Jazz Age and The Great Gatsby By: Janice Group of women / photo by Harry M. Rhoads. Source: Library of Congress – American Memory

Modernism 1910-1940 55 years after the end of Unit Two It arose as a direct response to the social and intellectual forces shaping the 20th century These writers responded to the loss of both the immediate and the long-term effects of WWI Experimentation Sometimes focused on alienation

Why did they call it the Jazz Age? Image Source: Microsoft Office Clipart

Jazz Age (1920s) Some Americans, disillusioned with the traditional values that had led to war, sought escape in the pleasure of entertainment and good times. As incomes rose, people were able to spend more money on goods and leisure activities. Many young people began, for the first time, to rebel as a group against the values of the past and the authority of their elders

Jazz Age They experimented with new fashions and new attitudes, actively seeking out fun and freedom.

Prohibition was a key component of the Jazz Age. Prohibition Bust Source: Library of Congress – American Memory

Prohibition 1920-1933 Alcohol was made illegal In defiance of this restriction, many people drank in illegal nightclubs called speakeasies, as gangsters made fortunes running and supplying the clubs At the fancy Cotton Club in New York’s Harlem neighborhood, the guests-all white-rubbed shoulders with celebrities and gangsters as they listened to the great jazz performers-all black-who helped give the era its name

The 18th Amendment states: “After one year from the ratification of this article the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors within, the importation thereof into, or the exportation thereof from the United States and all territory subject to the jurisdiction thereof for beverage purposes is hereby prohibited.” Led by the Anti-Saloon League and the Women's Christian Temperance Union, the dry forces had triumphed by linking Prohibition to a variety of Progressive era social causes. Proponents of Prohibition included many women reformers who were concerned about alcohol's link to wife beating and child abuse and industrialists, such as Henry Ford, who were concerned about the impact of drinking on labor productivity. Advocates of Prohibition argued that outlawing drinking would eliminate corruption, end machine politics, and help Americanize immigrants. Even before the 18th Amendment was ratified, about 65 percent of the country had already banned alcohol. In 1916, seven states adopted anti-liquor laws, bringing the number of states to 19 that prohibited the manufacture and sale of alcoholic beverages. America's entry into World War I made Prohibition seem patriotic since many breweries were owned by German Americans.

In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby , the main character, Jay Gatz was a self-made man from the sales of bootlegged whiskey. Cugat, Francis. “Great Gatsby Book Jacket Design” Facts AboutFitzgerald. F. Scott Fitzgerald Centenary. http://www.sc.edu/fitzgerald/facts/6gifs/famous-jacket.gif

Source: Library of Congress – American Memory In the grand ballroom of Fitzgerald’s home, guests would dance all night to big band tunes like “The Charleston.” This was how the characters in The Great Gatsby entertained themselves. They would drink and dance the night away. “Fitzgerald’s House” Built in America - Historic American Buildings Survey/ Historic American Engineering Record 1933 – Present Source: Library of Congress – American Memory

Source: Library of Congress – American Memory The main characters of the novel Jay Gatz and Daisy Buchannan were based on F.Scott Fitzgerald and his wife in real life, Zelda. F. Scott Fitzgerald Source: Library of Congress – American Memory

Source: Library of Congress – American Memory Daisy the main character from The Great Gatsby, exemplified the traits of a flapper woman from the “roaring twenties” Jazz Age. Cover illustration, Life magazine, February 18, 1926, showing a well dressed old man dancing with a flapper Source: Library of Congress – American Memory

Women of the era Women of the period saw their lives change in fundamental ways In 1920, the 19th Amendment finally gave women the right to vote Flapper-an emancipated young woman who embraced new fashions and the urban attitudes of the day By 1930, ten million American women were earning wages in the workplace

Images Source: Microsoft Office Clipart Women’s fashions and hairstyles were daring and revealing during the Jazz Age. Women began to express themselves. This was the early stages of the feminist movement. Images Source: Microsoft Office Clipart

1920s New York City became a haven for gangsters as well as an example of a modern city welcoming the automobile with new roads and bridges. The city became a symbol of casting out the old ways for the new.

