| re: Gatsby Always Fails: My Explanation | |
| Posted by: AlanScott 06:23 pm EDT 05/02/24 | |
| In reply to: Gatsby Always Fails: My Explanation - Musicals54 11:45 am EDT 05/01/24 | |
|
|
|
| I agree with the general point that the novel is extremely difficult to dramatize successfully for some of the rasons you mention. I think the main character is Nick, but most of the action happens around him. Still, it's really his story, but in dramatizations Gatsby and Daisy always become the leads, but one problem is that Gatsby is a shadowy figure until well into the novel. I do think Gatsby has agency. It's Daisy who has very little agency. I can tell from looking at the song list for this musical that Gatsby comes on relatively early with a want song. It may seem to the creators like they had to do that, but I think it's probably a mistake. Btw, it's Daisy who kills Myrtle, at least in the novel, and at least if we believe Gatsby, and I think we are meant to believe him on this because Gatsby initially intends to lead Nick to believe he was driving, but Nick guesses it was Daisy, and after a moment, Gatsby confirms it. When discussing the immediate aftermath of Myrtle's death, Nick does seem to become an omniscient narrator for a chapter. Or at least no explanation is given for how he knows so much detail about Wilson's reactions and how Michaelis and other neighbors try to help Wilson through the immediate aftermath of Myrtle’s deahth. |
|
| reply | |
|
|
|
| Previous: | Gatsby Always Fails: My Explanation - Musicals54 11:45 am EDT 05/01/24 |
| Next: | re: Gatsby Always Fails: My Explanation - jbk 07:28 pm EDT 05/01/24 |
| Thread: | |
Time to render: 0.246099 seconds.