At first glance, it would appear F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby and William Shakespeare's Hamlet are too dissimilar to warrant any kind of comparison. Upon further analysis, however, the two works do have some similarities. The Great Gatsby could be seen as a modern take on Shakespeare's tragic template; just as Hamlet is a member of the Danish royal family, Gatsby is also a member of a kind of royalty, one that draws its power from wealth and social fame. Therefore, Gatsby becomes a kind of modernist king, and so the arc of his downfall can be seen to parallel the downfall of tragic Shakespearean heroes like Hamlet. There are also reasons why Gatsby's love for Daisy, like Hamlet's love for Ophelia, is not considered a good idea by many of the characters, although the issue in The Great Gatsby is that Daisy is already married, while the concerns about Ophelia and Hamlet's relationship lie in the fact that Hamlet is a prince (Ophelia is not a member of royalty) and his seeming descent into insanity. Additionally, like Hamlet (and Lear, and most of Shakespeare's tragic protagonists), Gatsby possesses tragic flaws (such as an addiction to superficial, material wealth) that ultimately lead to his downfall. The comparison isn't perfect by any means, but it is intriguing to think of Gatsby as Fitzgerald's Americanized version of Shakespeare's tragic heroes.
It's important to remember, however, that there are still many differences between the two works. Hamlet, for example, is at its core a tale of revenge, while Gatsby focuses on yearning for fulfillment and an exploration of the American Dream. Additionally, the forms of the two works are radically different: Fitzgerald's is a novel, while Shakespeare's is a play written primarily in verse. As such, while it's useful to try comparing the two pieces, it's also important to remember significant differences exist between them.
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