F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby [1] offers an intriguing, unexpected look at love in its many forms. With the complicated relationships among Gatsby, Daisy, Tom, Nick, Jordan, and the Wilsons, the book captures love at its most hopeful, selfish, and inevitable moments. We're taking a look at some of the novel's most famous quotes to see how love is portrayed in the popular story. Here are the surprising insights on love according to The Great Gatsby.
Love Is Hopeful
"Can't repeat the past?" he cried incredulously. "Why of course you can!"
— Gatsby
Love Is Impulsive
"It takes two to make an accident."
— Jordan
Love Is Unspoken
"Ah," [Daisy] cried, "you look so cool."
Their eyes met, and they stared together at each other, alone in space. With an effort she glanced down at the table.
"You always look so cool," she repeated.
She had told him that she loved him, and Tom Buchanan saw. He was astounded. His mouth opened a little, and he looked at Gatsby, and then back at Daisy as if he had just recognized her as someone he knew a long time ago.
Love Is Naive
"I hope she'll be a fool — that's the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool."
— Daisy
Love Is a Decision
" . . . And for a moment I thought I loved her. But I am slow-thinking and full of interior rules that act as brakes on my desires."
— Nick
Love Is Blind
"There must have been moments even that afternoon when Daisy tumbled short of his dreams — not through her own fault, but because of the colossal vitality of his illusion. It had gone beyond her, beyond everything. He had thrown himself into it with a creative passion."
— Nick, on Gatsby
Love Is Unpredictable
"I married him because I thought he was a gentleman," she said finally. "I thought he knew something about breeding, but he wasn't fit to lick my shoe."
— Myrtle
Love Is Intrigue
"I wasn't actually in love, but I felt a sort of tender curiosity."
— Nick
Love Is a Path
"He knew that when he kissed this girl, and forever wed his unutterable visions to her perishable breath, his mind would never romp again like the mind of God."
— Nick, on Gatsby