Compare Donne’s presentation of love with the presentation of love in ‘The Great Gatsby’. How is Donne’s presentation of love similar or different to Fitzgerald’s?

Donne’s presentation of love in ‘The Sun Rising’ is reinforced in the language of the metaphysical conceit which expresses the depths of his love. Donne and his beloved wake up together, and Donne fears that someone will walk in on them; the unwelcome intruder is the sun that Donne treats as a person. “Busy old fool, unruly sun”, sets up the conceit. In the poem, though, Donne and his much-loved feel right at home: there's no chance either of them will go anywhere, because their love has placed them where they belong, and everything else must reorient itself around them. It follows that Donne is the master of the house; the sun, as a guest, should respect and obey him. Donne therefore reverses the conceit: having likened the sun to a person, he now gives a person—himself—the powers of the sun: “I could eclipse and cloud them with a wink”. The sun, having been shown the door, now gets asked to remain. The pronouns "I" and "she" disappear, leaving only "us" and "we"; thus combined, the lovers become the whole Earth, and since the sun's job is to warm the Earth, it ought to stay where the lovers are, and orbit them.

In ‘The Anniversary’, Donne claims the only thing not subject to “decay” is the love that he and the object of his affections share, suggesting love surpasses nature. The presentation of love reinforces their passion has “no tomorrow hath, nor yesterday” and is therefore timeless, beyond the reach of mortality. The first stanza is hyperbolic of eternal, everlasting love arguing for the constancy of their love, rather than a love that grows over time. While it does not decay, it also does not increase; he is satisfied with it. There is no “tomorrow” or “yesterday,” and the “first” and “last” day are kept all the same. Both are solid in their mutual love. Their love will live on in their souls, and these souls will be reunited after their bodies are moved to their graves. The final stanza points out that while they remain on earth, they are in the special realm of a steady love which is available to “none but we.” The stanza places the lovers directly in the seat of sovereignty in a kingdom made of their love, subject to no one but each other. A conceit is formed with a monarch ruling, and this being the second year of “reign”, suggesting love is prevailing. Similarly to ‘The Sun Rising’ love is portrayed as an elevating force, empowering them from being normal people.

In the novel, only fools are depicted to fall in love, and the biggest fool in ‘The Great Gatsby’ is deemed to be Jay Gatsby. It's Gatsby who falls in love, but whether he is in love with Daisy, or an idolized dream of her, is a central question raised from the novel. Moreover, it could be that he is in love with the idea of being in love, instead. Fitzgerald, as well, stresses the concept of true love always coming with destruction and violence. Additionally, all of the relationships in the novel fail because they are not based on love, but on materialism. Fitzgerald’s presentation of love in ‘The Great Gatsby’ is artificial. 1920’s America was a country where moral values were decaying and money was of more importance. Correspondingly, when Donne was writing during the Elizabethan age, money became the basis on which society was run rather than simply rank and status, and it became possible for those not born into the nobility to quickly rise to powerful positions.

Donne’s and Fitzgerald’s presentation of love are similar in terms of how romantic love is concentrated upon, however not only does Fitzgerald concentrate on romantic love, he focuses on parental love too. Fitzgerald uses an involved unreliable narrator who avoids commitment in love and is cynical about parental love of Daisy and Henry Gatz. By contrast, Donne on the one hand, views love as fundamental and more real than the basic realities of time, which gives a sense of a very positive attitude towards love. However, it could also be read that the poem reflects the poet's expression of joy in his possession of his beloved; there is certainly a sense of a possessive pride in the woman whom he has acquired which highlights an attitude to love known as ‘courtly love’.

The language used in ‘The Great Gatsby’ reveals the ambivalence of Nick’s attitudes. He uses complimentary language to describe Gatsby’s feeling for Daisy (“value, “bought luxury”) but he also uses language of romance (“blossomed”, “incarnation”, “ripe mystery”). Similarly, the language of Donne’s poetry is filled with romance, highlighting the significance of love. Normal everyday activities such as those pursued by the “late school boys and sour prentices” are seen as ordinary and unimportant compared to the greatness of love. This poem truly reflects an exploration of the importance of love for all human existence.
The structure of the poems pervade with mention to his beloved throughout. Donne’s love for his beloved was sincere and heartfelt, suggested in “souls where nothing dwells but love” from ‘The Anniversary’. A reference to "souls" reinforces the spirited, deep-rooted nature forming this love.

Although Donne believes that love is the most important thing in the world, he also sees the necessity for this love to be real and actual, not a distant idealized love as was found in other poetry of his time. In comparison, Daisy admits to Gatsby “I did love him (Tom) once- but I loved you too”. Readers are left questioning whether Daisy appears insincere and incapable of love or if she has a realistic understanding of love, similar to some readers’ perceptions of Donne’s love, due to his continuous, hyperbolic phrases, using dynamic imagery.

Attitudes to women in 1920’s America influences Fitzgerald’s presentation of love as does the significance and influence of war on attitudes to love which is important, considering Fitzgerald is writing about New York society shortly after the First World War. On the other hand, Donne’s poems, written during the Elizabethan Age may reflect Donne's relationship with his wife, Anne Moore. The poems can certainly be read as reflecting a progression in Donne’s feelings, but the poems as a whole express the conflicting attitudes that characterize the full experience of love.

Donne’s attitude to love can be seen as ironic and cynical, especially regarding love and human motives. While clearly on the surface, Donne's poems can be read as glorious verses of love, as a modern reader we question the silencing of the woman and the male exultation during his conquest. However, Fitzgerald is equally, if so more, cynical; all his characters “bruise hearts”. Yet, the message of the novel is clear, that love should always be selfless.

M Chacko