Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby and Northrop Frye’s Theory of Myths
Northrop Frye’s “theory of myths” refers to a system of patterns which mankind has used to realize the narratives of his stories and literature. Frye asserts human beings realize basic narrative in two fundamental ways; representations of the real world and representations of an ideal or fantasy world. Frye calls the two fundamental narratives the “mythos of summer” and the “mythos of winter”. Summer is a time of heroes and adventure, and winter is a time where life’s complexities are faced. But in spite of the convenience a system could afford our attempts to categorize the written works of mankind, real life isn’t always so easily defined. It would follow naturally then, literature which reflects life in its fullness might not fit neatly within Frye’s two basic theoretical categories. Great literature echoes real life in its tendency to defy simplified explanation. So because Frye realized life’s tendency to travel between times of summer and winter, he also introduced two times of transition: “the mythos of autumn” and “the mythos of spring”.
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Jazz Age novel “The Great Gatsby” is one example of a piece of literature which spans Frye’s primary narrative patterns, leading us from the romance and fantasy of summer to the reality and complexity of winter. “Gatsby” opens with all the optimism and boldness of its age. We meet a young man named Nick who faces a life full of prospects, and we join him on his journey to the East Egg, a less fashionable part of New York’s fashionable Long Island. Nick has an interesting new neighbor, a man by the name of Gatsby, who is bathed in wealth and intrigue. Here we have all the makings of what Frye would call a romance. Gatsby holds extravagant parties where all the beautiful people attend; everything reeks of the romance of Camelot and King Arthur’s court. It is Frye’s summer, a world of adventure with beautiful women, idyll days, and romantic evenings.
But “Gatsby” doesn’t remain in summer forever. Although the novel opens with all the optimism of its age, before the final page it transitions into a novel of irony and complexity. Because this is the final message of “Gatsby” it could be argued the mythos of winter overshadows that of summer in this story. We close the book with only a feint memory of Nick and Gatsby’s days of summer, and from our new and jaded viewpoint we regard those times as days of innocence and possibly naivety. We have seen how the flaws of man can lead us to the feeling we are swimming upstream, and Fitzgerald’s final lines bring this point home: “So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.”
Frye called the narrative pattern which transitions from summer to winter “the mythos of autumn”. This is a structure which moves us from a time of innocence to experience. We move from the ideal world to the real world. Likewise, Frye calls the movement from real to ideal, or experience to innocence, “the mythos of spring”. He recognized conflict is the basis of romance, where superheroes face obstacles, but observed catastrophe is the basis of tragedy. While “The Great Gatsby” seems at first blush to be a story where a superhero faces the simple obstacles between him and his love, in the end and the catastrophe which develops along the way we realize the story of Gatsby is one of tragedy. Gatsby’s quest has ended in death, and Nick has taken a step down the road of experience.
Again, much like real life it would be an oversimplification to label the time period covered in “The Great Gatsby” as the time when our narrator Nick lost his naive and innocent view of the world. It would also be too easy to call it the story of the great Jay Gatsby’s fall from greatness. Life is not so simple. It is full of ambiguity, and transitions don’t always move neatly in one direction or another. For the purpose of a tidy story we might limit a piece to one period, one myth, or one time of transition. But real life isn’t so tidy, and part of the greatness of Fitzgerald’s Gatsby is how it reminds us of the ebb and flow of such things in life.
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This is very good use of Frye’s categorization of genres, Terry. I enjoy his Anatomy of Criticism, and the erudite way in which he approaches the whole genre question.
The Great Gatsby is a very useful text for exploring Frye’s thinking. I like how you have outlined it here.
Your Great Gatsby posts are extremely fascinating. Interestingly I just wrote my impression upon re-reading the book at my blog. You might want to check it out seeing as your doing this Great Gatsby series of posts.
I have a question, though. How come you’re writing so many Great Gatsby posts from a series of different theoritical perspectives? Is there a particular reason you’re doing this?
Eric’s last blog post..Code Geass Season 2!
Hi Eric,
I had been studying critical theory in my graduate work and applying the different theories to Gatsby to contrast their ideals, at least in my own mind.
I’m off the kick for awhile, but I’m sure I’ll venture out into critical thought about other books when I explore theory again.
I’ll take a look at your post.