F. Scott Fitzgerald “Genius is the ability to put into effect what is on your mind.”

Biographical Information  Born: September 24, 1896 in St. Paul, Minnesota  Namesake and second cousin three times removed of Francis Scott Key  Father - from Maryland, allegiance to the Old South  Mother - daughter of Irish immigrant who became wealthy as a wholesale grocer  Born: September 24, 1896 in St. Paul, Minnesota  Namesake and second cousin three times removed of Francis Scott Key  Father - from Maryland, allegiance to the Old South  Mother - daughter of Irish immigrant who became wealthy as a wholesale grocer

Education  St. Paul Academy (paid for by mom’s inheritance)  Detective story in school newspaper (13 yrs old)  The Newman School (Catholic Prep School in NJ!)  Princeton University (left without a degree)  Wrote scripts for school musicals  Contributor to Princeton Tiger humor magazine and Nassau Literary Magazine  St. Paul Academy (paid for by mom’s inheritance)  Detective story in school newspaper (13 yrs old)  The Newman School (Catholic Prep School in NJ!)  Princeton University (left without a degree)  Wrote scripts for school musicals  Contributor to Princeton Tiger humor magazine and Nassau Literary Magazine

Writing  Joined Army in 1917  Convinced he’d die in the war; rapidly wrote a novel (The Romantic Egotist)  Was rejected, but publisher encouraged him to revise and resubmit  Rejected a second time, but was finally published as This Side of Paradise  Joined Army in 1917  Convinced he’d die in the war; rapidly wrote a novel (The Romantic Egotist)  Was rejected, but publisher encouraged him to revise and resubmit  Rejected a second time, but was finally published as This Side of Paradise

The Lost Generation  Young people coming of age during and shortly after World War I  Many expatriates settled in France  Younger literary modernists  Feeling a sense of dissatisfaction and ennui with America after the War  Young people coming of age during and shortly after World War I  Many expatriates settled in France  Younger literary modernists  Feeling a sense of dissatisfaction and ennui with America after the War

The Lost Generation  After World War I  Young men and women began to realize that old ideas and beliefs had not saved man from the catastrophe of war  Began to look for a new system of values  New values would replace old system, which they found useless  Believed that “the only reality was that life was harsh”  After World War I  Young men and women began to realize that old ideas and beliefs had not saved man from the catastrophe of war  Began to look for a new system of values  New values would replace old system, which they found useless  Believed that “the only reality was that life was harsh”

Love Life  June, 1918, Camp Sheridan, Montgomery, Alabama  Met and fell in love with celebrated belle Zelda Sayre (18-years old)  Zelda broke engagement  Unwilling to wait until Fitzgerald succeeded in advertisement business  Unwilling to live on his small salary  Publication of This Side of Paradise made him famous overnight, and a week later he married Zelda  June, 1918, Camp Sheridan, Montgomery, Alabama  Met and fell in love with celebrated belle Zelda Sayre (18-years old)  Zelda broke engagement  Unwilling to wait until Fitzgerald succeeded in advertisement business  Unwilling to live on his small salary  Publication of This Side of Paradise made him famous overnight, and a week later he married Zelda

F. Scott and Zelda’s Life  Extravagant, young celebrities  He tried to earn a literary reputation, but his reputation impeded the proper assessment of his work  Settled in St. Paul when Zelda had their first and only child (1921)  Moved to Great Neck, Long Island in order to be near Broadway (he wrote plays, too!)  Extravagant, young celebrities  He tried to earn a literary reputation, but his reputation impeded the proper assessment of his work  Settled in St. Paul when Zelda had their first and only child (1921)  Moved to Great Neck, Long Island in order to be near Broadway (he wrote plays, too!)

Life in New York  Distractions of Great Neck and NYC prevented Fitzgerald from writing his third novel  Drinking increased  Alcoholic, but wrote sober  Frequent fights with Zelda, usually triggered by drinking bouts  Distractions of Great Neck and NYC prevented Fitzgerald from writing his third novel  Drinking increased  Alcoholic, but wrote sober  Frequent fights with Zelda, usually triggered by drinking bouts

Writing Process  Painstaking reviser - many, many drafts  Clear, lyrical, colorful, witty style - evoked emotions associated with the time and place  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”  Wrote Gatsby while in France  Around this time, the marriage was damaged because of Zelda’s involvement with a French naval aviator  Painstaking reviser - many, many drafts  Clear, lyrical, colorful, witty style - evoked emotions associated with the time and place  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”  Wrote Gatsby while in France  Around this time, the marriage was damaged because of Zelda’s involvement with a French naval aviator

Writing Process

More in Europe  Revised Gatsby in while in Rome  Gatsby - first published in April of 1925  Marked striking advance in Fitzgerald’s technique  Complex structure  Controlled narrative point of view  Received critical praise, but sales were disappointing  Revised Gatsby in while in Rome  Gatsby - first published in April of 1925  Marked striking advance in Fitzgerald’s technique  Complex structure  Controlled narrative point of view  Received critical praise, but sales were disappointing

More About Zelda  Behavior became more and more eccentric around 1926  Trained for ballet, hoping to become a professional dancer  Intense training damaged her health  Contributed to the couple’s estrangement  Suffered first breakdown  Suffered relapse in spent rest of her life as a resident or outpatient of sanitariums  Behavior became more and more eccentric around 1926  Trained for ballet, hoping to become a professional dancer  Intense training damaged her health  Contributed to the couple’s estrangement  Suffered first breakdown  Suffered relapse in spent rest of her life as a resident or outpatient of sanitariums

More About Zelda  While a patient at Johns Hopkins, she rapidly wrote Save Me the Waltz (autobiographical novel)  Created bitterness between Zelda and F. Scott (he accused her of using material he was using for his novel in progress)  While a patient at Johns Hopkins, she rapidly wrote Save Me the Waltz (autobiographical novel)  Created bitterness between Zelda and F. Scott (he accused her of using material he was using for his novel in progress)

The “Crack Up”   Ill  Drunk  In debt  Unable to write commercial stories  Could not provide a balanced home for daughter   Ill  Drunk  In debt  Unable to write commercial stories  Could not provide a balanced home for daughter

The End  Got out of debt with a screenwriting contract (which was impressive considering it was the Depression)  Worked as freelance writer  Began The Love of the Last Tycoon in 1939  Had more than half of a working draft when he died of a heart attack in December, 1940  Zelda died in a fire at Highland Hospital  Got out of debt with a screenwriting contract (which was impressive considering it was the Depression)  Worked as freelance writer  Began The Love of the Last Tycoon in 1939  Had more than half of a working draft when he died of a heart attack in December, 1940  Zelda died in a fire at Highland Hospital

Beyond the End  Fitzgerald died considering himself a failure  Obituaries were condescending  Seemed destined for literary obscurity  Interest in his work was revived in the late 1940s and early 1950s - by 1960, he was established as part of the American literary canon  Fitzgerald died considering himself a failure  Obituaries were condescending  Seemed destined for literary obscurity  Interest in his work was revived in the late 1940s and early 1950s - by 1960, he was established as part of the American literary canon

Some Quotes  "I am too much a moralist at heart, and really want to preach at people in some acceptable form, rather than entertain them.”  "What people are ashamed of usually makes a good story.”  “You don’t write because you want to say something; you write because you have something to say.”  "I am too much a moralist at heart, and really want to preach at people in some acceptable form, rather than entertain them.”  "What people are ashamed of usually makes a good story.”  “You don’t write because you want to say something; you write because you have something to say.”