The Great Gatsby Theme of Love

The Great Gatsby does not offer a definition of love, or a contrast between love and romance – but it does suggest that what people believe to be love is often only a dream. Gatsby thinks he loves Daisy when in fact he loves a memory of her. Daisy, too, thinks she loves Gatsby, but she really loves being adored. Our narrator is "half" in love with Jordan at the end of the novel, but recognizes the impossibility of being with her anyway. Love is a source of conflict in The Great Gatsby as well, driving men to fight and ultimately causing three deaths. This text seems to argue that there is a violence and destruction inherent in love.

1. Is there a difference between love and romance in The Great Gatsby?
2. Is love an expected part of marriage in The Great Gatsby? Why or why not?
3. Are love and sex separated in The Great Gatsby?
4. Is Gatsby’s love for Daisy genuine? Does he love her, or his conception of her? What about Tom – does he really love Daisy? And whom does Daisy really love, after all? Is it possible, as she said, that she loved both Tom and Gatsby at once?

Wilson’s feelings for Myrtle are the only example of genuine love in The Great Gatsby.

Love in The Great Gatsby is only the result of self-deception and denial.