Voice of an Era (the Roaring 20’s) F. Scott Fitzgerald

1. Voice of an Era (the Roaring 20’s) F. Scott Fitzgerald

2. The 1920s: The Jazz Age “It was an age of miracles, it was an age of art, it was an age of excess, and it was an age of satire.” -F. Scott Fitzgerald

3. The 1920s: The Jazz Age • Most serious indictment of the American Dream • Aftermath of World War II • Attitude toward life has changed • Confusion between the spiritual and material • God is money

4. The Early Years • Named after relative, Francis Scott Key • Born in Minnesota • Attended prep school in New Jersey, then Princeton in 1913 • So absorbed in the Triangle (a musical comedy society) he was “invited” to repeat his junior year • Went back to St. Paul, Minnesota, where he fell in love with a wealthy socialite . . .

5. His First “Dream Girl” It was his birthday [Sept. 24th] when he met and fell in love with a beautiful rich girl named Ginevra King. She got engaged to somebody else because Fitzgerald didn’t have many prospects. He later said, “She was the first girl I ever loved … [and] she ended up by throwing me over with the most supreme boredom and indifference.”

6. Zelda Sayre: “The top girl” • Returned to Princeton, still a mediocre student; • In 1917 left Princeton to enlist in WWI • Went to Camp Sheridan where he met Zelda Sayre

7. She loves me . . . She loves me not • Zelda, daughter of Alabama Supreme Court justice and “top girl” of youth society • Became engaged; he went to New York • She broke off the engagement because she was not convinced he could support her • This Side of Paradise was published in 1920; she married him

8. Fitzgerald: The incurable romantic

9. 1925 - The Great Gatsby • The money and fame enabled him to make several trips to Europe • Became friends with expatriate community in Paris, especially with Hemingway

10. Hemingway “Strikes” Hemingway’s A Moveable Feast had some chapters about Fitzgerald and Zelda, whom Hemingway did not like. He created the legend that Zelda was Fitzgerald’s downfall, the ruin of a great American writer

11. Scott and Zelda: An Unhappy ending • Zelda developed schizophrenia in 1930 • She was hospitalized in Maryland • She wrote her fictional account of their lives together in Europe (Save Me the Waltz) • Fitzgerald was able to convince Scribner to change the content

12. Taking Care of Zelda . . . Fitzgerald’s last complete novel, Tender is the Night, came out In 1934. It is the story of a man’s care for a woman at the outset of mental illness. The novel received mixed reviews.

13. The Last Years: Doomed to Obscurity • Fitzgerald felt like he was doing “hack” work in Hollywood; disliked writing for movie studios but did for money • Fitzgerald was living with his lover, a Hollywood gossip columnist • A heavy alcoholic since college, he suffered two heart attacks and died at 44. • Zelda died in a fire in an Asheville, NC, mental hospital. • The year of his death, Fitzgerald’s books sold a total of 72 copies, for royalties of $13.

15. A Great Book: The Great Gatsby Today, The Great Gatsby sells 300,000 copies a year. “There’s no such thing . . . as a flawless novel. But if there is, this is it.” from Charles Jackson’s The Lost Weekend

16. The Great Gatsby: The Movie

17. The Characters • Robert Redford as Jay Gatsby • Mia Farrow as Daisy Buchanan • Sam Waterston as Nick Carraway • Bruce Dern as Tom Buchanan

18. What You Need to Know • Jay Gatsby was a young officer who falls in love with a beautiful young socialite, Daisy. • But while he is away at World War I, she is wooed and won by Tom Buchanan. She admits she did not wait for Jay because he was not rich. • His wealth gained, Jay buys a mansion across the harbor from Daisy, hoping to recapture the past.

19. The Great Gatsby Celebration of youth, beauty, and money A world of illusions The New American Dream Illusion versus Reality

20. Themes in the Novel • The Corruption of the American Dream • Hope • Paradox • Self-Discovery • Illusion versus Reality • Possessiveness and Jealousy

21. The Corruption of the American Dream • Early European settlers believed one could start a new life here, limited only by the limits of one’s dreams. • Jay Gatsby personifies the “extraordinary gift for hope, a romantic readiness” that is the hallmark of the American dream. • Gatsby believes the American dream be bought. The other characters are corrupted by that same belief to some degree. • He believes the past can be recaptured.

22. Important Symbols: The billboard Dr. T.J. Eckleburg An optometrist’s billboard are “the eyes of God”

23. Important Symbols:East Egg Versus West Egg

24. East Egg Versus West Egg • East Egg: Where people with “Old Money” lived • Considered my legitimate wealth • What everyone wants; values • Say they don’t know anyone in West Egg • Daisy and Tom live there

25. Important SymbolsEast Egg Versus West Egg • Considered “trashy” because they got their wealth too easily and probably illegally • Spend money too freely • World of illusion- collapse of America idealism • West Egg: Where people with “New Money” live; Gatsby lives here.

26. Important Symbols:The Valley of Ashes • Road between East Egg and West Egg • Compared to a wasteland; vapid, empty • Home of the poor, working class people • Home of George and Myrtle Wilson (Tom’s mistress)

27. Important Symbols: The American Automobile • Symbol of power, money, and success • Status symbol

28. Important Symbols: The Green Light • Light at the end of Daisy’s pier • Green=renewal, new life (when he gets Daisy), hope