Wuthering Heights and The Great Gatsby

[Emil Miller]

Did Scott Fitgerald use Wuthering Heights as a basis for his The Great Gatsby? Fitzgerald was well up on English literature and he almost certainly came into contact with Emily Bronte's novel.
The storyline is remarkably similar as both Heathcliffe and Gatsby are poor and are forced by circumstances beyond their control to leave the great love of their lives. They both return some years later having become self-made men only to find that in their absence their lovers have married someone else.
At that point the storylines diverge but the totally obsessive love that they feel for the heroines is the raison d'etre of both books.

[kelby_lake]

No.
- heathcliff is found and taken in by the family. gatsby makes his own way.
- heathcliff is very primitive. gatsby isn't
- I don't think gatsby would go as far as corpse embracing.
- it's what daisy symbolises that gatsby wants

All-consuming desire is in many books. Lolita, The Great Gatsby, Othello (in the sense of jealous revenge and maybe repressed sexuality)...

[prendrelemick]

Man goes away, returns to find sweetheart married, is not an unusual plot

[chasestalling]

let's speculate. emily was a north englander and f scott's heritage irish. very conceivable there are family ties and as poets do beget poets...sure i'd buy it...

[Emil Miller]

No.
- heathcliff is found and taken in by the family. gatsby makes his own way.
- heathcliff is very primitive. gatsby isn't
- I don't think gatsby would go as far as corpse embracing.
- it's what daisy symbolises that gatsby wants

All-consuming desire is in many books. Lolita, The Great Gatsby, Othello (in the sense of jealous revenge and maybe repressed sexuality)...

Of course he wanted social status but only because that was what had prevented him from marrying Daisy. If that were not the case, how could the following passage have been written?

"They had never been closer during their month of love, nor communicated more profoundly with one another, than when she brushed silent lips against his coat shoulder or when he touched the end of her fingers, gently, as though she were asleep. "

[mercy_mankind]

I bought the Great Gatsby yesterday and i'm going to read it after two weeks, that's why I don't know whether it is like Wuthering Heights or not.

[wessexgirl]

I bought the Great Gatsby yesterday and i'm going to read it after two weeks, that's why I don't know whether it is like Wuthering Heights or not.

Wuthering Heights is far superior

[JBI]

Who knows. Nick in Gatsby isn't as reliable a narrator as people make him think. Not only is he drunk part of the time, he also isn't as "unbiased" as he claims. There is a great deal of ambiguity surrounding the text. Also, there is a heavy emphasis put on Fitzgerald's Relationship with his wife Zelda as backdrop for the story, and therefore relevant in interpretation.

The real point though, is that can we really say Gatsby is in love with anyone but himself? Is his act of self-sacrifice in taking the blame for hitting Myrtle the end only brought about by a desire for him to seem like he is in love? Who knows.

[Joreads]

Wuthering Heights is far superior

I have to agree with that

[Snowqueen]

I have to agree with that

It can’t reach to the heights of Wuthering Heights.

[kelby_lake]

n.
The real point though, is that can we really say Gatsby is in love with anyone but himself? Is his act of self-sacrifice in taking the blame for hitting Myrtle the end only brought about by a desire for him to seem like he is in love? Who knows.

Does anyone else think that Nick might be in love with Gatsby? He is very forgiving of Gatsby and practically worships him.

I like both Wuthering Heights and The Great Gatsby, although the first is a bit creepy.

[Emil Miller]

Wuthering Heights is far superior

Wuthering Heights may be superior but, once again, that doesn't negate Gatsby:it's a matter of opinion.Obviously, apart from the similarities I have mentioned, Heights has a much more extensive storyline.It's all to easy for people who are used to reading legthy novels by the Brontes, Hardy, Lawrence etc. to find a book of only 144 pages inadequate without making sufficient allowance for the difference in style. I have only read Heights once and,yes, it is a great work of fiction. On the other hand I have read Gatsby six times because, although to the casual reader it might appear to be a slight romantic novel, there is a lot more to it than first impressions might imply.

[kelby_lake]

And the writing is beautiful...

[wessexgirl]

Wuthering Heights may be superior but, once again, that doesn't negate Gatsby:it's a matter of opinion.Obviously, apart from the similarities I have mentioned, Heights has a much more extensive storyline.It's all to easy for people who are used to reading legthy novels by the Brontes, Hardy, Lawrence etc. to find a book of only 144 pages inadequate without making sufficient allowance for the difference in style. I have only read Heights once and,yes, it is a great work of fiction. On the other hand I have read Gatsby six times because, although to the casual reader it might appear to be a slight romantic novel, there is a lot more to it than first impressions might imply.

My finding WH superior is nothing to do with the length. It's an iconic masterpiece. Gatsby is not. I don't say that because it's a short book, I say it because I think it is overrated. Graham Greene and Somerset Maugham wrote short books. They have a very different style to WH, which I also enjoy. They deserve their reputation. Gatsby does not.

[JBI]

That's opinion. Gatsby is actually far more interesting than some give credit. In terms of Prose, both are good examples of the modes of their authors, and it isn't really a truthful statement to say that "Wuthering Heights is better because of the prose style". For people used to reading in a Victorian mode, of course a Victorian mode would seem better, and seeing as how there are quite a few people who read mostly classics over contemporary books, it would seem likely there are many people who read mostly Victorian novels over modernist ones.

That being said, if you examine Fitzgerald's prose, you can notice that it is denser than one can imagine. The words themselves seem handpicked and excellent. He is generally regarded as having a quality approach to prose in Gatsby that is of an extremely perfectionist quality, coming from his extensive use of re-drafts throughout the book's composition.


In terms of content - there is more to Gatsby than meets the eyes. There are of course, many layers, as there are with Wuthering Heights. Generally I like to think the book is a short Novella with the weight of a 500 page book. It has far more in it than most books of that length.

That being said, as to which is better or worse, I think people schooled or more experienced in the British tradition will generally flock to Bronte, simply because she is part of that tradition, whereas people used to American literature, specifically Modernist literature, will probably bend towards Gatsby to some extent. Neither are really "better". I know as many readers who loathe Gatsby as do Wuthering Heights. Some find Heathcliff to be too Byronic in tone, to the point that they consider the book a flop, as they are unable to sympathize. It's all preference.