All these metaphors use our experiences of physical objucts, as contains or as persons, and help us to understand abstract phenomena like emotions, states and activities。 

2。2 The history of study on The Great Gatsby

 The history of study on The Great Gatsby is profound both international and domestic。 T。 S。 Eliot read this novel and commented the novel was “the first step that American fiction has taken since Henry James”。 Due to historical and social factor, The Great Gatsby was studied fifty years later than west countries in china。 The Great Gatsby was introduced into China from the end of 1970s。  The researchers tend to give a brief data on metaphor or symbol all the time, and focus on banquet and color, even study about writing skills。 However, few people focus on metaphorical meaning of the houses in the novel。 Zhao Aohua once searched the symbolic meaning of the houses, and proposed that the houses symbolize social status and personal glory (Zhao Aohua, 2005: 101-104)。  文献综述

This paper mainly analyzes the metaphorical meaning of the houses from the perspective of metaphor in detail, especially combines the metaphorical meaning of the house with the American Dream and women’s cages。 It aims to explain the women in the novel are victims rather than inflicters。 The metaphor of the houses map to the social domain to stimulate the positive emotions and right critical significance of society。

3。 The Metaphorical Meaning of the Houses

The houses, as the subject matter of a novel, are mentioned many times in American literature。 In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald describes houses in detail in order to show readers cultural prevalence, social conflict, and characters’ destiny。

3。1 Metaphor of the corrupted American Dream

According to structural metaphor of Conceptual Metaphor Theory, houses, which are the target, is conventionally structured in terms of The American Dream, which is the source。 Lakoff and Johnson proposed that we not only speak in metaphorical terms, but also think in metaphorical terms。 The essence of metaphor is understanding and experiencing one kind of thing in terms of another。 The American Dream can help us to understand the metaphorical meaning of the houses。