The living-room was crowded to the doors with a set of tapestried furniture entirely too large for it, so that to move about was to stumble continually over scenes of ladies swinging in the gardens of Versailles.
Chapter 2 · Narrator
Context
Nick describes the interior of the apartment Tom keeps for his affair with Myrtle, located on the top floor of a building at 158th Street.
Analysis
The oversized furniture in the small apartment symbolizes Myrtle's aspirations exceeding her actual station—she reaches for aristocratic grandeur (Versailles) but achieves only cramped imitation. The image of 'stumbling over scenes of ladies swinging in the gardens of Versailles' creates a comic collision between the aristocratic ideal and the sordid reality of a kept woman's apartment. The tapestry's subject matter—leisure and luxury—ironically comments on the tawdry pretension of the space.
How to Use in Essay
Strong choice for essays on Fitzgerald's use of material objects as social commentary, the theme of aspiration versus reality, or the satirical portrayal of class imitation.