The Great Gatsby And The Taming Of The Shrew

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Money, Love ,Aspiration In “The Great Gatsby“ And “The Taming Of The Shrew“ It is often said that great minds think alike. We have Shakespeare being one of the greatest playwrites in time, and F.Scott Fitzgerald being one of America's most famous authors. So it would not be surprising to say that both author and playwrite wrote works which were quite comparable even today, despite the time difference in which they were written. Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew takes place in Elizabethan England as Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby is set in America in the 1920's. Both pieces however endow characters which show similar characteristics and if carefully analyzed show recurring themes of Love, Money and Aspiration in many similar aspects.

One recurring theme that is evident throughtout both pieces is love as both authors try to point out to their readers that what you see is not always what you get. This is apparent with Shakespeare's character of Lucentio in the taming of the shrew. Lucentio is an ambitous individual whos impulsive behaviour makes him a prime target for a seemingly beautiful and fair lady named Bianca, the daughter of a wealthy man named Baptista Minola. After seeing Bianca for the first time in a crowded marketplace, lucentio falls in love with Bianca at first sight and vows to marry her because she is so "virutous and fair". Similarily, in the great gatsby the main character by the name of Gatsby falls hopelessly in love with a wealthy woman named Daisy, after knowing her for a very little time. Gatsby, like Lucentio, vows to achieve Daisy and in the midst of his dream he is unable to see the reality of the situation. A world in which Daisy has moved on from their past relationship, gotten married, and even given birth to a daughter. However, Gatsby is so obsessively tangled in his hopes of love that he fails to s...