Similarities Between Hamlet And The Great Gatsby

692 Words3 Pages

Hamlet and The Great Gatsby Authors Craft Essay In the play, Hamlet, written by Shakespeare, and in the book, The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, we can connect a common theme by using the authors, or characters, point of view. We can see how things are not always as they seem within the characterś lives or stories. By using point of view in these two stories we can see the different uses of point of view to get to the same theme. Starting with The Great Gatsyby, by F. Scott Fiztgerald, throughout the book the story is told through the eyes of a man named Nick Carraway. Using this perspective we don get to see the thoughts going on through the other character’s minds. Without knowing what anyone else is thinking or feeling, …show more content…

A good example is when Hamlet had created the play to try and see if his uncle and newly stepdad was guilty of his father’s death. He says: “What, frightened with false fire?”( ). This, to everyone else, made no sense really, but Hamlet knew exactly what he was saying and so did we. The point of view of knowing what Hamlet was implying allowed for this common theme to be brought back up again. Things are not always what they seem. Another example is featured around the same scene. Cladius’ response to Hamlets questioning turns the point of view to where we can see the interpretation from Cladius. He says: “Hamlet, thou hast thy father much offended.” ( ). This shows the movement between the point of view for characters while still staying consistent with the idea of things not being as they are seen. Point of view allows for the surrounding characters to see the way Hamlet appears to be going insane. “I essentially am not in madness, but mad in craft.” (Shakespeare, 3.4. ). THis is Hamlet discussing with his mother that he is not actually crazy but more or less, faking his madness. This quote, along with the plays point of view, allows us to see that often throughout the play Hamlet can be seen faking what is actually true. It leads the readers to think that if he is not actually crazy then what else might he be faking. This all