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The Similarities Between Hamlet And The Great Gatsby

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Hamlet's words, “frailty thy, name is a woman” (1.2.148), forever redefined femininity in literature. Throughout works such as The Great Gatsby and Hamlet women are never treated as equals to their male counterparts and their role is characterized by misogyny, dependency and utter obedience. According to Aristotle, “the courage of a man lies in commanding, a woman's lies in obeying; that 'matter yearns for form, as the female for the male and the ugly for the beautiful”. Hamlet and The Great Gatsby reveal compelling parallels in their portrayal of the role of women. The mistreatment and inequality of women is a predominant issue in each work and is illustrated through the two main female protagonists, Queen Gertrude and Daisy Buchanan. Ultimately, women are …show more content…

However, women such as Gertrude and Daisy exhibit moral opposition to their male superiors, yet submission is their only outlet. Maternity is a common threshold through which, the foundations are laid for moral opposition. In The Great Gatsby, Daisy displays concern in her attitude towards her daughter. Daisy characterizes her as being a "beautiful little fool"( Fitzgerald 24). This reveals her submissive yet apathetic attitude in how she views her daughter. For this reason, she want her to be a “fool” because she appears to subscribe to the pre-existing belief that women serve little function in society. Furthermore, this reinforces the idea that despite she remains opposed gender inequality, she focuses On the contrary, Gertrude, the mother of Hamlet displays compassion towards her son. Despite appearing submissive in Claudius' wishes, she silently opposes him and agrees

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It is far too often that women, in even the most modern of literature, are portrayed as nothing more than snivelling cowards, used merely to motivate the inevitably male heroes. Certainly, this is still the case in Shakespeare’s Hamlet, which is inarguably a product of its time; sexism runs rampant, as Ophelia, the female lead, is told by Hamlet himself to “Get thee to a nunnery” (3.1.121), with not a batted eye nor consideration of why this would be wrong. In this day and age, such blatant disrespect for women would be greatly frowned upon by a modern and discerning audience, no doubt filled with cultured women who would take offence. Bonham-Carter’s Ophelia is far from the frail and tragically beautiful flower that she is often interpreted as; “ she's like a rag doll losing its stuffings” (Hinson).

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The american dream is an ideal of everyone to achieve the hope of having a better life and making great amounts of money but in that sense they aren’t realizing what things they are leaving back and how much they’ll have to sacrifice or loose to gain that thought of American dream. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald and “ Harlem” by Langston Hughes both shows how the american dream gives hope but the pursuit of hope demolishes. Which is illustrated by the characters showing the corruption of wealth and their moral values. Gatsby the most wealthiest and meticulous person from West Egg which represents new money a society parades its cash through obvious utilization and luxurious drinking and partying but his american dream was only Daisy

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In order for one to be powerful, they must know the definition of power. Power is defined as, “a person that has a lot of control and influence over other people” (Merriam Webster Dictionary”. One might not truly understand the disadvantage that women have been given in life. Throughout history it is evident that women have always been a dishonor to society, and they have been treated as if they are inferior to men. What people fail to realize, is that women, are forceful, influential, intellectual human-beings.

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Queen Gertrude is the Queen of Denmark, Hamlet’s mother, the widow of Old Hamlet and the wife of Claudius, brother of her dead husband. Gertrude is ignorant and a woman who means no harm but because of her actions it contributes greatly to the terrible events that occur throughout the play. In this play there’s many conflicts, one of the first conflicts was when Gertrude married King Claudius two months after Old Hamlet’s death. Gertrude is ignorant because she’s not aware of anything happening. For example she’s not aware that King Hamlet’s murder was by his own brother Claudius, even though they were some hints out there to show that it was King Claudius who killed Old Hamlet.

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Hamlet and The Lion King are very similar in how the are made and the purpose behind them but there is many more differences between the two. The Lion King is supposed to be the modern day Hamlet but it did not follow through. The characters in Hamlet and The Lion King are almost the same but play completely different roles. Also the theme can feel very similar in these two works because there is still the vengeance and suspense throughout.

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The Great Gatsby and Hamlet are indeed similar in which that Hamlet is a member of a royal family and Gatsby is somewhat kind of royalty, technically just rich. They both are in love with a girl, but which no one has approve of. For Daisy is married and Ophelia is from the lower class. Gatsby and Hamlet both possess tragic flaws therefore this will eventually come to their downfall.

