Examples Of Marriage In The Great Gatsby

Marriage is often considered one of the most sacred institutions between couples worldwide and has been around for centuries. It is often thought of in a happy and bright light, but in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, it is portrayed more negatively. Fitzgerald provides insightful commentary on marriage and uses two characters, Tom and Daisy Buchanan, to show that marriage is not always as sacred as it’s portrayed to be, marriages only last for appearances, and that marriage often brings unhappiness to the spouses involved. Tom and Daisy Buchanan are both incredulously rich and were almost rushed into a marriage based on their family's wealth and status. They did love each other at one point, and Tom still loves Daisy, but as the novel progresses, it is shown that both Tom and Daisy are both involved in affairs. This is the first point Fitzgerald is making, that marriage often falls apart because marriage is not as sacred as it is often portrayed. Tom has been cheating on Daisy for a while, and we are even introduced to this fact at the beginning of the novel. “Tom’s got some woman in New

They both clearly love someone else, and Tom’s hypocrisy is shown when he learns of Gatsby’s and Daisy’s affair. “I suppose the latest thing to do is to let Mr. nobody from nowhere make love to your wife.”(Fitzgerald, 130) Tom is not just upset at the fact that Daisy is cheating on him, he’s upset because Gatsby is new money something he despises, which makes his marriage appear bad to the public. Tom is afraid that the families and the public will look down on him for having his wife taken away by new money. Fitzgerald is making the point that marriage is often for financial or social benefit, and oftentimes fails because people never truly loved each other in the first place, just what they could do for the other