Marriage and Romance in the Great Gatsby, Interpreter of Maladies and Othello
Marriage and romance, in the literary works of the Great Gatsby, Interpreter of Maladies, and Othello, are demonstrated to be of high significance due to different reasons in any society. As a reader delves into these reads, they realize that marriage is an institution tied to various aspects of life. It can change dramatically in the wake of particular circumstances. Romance and marriage are viewed differently in the West and the East. In the West, it is more a matter of events and opportunities, while in the East, the sacredness of the union marriage is an essential aspect of culture. However, the different characters in these reads surprise us following more dissident paths. The figures in these reads and their virtues appear to influence the success or failure of marriage significantly.
The virtue of loyalty to one’s spouse is less regarded in the West than in the East. Characters in the Great Gatsby, who is of Western descent, have little or no regard to loyalty and faithfulness in marriage. If anything, most of them enter into marriages for the social status accompanying it. For instance, Daisy Buchanan, one of the major antagonists in the read, is very disconnected from the true meaning of loyalty to a spouse. Jay Gatsby, one of the military officers stationed near her home, has to lie about his social status for Daisy to deem him worthy of her. When Gatsby goes off to the war, she promises to wait for him but does the exact opposite. Instead, Daisy marries Tom, who is from a solid aristocratic family and can provide her with the wealthy lifestyle she desires. However, in the end, she also cheats on Tom, showing no regard for loyalty to both Gatsby and Tom.
Mrs. Das, in The Interpreter of Maladies, presents characters in the East as having more prominent regard for loyalty to one’s spouse. The marriage in this read is distressed. Mr. and Mrs. Das are an Indian couple born in America, and in the story, they are India for a vacation with their children. Mr. Kapasi, their tour guide, has a strong attraction for Mrs. Das, who in no way has the same for regard for him. Even though Mrs. Das opens up to Mr. Kapasi regarding her marriage and her cause for distress, she does not have any interest in him as a lover. Although Mr. Das is not the father of one of the children, Mrs. Das keep this from him to preserve her marriage. Mrs. Das is also very keen to remain loyal to Mr. Das.
Gender performativity in both reads plays a partial role in the success or failure of a marriage. In the Great Gatsby, the wealth and status of a man play a great role in his marriage. A wealthy man can get any woman he wants as his spouse, and like material possessions, women belong to men. Such are the likes of Tom, who Nick appears to envy or admire to a certain length greatly. The women are expected to marry men who can afford them a wealthy lifestyle. Daisy, therefore marries Tom, not because she loves him but because of what he can give her. Despite the actions of both Tom and Daisy, their marriage can survive because of their class status. Myrtle mistakes her husband George for a man of good breeding, and following her disappointing prospects, she laments, “I thought he knew something about breeding, but he wasn’t fit to lick my shoe” (Shakespeare 73).
Mrs. Das appears to be suppressing the issues in her marriage, which most likely is what the society expects of a woman. Opening up to a stranger shows that Mrs. Das lacks a communications space in her marriage. Mr. Kapasi’s marriage is also on rocky ground after the loss of his son. The expectation of society regarding women is further expressed by Mr. Kapasi, remarking that he had never seen his wife naked. The marriage between Mr. and Mrs. Das is also somewhat loveless with the occasional responsibility to their children. He remarks that “Mr. and Mrs. Das behaved like an older brother and sister, not parents” (Lahiri 49). The two societies in both reads suppress the romantic aspect of marriage and make it a duty affair.
Although marital infidelity is present in both Western and Eastern societies, it is more dominant in the West. Marriage in the Great Gatsby is tied hand in hand with the class status of a couple, and class dictates who can survive infidelity. The Great Gatsby is full of love triangles, and almost all the couples are involved in love affairs outside their marriage. Daisy, who is married to Tom, has an affair with her past lover, Gatsby. Tom, in turn, has an affair with Myrtle Wilson, who is married to George. The Great Gatsby presents the ideals of loveless marriages borne from marriages being unions of convenience rather than unions of love. If anything, a marriage, like Tom and Daisy’s survive merely because of the class advantage.
Although present in the East, marital infidelity arises purely in the wake of certain circumstances, most of which trace back to society’s expectations. Mr. Kapasi’s marriage becomes rocky, following the death of his son. He also realizes that marriage has no real intimacy because even in lovemaking, the Indian woman should wear clothes. The death of their son and the societal norms both serve as straining factors to the marriage. Mrs. Das, who is determined to remain loyal to Mr. Das, has no actual communication with him. She dares not say that Mr. Das is not the father of one of her children for fear of the consequences. Despite her past, Mrs. Das represents the East as a society with virtues that discourage marital infidelity.
Fitzgerald and Lahiri use different styles to put across certain points about marriage and romance and the circumstances surrounding the union of marriage. Both reads tell stories to create context about marriage in the East and West. Through symbolism and motifs, Lahiri structures The Interpreter of Maladies story to present Mr. and Mrs. Das as disconnected from the reality of their marriage. Mr. Das’s camera presents his distorted view of reality and his marriage (Lahiri 47). He takes a photo of a starving peasant as a souvenir from India and ignores the man’s harsh reality. Mr. Das also poses his family in the camera as one full of harmony and intimacy, which is far from reality. Mrs. Das’s sunglasses and car window represent her attempt to block out the world’s reality from herself (Lahiri 58). The failure to see the truth about each other results in characters in this story to romanticize outsiders in different ways.
Symbolism and motifs greatly match the emotional and narrative employed in the Great Gatsby. The tone in this read is scornful at the beginning and later turns into melancholic sympathy. The former represents the decadence of morality in the lives of Gatsby, Tom, and Daisy. Nick’s identification with the helplessness of characters and bitter consequences takes a sympathetic tone as he remarks, “So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past” (Fitzgerald 176). The green light, which is barely visible to Gatsby, represents his rather elusive goals, both Daisy and the American dream. Geography and weather also contributed to the text’s ideals, the Valley of Ashes as a symbol of America’s moral decadence, and the pouring rain in Gatsby and Daisy’s reunion as the severity of actions.
Othello, by William Shakespeare, presents the idea of how outsiders can break marriage unions that are not firmly grounded. Othello takes a reader through episodes of deceit, conspiracy, and mistrust between spouses and friends. Lago plots to break the union between Othello and Desdemona to help the pursuit of Roderigo of Desdemona. Choosing to believe Lago, an outsider, rather than his spouse, Othello ends up killing Desdemona for infidelity that she did not take part in (Shakespeare). William Shakespeare uses symbolism to show a love that is broken by blatant lies and conspiracy when Desdemona’s handkerchief, which once represented Othello’s love for her, turns into a symbol of infidelity and broken trust.
Works Cited
Fitzgerald, Francis Scott. The Great Gatsby (1925).1995
Lahiri, Jhumpa. Interpreter of Maladies: Stories. Boston, Mariner Books – Houghton Mifflin
Harcourt.1999
Shakespeare, William. Othello. Vol. 6. Classic Books Company. 2001