Engels presentatie

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• vwo
• Leerjaar 6

THE GREAT GATSBY

Nienke Langenhoff, Tessa Rensink, Elise van der Sman & Fleur Busch

TIME IN WHICH TE BOOK TOOK PLACE

• 1922 > Roaring Twenties
• After WOI
• Rapidly changing society, enormous economic prosperity & consumer culture
• Shift in values and beliefs & changing social order
• Women's clothing
• Underground drinking culture (speakeasies)
• Organized crime
• Gatsby = American Dream

“Anything can happen now that we’ve slid over this brigde, ‘I thought; ‘anything at all…’ Even Gatsby could happen, without any particular wonder.”

Critical reception at the time

• Mixed reviews
•          Rich portrayal of the Roaring Twenties
•          Loose structure and lack of moral compas
• Relatively well sold
• Masterpiece of the genre
• Classic

Symbolism: Gatsby's Mansion

• Huge parties
• Jazz era / Roaring Twenties
• Emptiness for love
• Nicks Neighbor
• Not enough for acceptance
• Emptiness
• West egg

Theme: American Dream

• Exalted above others
• Lack richness of love
• Gatsby > rises from poverty to wealth
• Reality > corrupt and materialistic society
• Gatsby believes
• False illusion

"It is the idea that anyone, regardless of their background, can achieve success and prosperity through hard work and determination"

Love and Marriage

‘I married him because I thought he was a gentleman,’ she said finally. ‘I thought he knew something about breeding, but he wasn’t fit to lick my shoe.’ - Myrtle Wilson

Loveless marriages

Tekst

Between George and Myrtle Wilson:

Love and Marriage

‘[H]e gave her a string of pearls... I was a bridesmaid... She... pulled out the... pearls... “Take ’em down-stairs and give ’em back to whoever they belong to. Tell ’em all Daisy’s change’ her mind. Say: ‘Daisy’s change’ her mind!’

Loveless marriages

Tekst

Between Tom and Daisy Buchanan:

Love and Marriage

For a while I lost sight of Jordan Baker, and then in midsummer I found her again . . . . I wasn’t actually in love, but I felt a sort of tender curiosity. - Nick Carraway

Other examples

Tekst

Gatsby's all-consuming passion for Daisy

 & Nick and Jordan's relationship

The Green Light

Tekst

The Green Light

Color symbolism 

Representation of Gatsby's dreams and hope for the future