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Why Is Money A Source of Tension Even Within Wealthy Couples?

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PRESENTATION OUTLINE

"THE GREAT GATSBY" BY F. SCOTT FITZGERALD

BY VIANNIE EGBUNIKE P.5
Photo by Barta IV

WHY IS MONEY A SOURCE OF TENSION WITHIN WEALTHY COUPLES?

My essential question that I thought about while reading "The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald was, "Why is money a source of tension within wealthy couples?". The problems within couples in the 1920s were extreme. It is surprising that couples who were well off suffered from martial challenges, as they had everything they wanted. As I concluded my research, I came to the realization that money within wealthy couples has a huge factor on the validity of the marriage.
Photo by Berts @idar

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Married couples have problems, it is a common thing that they deal with. It seems unusual to see a wealthy couple having relationship problems, as people wonder how can wealthy couples be unhappy in their relationships when they have it all. People believe that wealthy couples have everything they have always wanted, and that they should be happy. This is obviously not the case. People within marriages may have gotten married to their significant other for the wrong reasons, which creates tension. What can also create tension between wealthy couples is materialistic ideas and dreams, as this was a major issue in the 1920s.

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Money is the pit of all problems, even when you think you have enough, it is not always enough. It seems to find its way to control people, and make them turn into greedy, selfish person who are worried about what they will get out of anything. Money can also make a person not realize how good they have it until it is taken away from them. Relationships in the 1920s started to consist of people getting married for selfish, materialistic reasons, not because they truly love their partner. It is very disheartening that people were driven to marriage for the sole purpose of being wealthy.

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In the first article, "The History of Dating" by SexInfo Online, they discuss different relationships that consist of dating or marriages over decades, and how they have evolved over time. The 1920s-1930s was a time where relationships consisted of upper class and lower class couples. The upper class no longer liked to called upon by their future spouses unlike people in the 1900s-1910s did. Automobiles were just invented within this time, so young adults started to enjoy dating and relationships more than before, but this also created problems. Women would only date or marry men with money, which created problems with wealth upper class couples. This showed that women were only getting married for the money, not because they loved their significant other. Women were not getting married for the right reasons, the only thing that drove them to marriage was the dream of becoming wealthy.

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"The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald displays the character, Myrtle Wilson, a woman who is driven to marry for wealth more than love. Myrtle Wilson, wife of George Wilson, voiced that she regretted marrying her husband because he had borrowed someone's suit for their wedding (34). This shows that Myrtle only wanted to marry George for the money, nothing more, which can also explain why she cheated on him with Tom Buchanan. He has money, so she was finally living her dream of becoming wealthy. Myrtle describes a majority of how marriages worked in the 1920s.

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To reiterate, a reason why money is source of tension is because a person may get married because there is a promised wealth involved. Myrtle Wilson married George Wilson hoping that she would be finically stable, but she was not. She was only in relationships for money, as she is money-hungry and driven woman. It seemed that in the 1920s marriages were not authentic, as some couples did not know if their significant other truly loved them for theirselves, or for their money.

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In the second source, "Wealthy Marriage Problems" by Joe Beam, the downfalls of success and wealth are examined. Within the article, Beam talks about a couple who are wealthy, but have many martial problems. The wife describes her husband being "married to success" (18). Her husband never found success in her, he only found it through money. She felt like she never made him happy. The couple eventually divorced, but throughout the divorce, the husband realized that his wealth could not buy him happiness. He attained his dream of being wealthy, but it costed him his true happiness, his family. Money ruined this couple's relationship because it took away his pride and joy.

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Again in Fitzgerald's novel, "The Great Gatsby", the characters Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan struggle with relationship problems as the married couple in Beam's article did. Daisy and Gatsby are both wealthy, but it is Gatsby who can not find happiness within wealth. Gatsby attained his dream of becoming wealthy, but his joy was in Daisy, which he unsuccessfully gets. His money was not enough for Daisy, she chose to stay with her husband instead of him. She felt more finically and emotionally stable with Tom rather than Gatsby. Gatsby shows that although you may have all the money in the world, it is not enough to keep tension out of a relationship.

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To summarize, couples who seem like they have everything that they have always wanted, may not have everything that they actually need. Both Gatsby and the husband achieved their goal of being wealthy, but they lost out on their goal of being content. Money only gave them materialistic things in their life, not the most important things, like family and a beautiful woman to marry. Wealth can create tension by leaving a person lonely with the only thing that they worked hard for, their money, to take care of them.

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To conclude, money can be a huge source of tension within wealthy couples. It can cause one of the people within the relationship to either date or marry the person only for their money, or realize that their wealth is more important than their significant other. Myrtle and Gatsby both display that money cannot buy happiness, it only disrupts it. It can only fix the materialistic problems, not the most important problems within a relationship. Money has a dangerous effect of ruining the most important aspects of relationships, and it is essential that people do not let wealth dictate their relationships.

WORKS CITED

  • Beam, Joe. "Wealthy Marriage Problems." "Marriage Helper." Marriage Helper, 6 February 2017. Web. 6 April 2017. .
  • Fitzgerald, F. Scott. "The Great Gatsby." New York: Scribner, 1925. Print.
  • "The History Of Dating." "SexInfo Online." SexInfo Online, 7 June 2014. Web. 23 March 2017. .