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Alterity and Tragicality in Shakespeare and Fitzgerald
From Macbeth to The Great Gatsby
in Critical Survey
Author:
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Mehrdad Bidgoli
Mehrdad Bidgoli
Assistant Professor, Malayer University, Iran mehrdadbidgoli94@gmail.com
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Zahra Jannessari Ladani
Zahra Jannessari Ladani
Associate Professor, University of Isfahan, Iran z.jannessari@fgn.ui.ac.ir
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Abstract
This article attempts to trace the themes of alterity and tragicality in Shakespeare's Macbeth and Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. We offer a parallel study of the two works with an emphasis on the (anti)heroes’ struggles with time and the other human as metaphors of ‘alterity’. We present a thematic reading and argue that as Macbeth is preoccupied with his imaginatively fabricated future (time) and tries to execute anyone (the other) who jeopardises the totality of that ideal space, Gatsby is also preoccupied with his past (time) and tries to retrieve Daisy (the other). Tragedy, we discuss, is basically the ultimate result of these struggles. We suggest that Fitzgerald's work generally shares the similar theme of alterity with Shakespeare's Macbeth and somehow modernises the similar tragicality we witness in the latter.
Contributor Notes
Mehrdad Bidgoli earned a PhD in English literature from the University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran. He has been adjunct lecturer in English literature at Mofid University, Allameh Tabataba'i University, and University of Qom. He is currently at the Department of English Literature, Faculty of Humanities, Malayer University, Malayer, Iran. Recent publications include ‘Ethics, Subjectivity, and Alterity in King Lear: On Cordelia's Defiance and Sacrifice’ (Religion and the Arts, 2021) and ‘Faces and Gazes in The Winter's Tale’ (ANQ, 2022). Email: mehrdadbidgoli94@gmail.com
Zahra Jannessari Ladani is an associate professor of English literature at the University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran. Email: z.jannessari@fgn.ui.ac.ir