Comparing The Great Gatsby And Elizabeth Barrett-Browning's Sonnet

Scott .F. Fitzgerald’s ‘The Great Gatsby’ and Elizabeth Barrett-Browning’s ‘Sonnets of the Portuguese’ both reflect the transformative power that relationships with others have upon one’s sense of identity. However, the different contexts of the two composers influence the transformation that the protagonists undergo within the texts, providing audiences with contrasting perspectives.
Fitzgerald paints a narrative of an eternal dreamer; a young Jay Gatz whose life has been transformed after an intense connection with Daisy Buchanan. Gatsby’s encounter with this “golden girl” has a profound effect upon his future. 
Similarly within ‘Sonnets of the Portuguese’, Barrett-Browning’s poems show her growth and transformation that is catalysed by her developing relationship with Robert Browning. She utilises imagery such as “God’s future thundering down on my past” to depict her metaphorical journey from the dark of her past into the light of

Fitzgerald utilises description of protagonists such as Jordan to comment upon the fragility of Gatsby’s dream, “she was too wise to ever carry well-forgotten dreams from age to age.” Fitzgerald reflects his personal context and values within the characterisation of Gatsby, utilising Gatsby’s dream to criticise the American dream. He highlights the hedonistic and corruptive nature of the Jazz age. The title of the novel, ‘The Great Gatsby’, is an allusion to “The Great Houdini”, which Fitzgerald uses to symbolically represent the transformative power that Daisy and Gatsby’s relationship have upon Gatsby’s persona. It is this transformation that Gatsby believes shapes his worth. Nick voices this in Chapter 5, “he stared around at his possessions in a dazed way, as though in her actual and astounding presence none of it was any longer