Love and desire are presented by the writers as motivations for the main protagonists of all three texts. However, once again in all three writers the destructive forces of obsession and jealousy harm and ultimately destroy the protagonists in some way, whether through their pursuit of love and desire, or through the manipulative and destructive actions of the antagonists . their protagonists to respectively represent the mistake of being in love with the idea of ​​being in love; and, in turn, be destroyed through the pursuit of ideals. Gatsby, Blanche, and Othello do not see their love interests as they really are as people; however, they see them as representing what they want most. To Gatsby, Daisy represents the life of the upper classes and wealth that Gatsby, from his working class background, had always dreamed of, blinding him to his materialistic nature and flaws. For Blanche, Mitch represented an escape from the past she was running from, an opportunity for a new beginning, so despite not seeing him romantically, she agrees to marry him. For Othello, Desdemona represented the ideals of purity and loyalty expected of a woman in Elizabethan England. For him she was the ideal wife, so much so that the idea that her purity was corrupted led him to feel the need to 'purify' her to restore that purity to her. both The Great Gatsby and Othello, it is arguable that Gatsby and Othello had the opportunity to avoid their destruction, yet they both desired love so badly that it consumed them, and the loss of it, or the perception of its loss in Othello's case , led to their destruction. . Shakespeare presents Othello's love as so powerful, that the thought of the loss of this... middle of paper... m, to some extent their love and desire could be seen as a catalyst for their own self- awareness. destructive traits. Othello was insecure because he was a 'moor' and most likely already scarred by years of war. Gatsby has always chased the materialistic ideals of the American dream, even from a young age to try to escape the life he was born into; even his name "Jay Gatsby" is the result of his need to reinvent himself. And Blanche became trapped in her own web of lies in search of affection and financial security. Blanche needed to feel desirable, in a way like Gatsby, she tried to reinvent herself when she arrived at the Champs Elysees. All three protagonists of all three texts made the same mistake. As explored by all three writers, the characters' tragic destruction was brought about by their similar natures. All three were “one who loved not wisely, but too well.”