Sonnet 116 compared to Gatsby

?
  • Created by: pippa ;)
  • Created on: 21-02-19 18:07

"marriage of true mindes"

  • Their souls have joined, making this union official.
  • This quotation mirrors marriage vows, enhancing the idea that this love is to continue 'untill death do us part'.
  • Through linking their "mindes," it's suggestive that these two people are thoughtful; that they know what they're doing and are going into this union with no intention of breaking up.
  • The first line sets the tone for the simplisity of the poem to suggest that love is accesable for anyone.

THE GREAT GATSBY

  • On the other hand, Tom and Daisy are married yet neither of them are "true". Tom has his affairs with Myrtle and Daisy with Gatsby.
  • As Myrtle, a married woman, is also having an affair, this makes the only non-adulterous couple in the novel: the McKee's. (however, there are suggestions that he sleeps with Nick on the last page of chapter 2)
  • Myrtle's under the impression that Tom does want to marry her yet can't as daisy is "a Catholic, and they don't believe in divorce." Yet contradictory to this, Nick knows that "Daisy was not a Catholic," Tom was just lying to keep Myrtle happy.
1 of 5

"O no, it is an ever fixed marke"

  • This line occours very close to the centre of the poem to show its importance. 
  • The fact that Shakespeare had a long distance relationship with his wife also reflects in this quote because no matter their distance from each other, the love is still there.
  • However, a modern reader understands now that feelings can change and people can divorce, even if they were once in love. 
  • People can confuse love and attraction; when someone loses physical interest in someone, they may also lose their emotional attraction.
  • The comma in the quotation breaks up the line to create anticipation for what the speaker is about to disagree with.

THE GREAT GATSBY

  • In Nick writing this novel as a memorial for Gatsby, it implies that this story will make his life an "ever fixed marke" as he will live on in everyone's memory.
  • Gatsby believes that his love with Daisy will always be there, admitting in chapter 6 that he wanted Daisy to "go to Tom and say: 'I never loved you'." However, this is an unattainable request, as the reader later discovers. Going by the poem, this would mean that, either the poem is disproven, or Daisy never did love Gatsby.
2 of 5

"It is the star"

  • Love is often described as birght and overwhelming, summed up in this description of it being a "star."
  • Links to the North Star and the fact that it never moves, helping with navigation. This enhances the earlier idea that love is "fixed" and doesnt change over time.

THE GREAT GATSBY

  • "Her face was sad and lovely with bright things in it, bright eyes and a bright passionate mouth."
  • As shown in the quotation above, when we, as the reader, first meet Daisy, she is described as very bright and energetic but with negative undertones. 
  • The juxtaposition sets the tone for Nick's attitude towards her character because on one hand, he likes her because Gatsby wanted her so badly, plus she had planned to settle with him afterwards. on the other hand, she never did, and didnt even come to pay her respects at his funeral.
3 of 5

"Lov's not Times foole"

  • Love is a constant and doesnt change over time.
  • The personification of "Time" makes this seem all the more dramatic as by giving this a human quality, it implies an idea that a higher force is watching.

THE GREAT GATSBY

  • "You can't change the past"
  • No matter what Gatsby's fantsies are, he cannot do the impossible and change time; "Time" is not a "foole".
4 of 5

"rosie lips and cheeks"

  • Hints at prostitution, suggesting that temptation shall not stop love as when two people are truely in love, they're not attracted to anyone else.

THE GREAT GATSBY

  • This quotation links to the character of Myrtle, she is Tom's misstress and so is doing the job of a prostitute, but for free (unless including the gifts he buys her). 
5 of 5

Comments

No comments have yet been made

Similar English Literature resources:

See all English Literature resources »See all Love through the ages resources »