Fitzgerald was known for his accurate description of the Jazz Age Fitzgerald was known for his accurate description of the Jazz Age. His works reflect the key events of his own life. Portrait of F. Scott Fitzgerald Source: Library of Congress – American Memory

About F. Scott Fitzgerald Born in 1896 in St. Paul, Minnesota Named for ancestor Frances Scott Key Wrote plays and short stories in his teens Went to Princeton University in 1913 Entered World War One in 1917 While stationed in Camp Sheridan in Alabama he fell in love with Zelda Sayre from Montgomery, Alabama He courted her, but she turned down his marriage proposal because of his lack of money

Rewrote the novel and renamed it This Side of Paradise and it was published in 1920 Zelda married him after the novel was published They lived the life of glitz and glamour in New York and Paris Later they moved to St. Paul where their daughter Scottie was born In 1925, Fitzgerald wrote The Great Gatsby (a nearly flawless novel according to critics) In 1930, Zelda suffered a mental breakdown In 1940, Fitzgerald died.

Fitzgerald was a product of the Jazz Age, but coming from St Fitzgerald was a product of the Jazz Age, but coming from St. Paul, he was considered somewhat of an outsider. It was while attending Princeton that he began a lifelong association with wealthy people whom he wrote about in his novels.

Louie Armstrong was one of the most famous musicians of the Jazz Age. Portrait of Louis Armstrong, Aquarium New York: 1946 Source: Library of Congress – American Memory

The Setting Set in and around New York City during the Jazz Age or the Roaring Twenties.

Harlem Black musicians contributed greatly to the time period (the Jazz Age) but they also contributed with literature and poetry which we will look at more in the future.

Main Characters Jay Gatsby – a wealthy and mysterious resident of West Egg who throws lavish parties and is a former suitor of Daisy Buchanan

Nick Carraway Novel’s narrator, who leaves his Midwestern home to seek his fortune in New York

Tom Buchanan Wealthy resident of the more fashionable East Egg, Daisy’s husband and well-known polo player

Daisy Buchanan Nick’s cousin and wife of Tom, former Southern belle taken with Gatsby before the War

Jordan Baker Daisy’s friend and golf pro, a love interest for Nick

Myrtle Wilson Wife of poor garage owner in West Egg who is also Tom Buchanan’s mistress

George Wilson Myrtle’s husband

Create a Web Diagram Based on the information given to you, connect these characters using a web diagram.

What is it about? On the surface, The Great Gatsby is a story of the thwarted love between a man and a woman.

Theme: Nature of true love Gatsby’s commitment to his romantic ideal found in Daisy, contrasted with Tom Buchanan’s infidelities.

The American Dream Prosperity Own property Pursuit of happiness Discovery Individualism

The American Dream A person from any social background could, potentially, make a fortune, but the American aristocracy—families with old wealth—scorned the newly rich industrialists and speculators. The passage of the Eighteenth Amendment in 1919, which banned the sale of alcohol, created a thriving underworld designed to satisfy the massive demand for bootleg liquor among rich and poor alike.

Theme: Decay of the American Dream The Great Gatsby is a highly symbolic meditation on 1920s America as a whole, in particular the decay of the American dream in an era of unprecedented prosperity and material excess.

Fitzgerald portrays the 1920s as an era of decayed social and moral values, evidenced in its overarching cynicism, greed, and empty pursuit of pleasure. The reckless jubilance that led to decadent parties and wild jazz music—epitomized in The Great Gatsby by the opulent parties that Gatsby throws every Saturday night—resulted ultimately in the corruption of the American dream, as the unrestrained desire for money and pleasure surpassed more noble goals.

Theme: Relationship between money and happiness All the characters struggle with their relationship with money and how it is gained as well as what it represents.

Theme: Significance of Outward Appearance Life of the very rich and its superficiality; Gatsby’s parties and the attendees who are not even his friends.

Symbolism As with most novels, there is symbolism in this book. Symbols include: the green light, the Valley of Ashes, the eyes of Dr. TJ Eckleburg, and the seasons