-
Essay / Obsessive love in The Great Gatsby and She Walks With Beauty
Love is a subjective and special word for each individual. Every human being has their own thoughts and notions about love. This intense feeling of affection and connection can be the most incomparable and priceless state one can find oneself in. However, there is a fine line between love and obsession. This passionate intensity can only become extremely colossal and turn into a problem. The difficulty of creating a false narrative in the mind and one-sided expectations can harm those involved in the relationship. In the poem She Walks In Beauty by Lord Byron and The Great Gatsby by Scott Fitzgerald, the theme of obsessive love is explored and manifested. The characters in the poem and the novel both demonstrate their intense devotion and problematic love for a woman through their strange actions and disturbing characters. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay The speaker in Lord Byron's poem and Gatsby in Fitzgerald's novel both expose their obsessions with a particular woman. In She Walks In Beauty, the speaker is clearly consumed by the woman's beauty. He obviously spends his time observing the individual because he knows every little feature of their face. He talks in detail about his outward appearance. He says: “And all that is best between darkness and light / Is found in his appearance and in his eyes; » (3-4). It is obvious that the speaker even knows which light highlights her eyes. This can be seen as an obsession because he knows every detail of the anonymous woman. In comparison, Gatsby from The Great Gatsby also demonstrates his obsessive love for Daisy. When Gatsby finally achieves the level of wealth he dreams of being, he intentionally buys a house across the bay in hopes of becoming closer to her. Jordan Baker, a friend of Daisy's, tells Nick that “it wasn't a strange coincidence at all…. [Gatsby] bought this house so Daisy would be right across the bay” (Fitzgerald 65). It is evident that Gatsby goes to great lengths and unsettling measures to return to the idealized version of the woman he has not seen in years. He is obsessed with having a perfect relationship with her. The speaker of the poem and Gatsby reveal their obsession through their strange actions. Both characters reveal their obsession in both the poem and the novel. In Lord Byron's poem, the speaker once again shows signs of obsession with the lady in the poem. He says, “Had half altered the nameless grace / That ripples in every raven / Or lights softly in its face” (8-10). It’s clear he spends a lot of time observing the woman. His intense infatuation with her is obvious to the point that it is unsettling how much he knows about her. It is strange that he explains that his black hair indicates the darkness of his beauty when he is not at all close to the unnamed woman. Subsequently, in The Great Gatsby, the protagonist Gatsby demonstrates his obsession with Daisy through the album he stores in his house. The album contains all of Daisy's letters and photos from the years he saw her. Additionally, he constantly monitors her during the years he does not live on West Egg. Baker said, "When I said you were a friend of Tom's, he started to give up on the whole idea." He doesn't know much about Tom, although he says he's been reading a Chicago newspaper for years just to get a glimpse of Daisy's name” (Fitzgerald 66). This quote alone proves his obsessive behavior as he constantly investigates her life and actions despite not having seen each other in ages..