chapter Two - Love, Historical Context and Historicism
Chapter Two - Love, Historical Context and Historicism
For specification A, you are specifically interested in the implication of texts in history and how the ideology of love is presented in this text. Here are some ideas relevant to that reading:
'Valley of the Ashes'
'Valley of the Ashes'
- The ‘Valley of the Ashes’ forms a key symbol in the novel. It shows that whilst there is ‘old money’ and ‘new money’ operating, not everyone in America is benefitting from the social changes. There are still those ‘living in ash’.
- The grey world contrasts greatly with rich East Egg and the glamour of New York.
'Valley of the Ashes'
'Valley of the Ashes'
- The ‘Valley of the Ashes’ also shows how the industrial revolution has come to impact on the American Dream.
- Do the eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg represent a God-like figure looking down upon the chaos and pollution of humanity? Is God watching the various lovers?
George Wilson
George Wilson
- George Wilson is representative of the America that has got left behind. Not everyone in this period was doing well economically and clearly Wilson’s business is in danger of folding. The fact that his wife Myrtle seeks comfort from Tom Buchanan speaks a great deal about the failure not only of their relationship but also this period of history for working-class Americans. They have apparently fallen out of love.
Myrtle Wilson
Myrtle Wilson
- It seems Myrtle is a woman unsatisfied with her present lifestyle and materialistically seeks more. She seeks a different kind of love.
Tom Buchanan
Tom Buchanan
- Tom believes he can have anything he wants, including Myrtle. This could be a further representation of the arrogance of ‘old money’.
The apartment
The apartment
- The materialism of the era is emphasised by the apartment that Tom Buchanan maintains in New York solely for the purpose of being with Myrtle.
- He thinks love may be found there instead of at home with Daisy. In fact, this is just for sex.
- Nonetheless, characters at the party are not fully happy since they escape their lives through drinking.
Chapter Two - Love, Historical Context and Historicism
Chapter Two - Love, Historical Context and Historicism
For specification A, you are specifically interested in the implication of texts in history and how the ideology of love is presented in this text. Here are some ideas relevant to that reading:
Connection to Germany
Connection to Germany
- Clearly, the novel is set in the post-World War One period, and any supposed connection to Germany will be suspicious (Catherine says she fears Gatsby because she has heard that he is ‘a nephew or a cousin of Kaiser Wilhelm’s’).
Scandal and gossip
Scandal and gossip
- Scandal and gossip are integral parts of the Jazz Age. They sometimes also interconnect with love affairs and passions.
Use of alcohol
Use of alcohol
- The free use of alcohol during this period prefigures the era of Prohibition in the 1930s because it was this type of behaviour that worried society.
- Was love becoming too fluid and uncontrolled? Was morality declining?
Male dominance
Male dominance
- This is clearly an era in which men still have power over women, and women cannot speak the truth. This is seen in the conflict between Tom and Myrtle.
- It therefore appears that is fine for men to break moral codes (especially when it comes to love and relationships), but less so for women in this era.
1Specification Overview
1.1Specification Overview
2Context
3Plot Summary
3.1Chapter One
3.2Chapter Two
3.3Chapter Three
3.4Chapter Four
3.6Chapter Six
3.7Chapter Seven
3.8Chapter Eight
4Character Profiles
4.3Daisy Buchanan
4.5Minor Characters
5Key Ideas
6Writing Techniques
6.1Structure, Genre & Narrative Voice
7Love Through the Ages - Thematic Analysis
7.1Love Through the Ages
Jump to other topics
1Specification Overview
1.1Specification Overview
2Context
3Plot Summary
3.1Chapter One
3.2Chapter Two
3.3Chapter Three
3.4Chapter Four
3.6Chapter Six
3.7Chapter Seven
3.8Chapter Eight
4Character Profiles
4.3Daisy Buchanan
4.5Minor Characters
5Key Ideas
6Writing Techniques
6.1Structure, Genre & Narrative Voice
7Love Through the Ages - Thematic Analysis
7.1Love Through the Ages
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