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There are many things that are common between Hamlet and The Lion King, but one thing that is most in common is the sibling rivalry. In William Shakespeare’s, Hamlet, Claudius is the younger sibling of King Hamlet, and in Disney’s, The Lion King, Scar is the younger brother of Mufasa. They both killed their brothers over jealous and hatred, and the way they killed them was utterly brutal. In these two stories, the brothers kill because they are jealous.

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I enjoyed reading this article and I also agree with what Dallas Rico said. While reading books like the "Great Gatsby" and "Hamlet" are required in high school, students should be engaged with reading first before having to read redundant classics. As a person of color, myself, I also get bored of reading books about that have white main characters. I usually look for books with colored main characters, so I’m not surprised if other colored students get tired of the classics. I look for books I can relate to or books that are just about my interests.

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Macbeths love and belief in lady Macbeth. Which goes to the extent of Macbeth letting lady Macbeth convince him to kill the king to become king himself, and gain the power. She comes across as a very influential woman of great strength and determination as of act three scene two in which the viscous plan of convincing Macbeth to kill Duncan is masterminded. “Look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under it.” – guidance and influence

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Although, some may say that Hamlet’s impression of women is not caused by the projection of his inappropriate thoughts, motives, and feelings onto women. Instead, they believe that Hamlet’s perception of women is justifiable because he endures Gertrude and Ophelia’s manipulation, betrayal, and immorality. However, this rebuttal is flawed because Hamlet also displays these actions towards Gertrude and Ophelia. For example, Hamlet manipulates Gertrude and Ophelia into thinking that he has fallen into madness. Additionally, Hamlet betrays Gertrude by killing Claudius and going against the best interest of Denmark.

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Within various great works, there is always this emphasis on the difference between genders; whether the male is seen as superior, or the female character is the one that prevails, there is always a sort of power conflict demonstrated between the two genders. With the texts of this course all written by men for a predominately male audience, there is, nevertheless, still a focus on the female counterparts of the main male characters. Concentrating upon gender roles and the position of women in male-dominated societies, female characters in literature do play an important role as they add indescribable value to a work; this holds true especially in regards to William Shakespeare’s play, Twelfth Night, and Ernest Hemmingway’s novel, The Sun Also Rises with a focus upon the notion of gender equality.

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When I read the last part of The Great Gatsby, I was totally touched by Gatsby’s sacrifice for Daisy. When Wilson’s wife Myrtle tragic accident happened, Gatsby tries to hide the truth which is Daisy driving that car instantly killed Myrtle. Gatsby tell Nick what had happened during that situation. “Well, I tried to swing the wheel- he broke off, and suddenly” (Fitzgerald, 152). In order to protect Daisy, Gatsby even does not want to tell his old sport Nick.

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Two notable love stories, known by many, can be shown through The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, by WIlliam Shakespeare, and The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald. When it comes to the love for a woman, Gatsby devotes his entire life to gain the love from the woman of his dreams; likewise, Romeo is willing to do whatever it takes, even die, to be with the love of his life. Unlike Gatsby, Romeo is a poor man who must prove his love to Juliet through compassion and good deeds. Gatsby, on the other hand, not only proves his love through compassion but also throws extravagant parties to win Daisy over with his wealth. Though the two characters carried an unconditional love for another woman, both were forbidden from being with their companion.

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William Shakespeare was well versed in the English language, whether it be poetry or playwrights. The Tragedy of Julius Caesar and Hamlet are playwrights that entail odd, but heavy struggles for both characters. Using Brutus’s and Hamlet’s interaction with their female counterparts, their thirst for vengeance, and specific character traits, Shakespeare develops two tragic heroes of different time periods. When comparing and contrasting Brutus and Hamlet it is important to note their interactions with women within the play. Both Hamlet and Brutus have significant female influences throughout each of their stories.

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In both the films Romeo and Juliet and The Great Gatsby Baz Luhrmann uses the same specific style of storytelling to ensure his audience remains captivated throughout the entire movie. Through the editing choices, lighting, camera work, music choices and actor choices he shows how his style grips the audience. Luhrmann has a definite way of telling stories. In both Romeo and Juliet and The Great Gatsby he uses a prologue to narrate the story. Both are used to provide the audience with initial information they need to understand the rest of the story.

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