Obsessive Love In Gatsby - 1067 Words

Dorothy Tennov was an American psychologist who, 1979 coined the term limerence which deals with the fascination of another human being in an obsessive way. Gatsby in all his glory is someone who suffers from limerence in the most extreme ways. He had that kind of possessive obsessive love that unravelled his soul until it ultimately destroyed him. This in turn led to him chasing a girl that he could not have, and would never obtain due to the status of her money. This is not a case of love but a more primal need for someone that he used to feel attraction for. Gatsby does not have a real true love for Daisy, just obsessive admiration that comes from his life long pursuit for her affections. War in the 1920s was a harsh time for most†¦show more content†¦This was not how the plan was supposed to go and it causes him to have anxiety, â€Å"But when anxiety becomes excessive, is not appropriate for the situation, or lasts a long time, it can get in the way of your everyday ac tivities and may interfere with how you get along with others† (Tennov 122). This sets Gatsby off as he needed to have her remember, and go back to how he knew her to be. He becomes more frantic as time goes on and continually pushes her to the limit with asking her to leave Tom. Nick, his levelheaded friend realizes his motive and says, †You can t repeat the past, Gatsby replies, Why of course you can† (Fitzgerald 117). This is part of the dilution that he has acquired, though his limerence for Daisy, that he can repeat what is now the past. One of the more common traits is the fear of abandonment by the person or thing that gave them the limerence. This is shown when Gatsby realizes that the parties he created for her were something that she did not enjoy, and thought of as beneath her. Daisy was not impressed â€Å"She was appalled by West Egg, this unprecedented â€Å"place† that Broadway had begotten upon a Long Island fishing village-appalled by it s raw vigor that chafed under the old euphemisms and by the too obtrusive fate that herded its inhabitants along a short-cut from nothing to nothing† (Fitzgerald 107). The thought that Daisy hated the parties and the people who were coming made Gatsby panic, and quit the wholeShow MoreRelatedThe Obsessive Nature of Desire Presented in The Great Gatsby, Othello and Enduring Love2786 Words   |  12 Pagesa prominent theme (in) The Great Gatsby, Enduring Love and Othello. For example, in all three, there is a great desire to obtain things which are unattainable, and in turn this fuels their obsession and causes it to intensify. 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