'America is a land of lost dreams and failed hopes.' Comparing and contrasting A Streetcar Named Desire and The Great Gatsby, to what extent can this be said to be true? F. Scott Fitzgerald: The Great Gatsby, an American Novel of the 20th Century Jazz Age. First published in 1925, set in Long Island and New York City, it presents a true American dream come to life. Tennessee Williams': A Streetcar Named Desire, a play written in the late 1940s, set in New Orleans, Louisiana, the tragic play of a woman who comes to seek help from her infatuated sister, only to find misery and madness at the hands of a "typical" man. “The American Dream” is a key theme throughout The Great Gatsby. “Almost every demonstration of complete self-sufficiency elicits from me an astonished tribute,” “He clung to some last hope.” These quotes, while brief, give a general idea of ​​how important "The American Dream" was and how it was idealized within the novel. However there was a decline of "The American Dream" during the 1920s, on the surface, The Great Gatsby is the story of the thwarted love between a man and a woman (Gatsby and Daisy). The main theme of the novel, however, paints a less romantic scene. Although the novel is set during the summer of 1922 and is set in the vicinity of Long Island, New York, The Great Gatsby is a great depiction of American history as a whole during that time period, particularly the decline of the American Dream in a historical period. era of wealth and prosperity. A key image within The Great Gatsby is the extravagant parties held in his materialistic mansion, Gatsby creates this world of glamor and celebration to show off his wealth and power to Daisy, however in this world the uses of color foreshadow the end of 'The American Dre... middle of paper... her for making life appear as it should be rather than as it is. Stanley, a practical man firmly rooted in the physical world, disdains Blanche's inventions and does everything he can to expose them. The antagonistic relationship between Blanche and Stanley is a struggle between appearance and reality. It gives impetus to the plot of the work and creates an overall tension. Ultimately, Blanche's attempts to remake her own and Stella's existence - to rejuvenate her life and save Stella from a life with Stanley - fail. In A Streetcar Named Desire and The Great Gatsby we see the end of an "American dream", within Blanche. and Gatsby. However, we see that the dream continues to live on in the various characters in both the play and the novel. But the dream has already been destroyed by American society, which can be said to be represented by every character in both writings.