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Throughout The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald provides a social commentary on cultural excess and moral degradation. Doing so, he posit the tragic consequences depicted in the novel is a result of loosened societal morals.

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The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is a timeless classic set in New York's Long Island during the 1920s. The novel takes place over the course of one summer. Furthermore, Fitzgerald closely follows the lives of four wealthy characters: Nick Carraway (the narrator), Jay Gatsby, and Tom and Daisy Buchanan. Nick and Gatsby live in West Egg, and the Buchanans live across the water in the East Egg. Gatsby is madly in love with Daisy and spends much of his time staring across the water at the green light which illuminates the Buchanan's dock. It is apparent that Daisy also has feelings for Gatsby. However, she is trapped in a sham of a marriage with her adulterous husband. With no easy way of being together, Gatsby decides to throw a series of wild parties in the hope of Daisy coming. Defying the laws of prohibition, these alcohol-fueled parties are the epitome of debauchery and excess. Eventually, Daisy comes to one of the parties. From this moment, her and Gatsby begin to have an affair which becomes increasingly public. Bolstered by the knowledge, of Tom's affair with a woman named Myrtle Wilson, Daisy does not make any attempts at hiding her new relationship from her husband. At the climax of the novel, Gatsby, Nick, Daisy, and Tom are in town. Tom confronts Gatsby, and on the way home, Daisy accidentally hits and kills Myrtle Wilson while driving Gatsby's car. distraught by the death of his wife, George Wilson seeks to get revenge. After being told it was Gatsby's car, George Wilson assumes he was the one responsible for Myrtle's death. In his blind rage, he goes to Gatsby's house and shoots him before killing himself.

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"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" (Fitzgerald).

"And on Mondays eight servants, including an extra gardener, toiled all day with mops and scrubbing-brushes and hammers and garden-shears, repairing the ravages of the night before" (Fitzgerald).

"After returning home and realizing Daisy was married and gone, he set out to earn enough money to win Daisy over, turning to crime via a partnership with Meyer Wolfshiem to quickly amass wealth" (Fitzgerald).

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In The Picture of Dorian Gray, several parallels can be drawn between it and The Great Gatsby. Through the character of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde attempts to illustrate the consequences of obsession and vanity. The plot begins by introducing the reader to Dorian Gray and his friend Basil Hallward. Basil is an artist who admires the beauty of Dorian. Furthermore, Dorian is Basil's muse for his painting inspiration. During one of their portrait sessions, Dorian is introduced to Lord Henry Wotton. Because of Lord Henry's devious reputation, Basil fears that Dorian's innocence will be tarnished. As they spend an increasing amount of time with each other, Lord Henry begins to manipulate Dorian with his hedonistic ideology. Aware of the fleeting nature of youth, Dorian becomes obsessed with the idea of immortality. Looking at the portrait Basil painted, he mentions a desire to remain forever as beautiful as he is in that moment. He even says he is willing to lose his soul if it be possible to have the visage in the painting age rather than his actual self. Carrying on with a commitment to a hedonistic lifestyle, Dorian falls in love with Sibyl Vane, an actress. Proposing to the idea of marrying an actress, he asks for Sibyl's hand in marriage; only to break it off when he discovers her desire to quit acting. Upon returning home, Dorian notices his portrait has changed. The smile turned into a scowl. In this moment, he realizes his wish has come true. Before he can apologize to Sibyl and make things right, he learns that she has killed herself. With the portrait blemished beyond repair, Dorian dives headlong into his new life. Trying to forget about the portrait, he hides it deep in his attic. The climax of the novel occurs when, after 18 years pass, Basil confronts Dorian about his now-scandalous reputation. After showing him the painting, Dorian kills Basil out of rage when the artist becomes disgusted with him. The novel ends with Dorian stabbing the paining with the knife used to kill Basil. When his servants response to a loud noise in the attic, they find Dorian's elderly body lying dead next to an unblemished portrait.

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"There was to be, as Lord Henry had prophesied, a new Hedonism that was to re-create life...it was never to accept any theory or system that would involve the sacrifice of any mode of passionate experience" (Wilde).

"[Society] feels instinctively that manners are of more importance than morals, and, in its opinion, the highest respectability is of much less value than the possession of a good chef" Wilde).

"Upon the walls of the lonely locked room where he had spent so much of his boyhood, he had hung with his own hands the terrible portrait whose changing features showed him the real degradation of his life" (Wilde)

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1. "The Second Coming", by William Butler Yeats            In this poem, Yeats envisions a society thrown into chaos because "The best lack all conviction, while the worst/Are full of passionate intensity" (Yeats). This sentiment mirrors the theme of moral degradation which is explored in The Great Gatsby and The picture of Dorian Gray.

2. "Invictus", by William Ernest Henley                                      Taking a different approach than the Yeats poem, "Invictus" will give students the opportunity to see how the characters in the two novels fall short of the man in the poem. In his poem, Henley portrays a man who overcomes adversity through his steadfast devotion to discipline. Gatsby and Dorian Gray cannot relate to being "the captain of my soul" (Henley).

3. (Video) The Roaring 20's: Crash Course US History #32 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VfOR1XCMf7A        Found on Youtube, the creator of this video provides a cultural overview of the 1920s. I particularly like how the video focused on consumer materialism. This concept digs deeper into the reasons behind the cultural excess seen in The Great Gatsby.

4.  (Article) "The Revolution is Manners and Morals" http://xroads.virginia.edu/~hyper/allen/ch5.html          In a book published by the University of Virginia, this chapter discusses the moral shift in America during the 1920s. Giving students some historical context, they are able to see how events such as the Women's Suffrage Movement have shaped society. After women finally received the right to vote, it set off a chain reaction. With their newfound freedom, women ushered in a more progressive period in America than ever seen before. Along with its many benefits, this new society had several pitfalls and consequences. Moreover, these consequences are what get highlighted in The Great Gatsby.

5. (Song) "Roaring 20s", by Panic! At The Disco                This song embodies the themes of cultural excess and moral degradation in The Great Gatsby with its depiction of people releasing all their inhibitions for the sake of a party.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWSqv-xsc5o