# Epigraph explained — The Great Gatsby

> Chapter companion for The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald.

## What happens

A four-line poem attributed to Thomas Parke d'Invilliers, which serves as the book's epigraph. It presents a cynical view of courtship, suggesting that extravagant displays of wealth and effort (symbolized by a gold hat and high bouncing) are the means to win a woman's affection.

## Themes in this chapter

### The American Dream & Illusion

The epigraph immediately frames the novel's central critique. It reduces the pursuit of love and success to a performative, materialistic display ('gold hat'), suggesting the American Dream is built on illusion and the commodification of desire.

### Love and Desire

Love is presented as something to be acquired through performance and material proof. The lover's actions are calculated to elicit a specific cry ('I must have you!'), portraying desire as transactional rather than genuine.

## Key lines

> Then wear the gold hat, if that will move her;

Use the external symbol of wealth and status if that's what it takes to attract her.

_Establishes materialism as a primary tool for winning affection._

> If you can bounce high, bounce for her too, Till she cry 'Lover, gold-hatted, high-bouncing lover, I must have you!'

Exert all your energy and perform spectacularly until she is overcome by the image you've created and demands to possess you.

_Highlights the performative, exhausting nature of the pursuit and the ultimate goal: to be desired as an objectified ideal ('gold-hatted, high-bouncing lover')._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_great_gatsby/chapters/epigraph
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_great_gatsby
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_great_gatsby/chapters