Great Expectations and Great Gatsby-help needed!

[CaterpillarGirl]

I'm doing an essay comparing the presentation of 'ambition' in Great Expectations and The Great Gatsby. I was wondering if anyone can help me out, I've got the obvious comparisons of moral, social and educational ambitions in GE and the ambition relating to the American Dream in GG, but am struggling other than that...any ideas? :confused:

Twould be greatly appreciated!

[CaterpillarGirl]

*sobs* pleeeease!!!

I'm DESPERATE!!

:(

[mono]

Hello, CaterpillarGirl.
I apologize, as I have not read The Great Gatsby, unfortunately, but I can surely answer any questions about Great Expectations, offering as much help as I can of one of my favorite novels.
Sadly, I can only recommend you to SparkNotes' commentary on The Great Gatsby (http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/gatsby/) and Great Expectations (http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/greatex/).
Let me know if I can help. Has anyone read both F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby and Charles Dickens' Great Expectations?

[Aurora Ariel]

Not yet...but I plan to before the end of the year.The Great Gatsby is one of the books on my ever expanding list.;)And that's only for literature and not non-fiction.Gosh-I've sure got alot to get through!I love Great Expectations, which I first read quite a few years ago.Has anyone seen a film adaptation of the novel?After I read the book I saw a film version about two or three years ago.Though I think the books are superior, if you wish to see a film I would recommend the older version.I've seen it another time since when it was repeated one weekend night.I first watched the black and white film Great Expectations(1947) one weekend afternoon when it was on free-to-air TV.There has also been a more modern film in 1999 with Ethan Hawke Gwyneth Paltrow, but I really love the old version, which also featured a teenage Jean Simmons as the young Estella, John Mills as the adult Pip and a lady called Martitia Hunt as the Miss Havisham.I prefer this first one I saw.I would suggest this version first, if you love the novel.

[Chava]

I've read the Great Gatsby, if it can be any help. Haven't read Great Expectations yet though.

[Scheherazade]

I have read both Expectations and Gatsby and I think your observations are very good. Both characters aspire to a higher class (both due to their love for a woman). However, they follow different paths, which lead to different ends.

If you have any specific questions, maybe we can help you better.

[Zippy]

Hi,

I have read both novels – Great Expectations as part of a University course in literature and The Great Gatsby just for fun.

As far as Great Expectations goes, I wouldn’t say the character of Pip is particularly ambitious. Kate Flint, in her introduction to the Oxford World Classics edition notes Dickens’ choice of ‘an extremely passive protagonist’ (p.xvii). Great Expectations is sometimes considered a Bildungsroman, or ‘coming of age novel’, where usually the protagonist makes their way up in the world from humble origins by hard work and sheer will-power. However, this cannot be said of Pip. He does come from humble origins, but it is not his own efforts that raise him up, but rather those of Magwitch, a convicted criminal. Pip’s lack of drive and ambition particularly come to the fore in the scene when he and Herbert sit down to settle their affairs (debts). Pip is content to sit back in the room and cannot muster the energy to put his accounts in order. He proposes to Herbert that they ‘look into [their] affairs’ (p.272) and then comically loses himself in ‘ordering something rather special for dinner’ (p.272) and arranging his writing materials, ‘for, there [is] something very comfortable in having plenty of stationery’ (p.272).

I’m not too sure about Gatsby. I’ll have to have a think. Hope this helps.

[CaterpillarGirl]

Thanks guys, thats really helpful :) I've seen the great expectations film with gywneth paltrow, but I thought it was terrible :S

Thankyouuuu :):):) *kisses* for everyone!

[HandBag]

Having thoroughly avoided Great expectations iwill help you out with the great gatsby....


think about the things

* The Jazz age, its aspirations and dreams but that the great gatsby shows the harsh side of this glamourous ambition
* social/political relationships between the West and East in America at that time, represented through east and west egg.
* Money not buying you everything- Gatsby in a nutshell.