How is faith represented in The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald and The Sonnets from the Portuguese by Elizabeth Barrett Browning and how is it interpreted in different contexts?

Literary texts often deal with the human condition, capturing the experiences that people go through regardless of their backgrounds. In The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald and The Sonnets from the Portuguese by Elizabeth Barrett Browning, both authors represent one's belief in the form of love, where love is portrayed as a transformative power.

Browning's relationship with her husband liberates from her past sorrows while Gatsby is motivated by his love for Daisy to pursue a materialistic lifestyle. With the use of literary devices, it is evident that the idea of love being transformative is embedded into these two texts, where both protagonists undergo great change after they experienced love. However, the readers' own contexts affect the way in which they receive these texts, and we realize that despite the timeless characteristic of literature, a work of literature can convey different messages when interpreted by readers of different social backgrounds.

To understand Sonnets from the Portuguese, one must learn about the social background in which it is written in. Born in the Victorian era, Browning had to deal with illness and strict paternal control when she was young, where women had to obey their fathers or husbands. It was her relationship of being loved by her husband Robert which liberated her from the past restrictions and sadness of her life, as reflected by the transformation of the voice in Sonnets from the Portuguese.

Traditionally, the Petrarchan sonnets are written in a male voice, yet by composing The Sonnets from the Portuguese in her own voice, Browning subverts the gender roles. Browning's modification of the sonnet form symbolizes her own transformation of being liberated from traditional female gender roles in the 19th century, where instead of her staying silent, she asks the man to be silent to express his love. Sonnet 1 in particular focuses on Browning's earlier phase in life and the sorrow in which she endures.

By describing the years of the past as "sweet"Â? , "sad" and "melancholy"Â? , the readers from that era get the sense that while she looks upon her past with some nostalgia, she is clouded with loneliness and boredom.

This is further emphasized with the verb "weeping"Â? , where this "shadow"Â? Continues to bother her and inflict emotional suffering despite that she has moved on to the present.

However, by including a dialogue with the Shape, Browning allows the readers to realize that she is starting to move on from her shadowy past. When the voice asks her "guess now who holds thee?", she replies with "death"� , which illustrates that she only expects her life to get worse, yet when the voice says "not death, but love"�

, the readers get the sense that what follows in her life is going to be positive, with love acting as the driving force of this change. Browning undergoes a self-transformative process when she is being courted by Robert, where she gradually frees herself from her "melancholy years". Browning further includes imageries of the arrival of spring in Sonnet 2.

While the arrival of this season can justify her call to hear "I love you"� From Robert, it also allows us to associate her relationship with Robert as one which brings positive changes into her life. By including the imageries of a "valley"�

And a "wood without her cuckoo-strain"Â? , Browning gives her sonnet a sense of joy and hope and we link this with her being happy about her relationship with Robert, where he provides her with companionship and love. Additionally, Browning's faith in love is presented as "religious"Â?

And "pure" in her sonnets. One must remember that the 19th century is an era where religion plays a huge role in daily life. Sonnet 22 in particular contains many religious references and imageries, and its readers are reminded that even though Browning is not following the conventions of courtly love, she still needs to adhere to the religious values of her era.

The imagery of "two souls standing up"Â? And "wings"Â? Portray the relationship between them two as almost divine-like, where their faith in love will bond them together eternally.

With the metaphor of "angels"‚ and heaven, Browning reflects upon the religious belief that believers go to heaven when they die. Readers will get the impression that love in the 19th century is inseparable from religious faith, where lovers undergo a spiritual experience when they fall in love. Composed in the 20th century, The Great Gatsby is written in a very different context compared to Sonnets from the Portuguese.

The 1920s is a post-war era characterized by rapid economic growth, a period of cultural dynamism in America which is often called the Jazz Age. The modernization of society is evident in the "hydroplane"Â? , "cabs" and Gatsby's "Rolls-Royce"Â?

Which appear in the novel. Gatsby's pursuit of Daisy can be seen as an extension of the American dream. Even though his "perfect girl"�

Is now married to Tom Buchanan, Gatsby strongly believes that he can win her over with his wealth, believing that any goal is achievable as long as you reach towards it with faith. Similar to Browning, Gatsby's love for Daisy transforms him. Gatsby was born into the working class, evident in the descriptions of his teenage days as a "clam-digger".

It is Gatsby's love for Daisy that partially drives him to pursue a hedonistic lifestyle to impress her, leading him to become one of the wealthiest men in America. With the imagery of an "enormous garden"Â? And an orchestra that is "no thin five-piece affair"Â? In his "dazzling parties", Fitzgerald illustrates the extent to which Gatsby is willing to go to pursue Daisy.

His "mansion in the East Egg"Â? Further serves as a symbol for his obsession with material wealth. Fitzgerald further captures Gatsby's faith in winning over Daisy with his action of constantly staring at "the green light"Â?

At the shorelines of the West Egg regularly, and readers understand that Gatsby's life is transformed so that it revolves around pursuing Daisy, and that although his background from a working-class family still bothers him at times, it generally lurks far away in the past. However, The Great Gatsby is different from Sonnets from the Portuguese in that the love affairs in the novel are not governed by religious faith. Not only is there a lack of religious imageries in the novel, but the plot of the novel revolves around activities that are frowned upon by religious people who stick to traditional beliefs.

The plot of the novel involves much infidelity and this is deemed as immoral by the religious community. By characterizing Gatsby as "some big bootlegger"‚� Who "owns some drug-stores", the readers see Gatsby as a man who lacks social responsibility, one that is willing to break the law in order to earn a lot of profit.

Furthermore, the eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg serve as a symbol for God staring down upon the American society.

With the imageries of "grotesque garden"� And"ash-grey men" in the Valley of Ashes, the readers associate the American society of that era as a moral wasteland, juxtaposing with the prosperous and materialistic lifestyle that Gatsby enjoys. As readers of the 21st century, we interpret both texts differently compared to their origin intended audiences due to our own backgrounds.

We still see faith in love as a transformative force where both Elizabeth and Gatsby undergo great changes when they experience love. While Elizabeth's love for Robert liberates her from the restrictions of her society and childhood, Gatsby is transformed from a working class boy to one of the wealthiest man in America in his pursuit of Daisy. However, as modern audiences, we see the role of religious faith in love similar to that portrayed in The Great Gatsby.

While people strongly adhere to religious values during the Victorian era in all aspects of life, we can pursue love in a more nonrestrictive manner like the characters of The Great Gatsby, where religion does not shape our romantic relationships. While the religious imageries in Sonnets of the Portuguese do not directly relate to us, we can still understand them by learning about the context in which the poems are composed in. Through examining these two texts, we realize that while the some qualities of a text are interpreted in the same way for all audiences, some may vary in the meantime.

We can yet an insight into the significance into what the creators are trying to express after understanding the background of the works. This just goes to illustrate the timeless nature of literature. While literary works may be interpreted different by audiences of different social contexts, they appeal to readers of all backgrounds and they can hence transcend their original contexts and convey different messages.

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