Dream as a Basic Concept in the Novel “The Great Gatsby” by F.S. Fitzgerald

Abstract

This paper addresses the procedure and results of the conceptual analysis of the concept of ‘dream’ in Fitzgerald’s novel “The Great Gatsby”. The initial stage of the conceptual analysis was presupposition. The next stage was to analyse lexical level of the text. The third step was to analyse all contexts. Then, these data were compared with dictionary definitions to show common and specific features in representing the concept. After that the researchers proceeded to model the concept sphere structure. Then, the researchers regarded syntactic positions of the lexical units implementing the concept of ‘dream’ in the novel and modelled its propositional structure. The author’s specificity of the concept is that ‘dream’ in Fitzgerald’s view becomes a living being, not an idea-regulator. This living being is struggling, but is defeated, because there are no conditions for its survival in the writer’s reality.