Background Notes for the quintessential American Novel The Great Gatsby Background Notes for the quintessential American Novel
F. Scott Fitzgerald Born 1896 Catholic ‘respectable’ family from St. Paul Minnesota ‘Shabby Genteel’ family: -upper middle class traditions -no real financial security
F. Scott Fitzgerald Private prep school education St. Paul Academy Princeton University in 1913 1. Romance with flighty, wealthy Ginerva King from Chicago (unattainable) 2. Dropped out sophomore year (‘illness’) 3. Returned for his junior year 4. Dropped out (for good) his senior year and took Army commission of 2nd Lieutenant November 1917 note: WWI had begun in 1914, US entered 1917
F. Scott Fitzgerald and Zelda F. Scott stationed in Alabama (not Europe) Met 2nd love: Zelda Sayre 1. Courted in Alabama 2. Wealthy debutante, courted by many men 3. F. Scott wanted to marry immediately 4. Zelda refused until he could demonstrate financial solvency to maintain her accustomed lifestyle 5. WWI ended in 1918, so Fitzgerald heads to NYC
Fitzgerald on a Mission in NYC Decorates his apartment with rejection slips for eight months Zelda claims love in her letters to him Moves home with parents in St. Paul to write full-time Began to publish and get rave commercial and academic reviews Returns to NYC
Fitzgerald Making Progress Published This Side of Paradise 1921 Married Zelda one week after publication Became ‘golden boy’ of the Roaring 20s
Being the Fitzgeralds Luxury apartment in NYC Alcoholism . . . both parties suffered Party lifestyle non-stop Famous friends, outrageous parties, unlimited funds Spent all $ as they made it Trips to Europe (Paris regularly) with friends
The Fitzgerald Marriage Daughter, ‘Scottie’ Published The Beautiful and the Damned Moved to Long Island
The Fitzgerald Marriage Zelda writes a novel and paints Family moves to Europe in 1924 -Zelda has affair with French aviator -Drinking escalates Fitzgerald writes The Great Gatsby Publishes garbage to support lifestyle Status surpassed by Hemingway & TS Eliot
The Saga Continues . . F. Scott publishes Tender is the Night in 1934 Zelda has three psychotic breaks -obsesses over becoming a ballerina -institutionalized (bipolar? schizophrenic?) -Expensive need: permanent placement in institution Writes for Hollywood Has affair with Sheila Graham (London)
What Would Freud Say?
The Downward Spiral Writes The Last Tycoon No publications; literary death November & December 1940: two heart attacks and death
And What of Zelda???? Outlived Fitzgerald at institution Burned to death in a 1947 fire while committed In a cruel twist, Fitzgerald’s works were ‘rediscovered’ in the 1960s
On Fitzgerald’s gravestone: “So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.”
A Historical Context for Gatsby World War I ended in 1918 1. Isolationism starts 2. Shift from idealism to hedonism -Trench warfare -Dread of death -Dead husbands, fathers, sons
Living for Today 4. Flappers 5. Jazz music 6. Mood of rebellion 3. Speakeasy parties (Prohibition) 4. Flappers 5. Jazz music 6. Mood of rebellion 7. Outrageous dancing
Women in the 1920s . . . more essential context 1882 Married Woman’s Property Act 1920 19th Amendment passes Coco Chanel eliminates the corset
More historical context . . . Amelia Earhart became famous aviator and made pants fashionable for women Birth control was considered illegal and profane. Margaret Sanger fought for this right for all US women
And more context . . . Over 40% of US women worked, contrary to popular misconceptions Most worked in dangerous working conditions for little pay
More ceiling shattering Babe Didrickson Zaharius won many gold medals in the olympics Madame CJ Walker began the first African American beauty supply company and became a mogul
But still . . . Women, overall, had little social, financial, or political power. Marrying for romantic love was a luxury most women did not have. Often, marriages were arranged by parents based on finance and status.