Similarities Between King Lear And The Great Gatsby

A person of exceptional courage and strength is called a hero. According to the English literary scholar A.C Bradley, a tragic hero is someone of high class, who has a character flaw, which eventually lead them to their downfall. The Great Gatsby is a story about Jay Gatsby, a man who orders his life around one desire: to be re-associated with the love he lost five years ago, who is a married woman called Daisy Buchanan. Gatsby’s quest leads him from poverty to wealth, into the arms of his beloved, and eventually to death. Similarly, the character King Lear in William Shakespeare’s play always wants love from his daughters but cannot realize true love. His blindness and lack of wisdom causes him to lose the daughter who truly loves him and this finally leads him to death. In both texts King Lear and The Great Gatsby, there are a tragic heroes, King Lear and Jay Gatsby. King …show more content…
The death of Cordelia, which triggers the death of King Lear. “Upon such sacrifices, my Cordelia, The gods themselves throw incense” (Shakespeare, 5.3.22). He had the love he needed, but he was blind to seeing it, does not accept it, and eventually loses it. As soon as he loses his only love, he ultimately loses himself. On the way, they coming back from New York, Daisy drives a car and accidentally hits and kills Myrtle. However, Gatsby takes the blame for her. Myrtle’s husband, Wilson decides to take revenge on Gatsby and eventually shoots him to death. “What if I did tell him? That fellow had it coming to him. He threw dust into your eyes just like he did in Daisy’s, but he was a tough one. He ran over Myrtle like you’d run over a dog and never even stopped his car.” (Fitzgerald, 136). Because of Gatsby’s bad decision to pursue a married woman, he created an environment where there is conflict between people towards him. He created enemies for himself, because he decides to defend Daisy on account of his own