F. Scott Fitzgerald The Great Gatsby and The Roaring Twenties
1920-1929: Changing Times The 1920’s were a time of unprecedented social and technological change in so many areas: An economy stimulated by WW1 fueled a massive economic boom.
General Business Conditions Stable prices High employment Number of firms increased annually until 1929 Steady failure rate Prime interest rate averaged less than 5% Stock yield higher than bond yields
Income Distribution Equalizing effect of income tax during the war but 1922: Top 1% held 32% of nation’s wealth 1929: Top 1% held 38% of nation’s wealth “The rich get rich and the poor get… children”
The Roaring Twenties The decade of the twenties is often referred to as the “ Jazz Age’. However, the term has much as much to do with the jazzy atmosphere of the time as with the music!
Jazzy Sounds Prohibition brought many jazz musicians north from New Orleans to Chicago and New York Joe “King” Oliver” was one of the best Jazz became the soundtrack of rebellion for a younger generation
Jazzy Duds Flappers were typical young girls of the twenties, usually with bobbed hair, short skirts, rolled stockings, and powdered knees! They danced the night away doing the Charleston and the Black Bottom.
Jazzy Talk -Twenties Slang Gee I wish a torpedo would bump off this flat tire All Wet - wrong Bee’s Knees - a superb person Big Cheese -an important person Bump Off - to murder Dumb Dora - a stupid girl Flat Tire - a dull, boring person Gam - a girls leg Hooch - bootleg liquor Hoofer - chorus girl Torpedo - a hired gunman Dumb Dora
Prohibition Prohibition was a period of nearly fourteen years of U.S. history in which the manufacture, sale, and transportation of liquor was made illegal. It led to the first and only time an Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was repealed. The Volstead Act allowed alcohol consumption if it was prescribed by a doctor. Needless to say, large numbers of new prescriptions were written for alcohol. For people who didn't buy cases of alcohol in advance or know a "good" doctor, there were illegal ways to drink during Prohibition. A new breed of gangster arose during this period. Al Capone in Chicago is one of the most famous gangsters of this time period.
F Scott Fitzgerald Descendent from “prominent” American stock Attended Princeton but left without graduating Missed WWI (just) Met Zelda but couldn’t afford to marry her Published This Side of Paradise in 1920 at the age of 24: instant stardom Married Zelda, his “golden girl” Wrote “money-making” popular fiction for most of his life, mainly for the New York Post: $4000 a story (which equates to about $50,000 today) He and Zelda were associated with high living of the Jazz Age
Fitzgerald Continued A daughter, Scotty Wrote what is considered his masterpiece, The Great Gatsby, in Europe in 1924-25 Zelda has an affair and Gatsby poorly received Attempts to earn a clean literary reputation were disrupted by his reputation as a drunk Zelda becomes mentally unstable Moved to Hollywood as a screen writer Dies almost forgotten aged 45 Zelda perished in a mental hospital fire in 1948 Only became a “literary great” in the 1960’s
Literature of the 1920s Authors wrote about their personal lives as something “knowable”. Gatsby contains a great deal of autobiographical material and references to the 1920’s.
The Modernist Era Rejection of Romanticism and the advent of moral uncertainty World War I is over Embracing the new i.e. mechanization and industrialization Cars New (replaceable) fashions Mass entertainment Using new means of Representation Development of cinema Mass media and advertising
The Great Gatsby Characters Nick Caraway – Narrator Jay Gatsby- mysterious man, protagonist Daisy Buchanan – Nick’s cousin Tom Buchanan – Daisy’s wealthy husband Jordan Baker – Daisy’s friend Myrtle Wilson – Tom’s lover George Wilson – Myrtle’s husband
Themes Money Honesty Decline of “The American Dream” Gender Class