Osler's Razor

The past two days, I have discussed two incredible works: La Traviata and the Great Gatsby. The two are paired in my mind, and I have been searching for a reason.

Here is what I've got: The two have, at their core, the idea that love is greater than anything else.

In the Great Gatsby, we see people who have everything, it seems. They are well educated and wealthy, they have great parties, and they seem to have it made. Yet, they are not just unhappy, but unsettled and unfulfilled. None of them have love of any kind-- not faith, not real friendship, not romantic love. The only one of them, in fact, who even knows what he wants is Gatsby-- he wants Daisy to love him back, but he fails in that quest. In the absence of true love, they all despair in their own way, even among their riches.

In La Traviata, Violetta enjoys the company of many men in Paris, but only finds bliss and fulfillment when she attains true love with Alfredo once they isolate themselves from their former lives. In time she is convinced to leave Alfredo, and without love (once she has known it) she withers with disease.

That idea, that love (in whatever form) is necessary to real happiness... is it right?