Revelation Of Conscience In The Great Gatsby By William Shakespeare

In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby and William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the protagonists’ revelation of conscience is caused by their ambition. Nick goes to the East to work in the bond business. He was raised to reserve judgment of people but starts to disbelieve this idea. He learns more about himself when he realizes that he is “within and without”. Duncan’s murder upset the natural order of things. Macbeth’s revelation of conscience has an impact on Lady Macbeth’s mental health. He reveals to the audience that he is not a monster through his soliloquies. The revelations are similar because of the characters’ ambition. At the beginning of the novel, Nick reflects on how he felt changed after returning from the war. His ambition to

All his life, Nick tries to be fair and non-judgemental towards others. This characteristic of him leads the other characters to seek out a friendship with him: “I’m inclined to reserve all judgments, a habit that has opened up many curious natures to me and also made me the victim of not a few veteran bores. The abnormal mind is quick to detect and attach itself to this quality when it appears in a normal person” (5). As the novel progresses, Nick realizes the true nature of Tom, Daisy and Jordan. After Myrtle’s and Gatsby’s deaths, he judges Tom and Daisy for their actions: “They were careless people, Tom and Daisy—they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made” (230). This revelation affects how the readers view the characters because the readers see the characters as Nick sees them, which is the negative side of first person narration. Readers only have a limited view on the characters and events. When Nick admires Tom and loves Jordan the readers do as well. Nick’s idolization and reservation of judgement of Gatsby inaccurately created a symbol of hope in Gatsby. Barbara Will refers to the last paragraphs of the book:
[T]his ending is in fact at odds with the characterization of Gatsby in the rest

This has an impact on how the audience views the protagonist of the play. First, he reflects on the fact that he knows it is not right to kill Duncan: “First, as I am his kinsman and his subject, / Strong both against the deed; then, as his host, / Who should against his murderer shut the door, / Not bear the knife myself” (I. vii. 13-16). Second, the audience sees how the guilt affects him: lack of sleep, hallucinations and seeing the ghost of Banquo. The floating dagger symbolizes Macbeth’s conscience encouraging him to kill Duncan. This guilt is caused by Macbeth’s revelation of conscience: “Macbeth is not really comfortable in his role as murderer and usurper thanks to his acute awareness that he is acting against the moral and political values which underpin the social fabric” (Kabal 1027). Because of this, the audience realizes that Macbeth is not a monster because his guilt prevents him from enjoying the madness he has