Dominant Influences Aspiration Literature Princeton University Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald Alcohol

Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald 2nd cousin 3 times removed to the author of our nation’s national anthem His name preserves his father’s patriotism Born in St. Paul, MN on 9/24/1896 Father, Edward was from Maryland and upheld his allegiance to the Old South and its values Mother, Mary (Mollie) McQuillan, was the daughter of an Irish immigrant who became wealthy as a wholesale grocer in St. Paul. Both were Catholics.

Princeton University As a member of the Princeton Class of 1917, Fitzgerald neglected his studies for his literary apprenticeship. He wrote the scripts and lyrics for the Princeton Triangle Club musicals and was a contributor to the Princeton Tiger humor magazine and the Nassau Literary Magazine. On academic probation and unlikely to graduate, Fitzgerald joined the army in 1917 and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the infantry.

Zelda Sayre He met while stationed in Alabama, the 18 yr old southern belle, Zelda Sayre. She was the affluent daughter of Alabama’s Supreme Court Justice. Zelda broke their engagement when Fitzgerald’s salary could not afford the lifestyle she was used to.

A Celebrity Couple The publication of This Side of Paradise on March 26, 1920, made the twenty-four-year-old Fitzgerald famous almost overnight, and a week later he married Zelda Sayre in New York. They embarked on an extravagant life as young celebrities. Fitzgerald endeavored to earn a solid literary reputation, but his playboy image impeded the proper assessment of his work.

Francis Scott (Scottie) Fitzgerald The couple’s only child, a girl- Francis Scott Fitzgerald known as “Scottie” was born in October of 1921.

In the fall of 1922 they moved to Great Neck, Long Island, in order to be near Broadway. The distractions of Great Neck and New York prevented Fitzgerald from making progress on his third novel. During this time his drinking increased. He was an alcoholic, but he wrote sober. Zelda Fitzgerald regularly got “tight,” but she was not an alcoholic. There were frequent domestic rows, usually triggered by drinking bouts.

Fitzgerald, the Author Literary opinion makers were reluctant to accord Fitzgerald full marks as a serious craftsman. His reputation as a drinker inspired the myth that he was an irresponsible writer; yet he was a painstaking reviser whose fiction went through layers of drafts. Fitzgerald’s clear, lyrical, colorful, witty style evoked the emotions associated with time and place. When critics objected to Fitzgerald’s concern with love and success, his response was: “But, my God! it was my material, and it was all I had to deal with.”

The chief theme of Fitzgerald’s work is aspiration, the idealism he regarded as defining American character. Another major theme was mutability or loss. As a social historian Fitzgerald became identified with 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,” he wrote in “Echoes of the Jazz Age.”

The Great Gatsby THE GREAT GATSBY (1925) was less popular than Fitzgerald's early works, but it was his masterpiece and the first of three successive novels that give him lasting literary importance. The lively yet deeply moral novel centers around Jay Gatsby, a wealthy bootlegger. It presents a penetrating criticism of the moral emptiness Fitzgerald saw in wealthy American society of the 1920's.

Seeking tranquility for his work the Fitzgeralds went to France in the spring of 1924 . He wrote The Great Gatsby during the summer and fall in Valescure near St. Raphael, but his marriage was damaged by Zelda’s involvement with a French naval aviator. On the Riviera the Fitzgeralds formed a close friendship with  affluent and cultured American expatriates Gerald and Sara Murphy.

The Celebrity Couple’s Fall Fitzgerald turned to alcohol to ease his troubles while Zelda had a breakdown and was put in a mental hospital. Their daughter, Scottie was sent to boarding school and Fitzgerald supported her education financially and corresponded through mail. Fitzgerald fell in love with another woman, Sheilah Graham a movie columnist.

The Couple’s Death Fitzgerald died of a massive heart attack in his mistress’ apartment. Zelda later died in a fire at the mental hospital she was confined to.

Fitzgerald’s Legacy   F. Scott Fitzgerald died believing himself a failure. The obituaries were condescending, and he seemed destined for literary obscurity. By 1960 he had achieved a secure place among America’s enduring writers. The Great Gatsby, a work that seriously examines the theme of aspiration in an American setting, defines the classic American novel.

Culture of the 1920s World War I – ended in 1918 – disillusioned because of the war and the nineteenth century values that helped cause it, the generation that fought and survived has come to be called the “lost generation” American seemed to throw itself into a decade of materialism, a decade that has come to be called the Roaring Twenties

Jazz Age Jazz broke the rules of music – it became a sort of musical rebellion Women demanded the right to vote, right to work outside the home – women symbolically “bobbed” their hair, bared her calves – sleek skirts of the fashionable twenties – “flapper”

Culture 18th amendment – Prohibition – banned alcohol sales from 1919 until 1933 –gangsters illegally sold alcohol Illegal gambling 8 members of the Chicago White Sox were indicted for accepting bribes to throw baseball’s World Series

Culture-Consumption/ Consumerism Era of reckless spending, conspicuous consumption – the most conspicuous – the automobile – advertising was becoming a major industry – huge billboards were set up at the sides of highways

Characters Nick Carraway: Narrator of the novel. A young man from the Midwest (Minnesota) who moves to New York to work in the bond business after having been educated at Yale and having served in World War I. Jay Gatsby: Title character and protagonist of the novel. Also from the Midwest, he moved to Long Island after attaining great wealth and began to throw lavish parties

Characters Daisy Buchanan: Nick’s cousin. Dated Gatsby as a young woman in Louisville, KY. before the war. Married to Tom Buchanan Tom Buchanan: Daisy’s immensely wealthy husband and a friend of Nick’s from Yale. Jordan Baker: Daisy’s friend and a professional golfer. She dates Nick during the novel. Myrtle Wilson: Tom’s mistress and the wife of garage mechanic George. George Wilson: Tom’s garage mechanic.

Gatsby Themes Theme: the corruption of the American dream – (because Americans have been corrupted by the desire for wealth) – Defined: the belief that every man may pursue and attain his chosen goals because America is the land of opportunity limited only by the limit’s of one’s dream (will tie into last chapter)

Gatsby Themes Sight and insight Appearance East and west (experience and innocence) Decay/loss of innocence/disillusionment Title: The Great Gatsby

Gatsby Symbols The green light The eyes of Dr. T. J. Eckleburg The valley of ashes The owl-eyed man Cars Parties/alcohol Colors!!! Places!!! Gatsby’s house, library, clothes