I had the gates brought in from a castle in Normandy.The Great Gatsby · 2013 — Chapter 9 of 18 · 7'41" · B2
Gatsby Shows Daisy His Mansion, Explained: If it wasn't for
Gatsby's house tour is pure courtship: imported gates, a façade that catches the light, a state-of-the-art camera, and drawers of shirts he throws into the air until Daisy breaks down. "Because I've never seen such beautiful shirts before," she says — and everyone in the room understands it isn't about the shirts.
What happens
Gatsby takes Daisy and Nick through his West Egg mansion: gates shipped from a Normandy castle, a house whose whole front catches the light, a new camera, a round of golf. Then he opens his closet and throws armfuls of shirts into the air. Daisy, overwhelmed, cries — and later they step outside to look at the green light across the bay.
Listen for
If it wasn't fordiminished by onesuch beautiful shirtscatch the light
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Phrase of the scene
If it wasn't for
要不是因为；多亏（或都怪）
盖茨比在豪宅里望向海湾对岸，对黛西说雾挡住了那盏绿灯。
If it wasn't for your help, I'd never have finished.
Also in this scene
- diminished by one
少了一件；被减掉一个
- such beautiful shirts
这么漂亮的衬衫
- catch the light
to reflect or pick up light in a way that makes something look good
Everything marked in this scene
35 notes across 128 lines
causative
I had the gates brought in from a castle in Normandy.liaison
I had the gates brought in from a castle in Normandy.- ...all alone? - Well, I don't.I keep it always full of interesting, celebrated people.The house looks well, doesn't it?to reflect or pick up light in a way that makes something look good
See the way the whole front catches the light like that?I'll show you how it's done.I'm such a brute.I'm such a brute....all night. GATSBY: Ewing's a genius, plays anything.I've never seen anything like it.He sends over a selection at......the beginning of each season.You're going to have to refold......every single one of them.It makes me sad.weak form
It makes me sad.Five lost years...Because I've never seen such beautiful shirts before.If it wasn't for the mist......at the end of your dock....it had occurred to Gatsby that...formal subject
...it had occurred to Gatsby that......the colossal significance of that light...And his count of enchanted objects had diminished by one.He used to be my best friend many years ago.These are a lot of clippings I collected....end in nothing. Come home.I'll be here waiting and hoping......long dream of you to come true.He must know what a small town is.I wish I'd done everything on earth with you.liaison
I wish I'd done everything on earth with you.subjunctive
I wish it could always be like this.Gatsby Shows Daisy His Mansion, explained
What's really going on
The tour is Gatsby's love letter, staged in objects. He doesn't say he's in love; he shows a young woman a life so complete that she only has to step into it. "He used to be my best friend many years ago," he says of the photo of Dan Cody — a hint that everything on display is a piece of a self he built. Daisy's collapse in the shirts is the scene's turn: "Because I've never seen such beautiful shirts before." It reads as delight, but it's grief — five lost years colliding with the wealth he assembled to win her back. Outside, the green light across the bay loses its magic: "And his count of enchanted objects had diminished by one." The dream shrinks back to a lamp.
Theme
RomanceGatsby stages a whole tour as a courtship, using his mansion and shirts to speak for him before he says what he wants.
DreamsThe green light loses its enchantment once Daisy is beside him, shrinking a dream back to a dock lamp.
What you'll learn
- Use old sport as a warm nickname
- Hear the shirt tears as irony
- Use I wish for regret and hope
- Catch of no use as worthless
Listen for
- brought in from — liaison
- makes me sad — weak form
- on earth — liaison
Because I've never seen such beautiful shirts before.Daisy's excuse for crying. On the surface it's about shirts; underneath, it's the first sign that Gatsby's display has touched something she can't name.
And his count of enchanted objects had diminished by one.Nick's poetic way of saying the green light has lost its magic now that Gatsby's dream is within reach — one more enchanted thing gone.
He used to be my best friend many years ago.Gatsby's line about Dan Cody, the mentor in the photograph. It hints that his polished life is assembled from borrowed, past lives.
I wish it could always be like this.The fragile hope at the end of the tour, just before Gatsby's fantasy meets reality. It asks to freeze a happiness the story will not allow.
Questions about this scene
Why does Daisy cry over Gatsby's shirts?
The shirts epitomize the life Gatsby built to win her. Their sheer excess — and the care behind them — hits her as beauty and as loss at once, so she breaks down over something that is, on its face, trivial.
Who is Dan Cody in the photograph?
Gatsby calls him his best friend from many years ago and doesn't explain more. In the story he is the millionaire yachtsman who first showed Gatsby the kind of life he would spend years trying to recreate.
Why does the green light lose its magic here?
For most of the film it stands for Gatsby's hope and his longing for Daisy. Here, with Daisy finally beside him, Nick says its enchantment fades — the symbol turns back into "just a green light on a dock."
Is Gatsby showing off, or is he trying to impress Daisy?
Both, but the tour is aimed at Daisy specifically. The gates, the house, and the shirts are all arguments in his favor; he is courting her with things because the words come later, in the form of a request.
The Great Gatsby · 18 chapters
All chapters →
Up next · Chapter 10to your likingTom and Daisy Join Gatsby's Party
Chapter 1reserve all judgmentsNick Begins His Story
Chapter 2have the decencyNick Dines with the Buchanans
Chapter 3sit on the sidelineTom's Secret Apartment Party
Chapter 4old sportNick Searches for Gatsby
Chapter 5a pack of liesGatsby Tells Nick His Life Story
Chapter 6keeps his mouth shutGatsby's Lunch with a Gambler
Chapter 7pomp and circumstanceJordan Tells Gatsby's Backstory
Chapter 8acting like a little boyGatsby's Awkward Reunion with Daisy
Watching · Chapter 9If it wasn't forGatsby Shows Daisy His Mansion
Chapter 10to your likingTom and Daisy Join Gatsby's Party
Chapter 11make a point ofDaisy Wants to Run Away
Chapter 12repeat the pastGatsby Refuses to Let the Past Go
Chapter 13Have it your own wayGatsby Meets Tom at Lunch
Chapter 14Nobody From NowhereTom Calls Gatsby Nobody From Nowhere
Chapter 15in our bloodTom Exposes Gatsby at the Hotel
Chapter 16pull yourself togetherThe Yellow Car After the Crash
Chapter 17keep your voice downGatsby Waits Outside Daisy's House
Chapter 18made something of myselfGatsby Keeps Vigil Until DawnChapter 9 of 18 · about 37 min to go