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Similarities Between Macbeth And The Great Gatsby

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William Shakespeare's Macbeth and F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby both include icons who are deceived by ambition and greed throughout these stories. Macbeth, a kinsman with a substantial endeavour for status and power suffers significant setbacks and a depressing defeat. Similar to Gatsby, who let his desire for money and lust for the affluent in wealth rule his aspirations before losing everything in the most painful manner possible. The authors convey this message by basing the plot on genuine occasions and outcomes. Both these tragic heroes are to blame themselves and their interests for such a treacherous end to their infatuations and for pursuing the inconceivable.

One of the main similarities between Macbeth and Gatsby …show more content…

Macbeth is driven by his ambition to become king and murders his closest friends such as King Duncan and several others to secure his position. “I have no spur To prick the sides of my intent, but only Vaulting ambition, which o’erleaps itself And falls on th’other” (1.7.25). Similarly, Gatsby’s ambition leads him to implicate illegal liquor businesses which were merely for a wealthy individual, and in doing so, he risked his own life to protect her since his aim was an obsession with wealth as he says “‘Her voice is full of money,’” (Fitzgerlad, 128). He amasses a fortune through illegal means, in order to become a man of wealth and status that he believes will make him worthy of Daisy by throwing lavish parties in hopes that Daisy will attend one of them, and even goes so far as to buy the house next to hers in order to be close to her. Gatsby's ambition to win Daisy back causes him to neglect his own well-being and he ultimately dies in pursuit of this goal. Both characters are willing to go to great lengths to achieve their goals and are willing to sacrifice their morals and integrity in the …show more content…

The Main differences are in their level of guilt and remorse. Macbeth's ambition ultimately destroys him by causing him to lose sight of his morals and values, and become increasingly isolated, paranoid, delusional and detached from reality. “I pull in resolution and begin To doubt th' equivocation of the fiend That lies like truth” (5.5.45). All these factors lead to his downfall, as he becomes consumed by guilt and paranoia and eventually meets his demise. Gatsby. on the other hand, never truly takes responsibility for his actions and continues to believe that his love for Daisy will save him. "He had come a long way to this blue lawn, and his dream must have seemed so close that he could hardly fail to grasp it. He did not know that it was already behind him" (Fitzgerald, 193). Gatsby's actions lead to his tragic end, but he dies with a sense of honour and dignity, having sacrificed himself to protect Daisy from the crime she committed so Tom may not hurt or accuse Daisy of such an

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Macbeth’s greed takes over him as he chases a fool’s dream. Macbeth's ambition leads him to secure his power; he overlooks his guilt and focuses on doing whatever it takes to hold onto his authority. Shakespeare demonstrates, in a variety of techniques, how just ambition alone can bring down the even the greatest of men. “There is something wrong with a individual’s character if opportunity controls their loyalty.” Sean Simmon’s the writer of this quote explains how blinded someone can be when given certain opportunities which can be directly related to the character Macbeth.

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Gatsby had spent so much time and effort pursuing this unrealistic view of Daisy that it became impossible for her to live up to these expectations. He never made a real effort to find out who she actually is, or even simply respect that she had created a life apart from him. It’s unsurprising that he is disappointed by reality; he has been living in an elaborate dream, deluding himself to believe that his plan to win her over will work just because he wants it to, and ignoring the real factors that would break this illusion until it is broken for him. Gatsby is aware of the factors playing against him when it comes to his dream of being with Daisy, such as her marriage and commitment to her family, but he creates a mental version of events that serve him when he cannot accept this reality. Subsequently, he suffers from realizing that his imagined perfect version of Daisy and their perfect life together is not real or reasonable.

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First, in The Tragedy of Macbeth [film] Lady Macbeth has a very abrupt climb towards insanity (Coen 2021), while in the play Macbeth it's a slow crawl that escalates as she becomes more and more worried about the murders that had been committed (Shakespeare 38). Thus, representing how the film left out key information about Lady Macbeth causing her to be seen as a crazy lady fairly quickly. Secondly, in The Tragedy of Macbeth when Macbeth sends the third murderer to kill Banqou the audience sees that it is Ross (Coen 2021), but in the play Macbeth it is never revealed to the reader who the third murderer is, only that he was told to show up by Macbeth in both (Shakespeare 35). Thirdly, in the play Macbeth the resolution shows Malcolm being named king and talking to all his subjects of what the future holds (Shakespeare 72), and while The Tragedy of Macbeth [film] also shares this scene it's very last scene is Ross going back to find Fleance and riding off with him to show he isn’t as evil as he seems earlier in the film (Coen 2021). Lastly, in The Tragedy of Macbeth [film] Macbeth is beheaded by Macduff as he is reaching for his crown that fell from his head (Coen 2021), but in the play Macbeth Macduff's beheading of Macbeth isn’t fully explained (Shakespeare 72).

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Although Jay Gatsby had Daisy in his grasp towards the end of his life, his ambition wasn’t enough for him to obtain it in the end. Macbeth’s ambition and strength was enough for him to succeed in gaining what he wanted, which shows how he was more successful in achieving his ambition. Macbeth’s goal was to seize power, and he was able to do that, he became King, drove away or killed anyone trying to gain power, and fulfilled his prophecies. Macbeth’s main goal was to become more powerful, and he accomplished this by being crowned King of Scotland.

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Gatsby’s demise, tragically mistaken for a crime he did not commit, symbolizes the hollowness of his pursuit, lamented by Nick Carraway’s reflection that Gatsby “paid a high price for living too long with a single dream” (Fitzgerald 169). Likewise, Macbeth meets his end in a final, futile battle, realizing the emptiness of his conquests as he muses, “Life is but a walking shadow, a poor player / That struts and frets his hour upon the stage / And then is heard no more” (Shakespeare 5.5.24-26). Their respective deaths underscore the ephemeral nature of ambition divorced from ethical considerations, echoing the timeless warning against the perils of sacrificing integrity for personal

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He refuses to let go of his dream and his belief in the idea of a brighter future, even as it becomes clear that his efforts will ultimately be in vain. The tragic nature of Gatsby’s situation is emphasized by the fact that his pursuit of Daisy is rooted in a deep and sincere love for her. He truly believes that by winning Daisy back, he will be able to attain the happiness that has eluded him for so long. Yet, despite his best efforts, Gatsby is unable to escape the repercussions of his past and the societal constraints of his time. He desperately wants to break free from his lavish life and start anew, which we know never happened.

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Furthermore, in Macbeth, Macbeth becomes the king of Scotland, gains strength through false hope, and creates an image that is not his own, which is all done through deception and in hopes of overpowering his enemies. Thus, Gatsby uses deception and lies to win the approval of his associates, whereas Macbeth uses deception and lies to become a more powerful and dominant king. Gatsby’s entire rise to luxury is based off a false persona. He also does not share his true background with others.

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Both greed and power, if not controlled, can lead to destruction. Throughout William Shakespeare’s play Macbeth, Shakespeare uses both characters Macbeth and Lady Macbeth to demonstrate how ambition can change one’s personal relationships. As in the beginning of Act 1, Scene 7 Macbeth and Lady Macbeth do not share the same ambition, and it is because of this that their relationship lacks love and affection however through the use of persuasion and other means, Lady Macbeth is able to get Macbeth to pursue her ambition. This not only changes their relationship drastically but it also changes Macbeth’s attitude towards ambition. Throughout the play, Shakespeare shows us through Macbeth, the possibility for ambition to eventually turn into greed and how the lust for power may corrupt us.

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