Monday, April 8, 2013

Gatsby



One of the pieces presented by the queer theory argues that in a love triangle, we generally look only at the two sides. A classic love triangle in 1920's lit is Gatsby-Daisy-Tom. Let's look at the third side of the triangle: Gatsby and Tom. Their dynamic is fascinating because the characters are similar: neither are satisfied by what they have, and it seems like they both like making the other person jealous. This results in incredible tension over both Daisy and Myrtle (Daisy because Gatsby wants her and can't have her, Myrtle because Tom thinks Gatsby hit her with his car). 

We also have Daisy-Tom-Myrtle triangle, which is interesting because Daisy unknowingly kills Myrtle, the other side of the triangle. Although Daisy has knowledge about Myrtle and vice versa, the two do not meet until Daisy hits Myrtle with Gatsby's car. This kind of fate is almost ironically predestined: the wife kills the lover on accident, as a stranger would.



No comments:

Post a Comment