The Great Gatsby:
American Romance
Much of this lecture is based on a lecture by
Arthur Weinstein, P.H.D. Harvard, and
current American Literature Professor at
Brown University
Objectives
Upon completion of this lecture, you should
be able to
 Make connections between Fitzgerald’s life
and the book
 Explain three interpretations of the book
 Provide several examples of the Romantic
interpretation of the novel
Biographical Info



Hometown
College
Relationship
Historical Standing
Why were they the
right ones to tell the
story?

Bibliography




Fitzgerald’s Role
Books Include:
Most Successful?
Most Complex?
Academic Standing


Not in vogue
Why not?
Three Interpretations




Love story or romance between two people
Moralistic tale
Love story to capitalism
Which is most common?
Gatsby seems to have many sides that fulfill
these various interpretations.
A Moralistic Tale


The Great Con?
Think about the
rumors and subtle
portentous details
A Love Story to Capitalism

Gatsby the self-made man
A Love Story Between Two People

Unlike Franklin, he did
it all for love.
Gatsby the Romantic
Gatsby the Romantic
“There was something
gorgeous about this
man, some heightened
sensitivity to the
promises of life, It was
an extraordinary gift for
hope, a romantic
readiness such as I
have never found in any
other person.” Chapter
One
Gatsby the Romantic
“He smiled understandingly, much more than understandingly.
It was one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal
reassurance in it, that you may come across four or five times
in life. It faced- or seemed to face- the whole external world
for an instant, and then concentrated on you with an
irresisitible prejudice in your favor. It understood you just so
far as you wanted to be understood, believed in you as you
would like to believe in yourself and assured you that is had
precisely the impression of you that, at your best, you hoped
to convey” (Fitzgerald 53).
From Chapter 3
Great Parties!!




In the party scenes, Fitzgerald delivers the flavor of the Jazz Age.
“In his blue gardens men and girls came and went like moths among the
whisperings and the champagne and the stars”
“By seven o’clock the orchestra had arrived… a whole pit full of oboes and
trombones and saxophones and viols and cornets and piccolos and low and high
drums.”
“The moon had risen higher and floating in the sound was a triangle of silver scales
trembling a little to the stiff tinny drip of the banjos on the lawn..” Chapter III
Gatsby the Romantic

Why all the hubbub?
There’s Something About Daisy

“…her low thrilling voice. It was the
kind of voice that the ear follows up
and down, as if each speech is an
arrangement of notes that will never
be played again. Her face was sad
and lovely with bright things in it,
bright eyes and a bright passionate
mouth, but there was an excitement in
her voice that men who had cared for
her found difficult to forget:”
(Fitzgerald, 9)
Does Daisy Love Gatsby?

Here, deares;.” “Take ‘em downstairs and give ‘em back to whoever
they belong to. Tell ‘em all Daisy’s
change’ her mine. Say;”Daisy’s
change’ her mine!” (Fitzgerald 76).

What would you do if you were Daisy,
and you got the letter from Gatsby the
day before your wedding to Tom?
Does Daisy Love Gatsby?

“ Out of the corner of his eye Gatsby
saw that the blocks of the sidewalks
really formed a ladder and mounted to
a secret place above the trees– he
could climb to it, if he climbed alone,
and once there he could suck on the
pap of life, gulp down the
incomparable milk of wonder.
(Fitzgerald, 110) Chapter 6
Does Daisy Love Gatsby?

“His heart beat faster and faster as
Daisy’s white face came up to his
own. He knew that when he kissed
this girl, and forever wed his
unutterable visions to her perishable
breath, his mind would never romp
again like the mind of God. So he
waited, listening for a moment longer
to the tuning-fork that had been struck
upon a star. Then he kissed her. At
his lip’s touch she blossomed for him
like a flower and the incarnation was
complete.

(Fitzgerald, 110) Chapter
6
The Great Goofy Gatsby
How is Gatsby
humanized in his
initial meeting with
Daisy?

The Colossal Vitality of Gatsby
“But I didn’t call to
Him, for he gave a sudden intimation that
He was content to be alone– he stretched out
His arms toward the dark water in a curious way…
I could have sworn he was trembling.
Involuntarily I glanced seawardand distinguished nothing except a single
green light” (Fitzgerald 20).






Gatsby, like America is multi-faceted
There are three ways of looking at GatsbyAmericaAmerica- the romantic
America- the corrupt…
America- the Self Made Country
Discussion Questions


Summarize how The Great Gatsby
continues the notion of the American dream
first articulated in Franklin's Autobiography.
Describe the tug-of-war between the
critical, deflating tendencies of The Great
Gatsby and the counterforces of creation
and romance.