F. Scott Fitzgerald & The Great Gatsby

The Roaring 20 ’ s  The 20 ’ s are also referred to as “ The Jazz Age, ” a term coined by F. Scott Fitzgerald  The Jazz Age began with the end of WWI, at a time when, for the first time, the U.S. had emerged as a world power.  The Jazz Age ended with the stock market crash of  This decade saw changes in lifestyle and technology that revolutionized American life in such a way that it has never been the same since.

The Great Gatsby Era in America  Model-T became a way of life and people could travel as never before  Mail order catalogues, such as Sears, came out and Americans had access to world’s biggest stores  Hollywood was becoming a factory of the world’s daydreams; Wall Street – the world’s money mart  Americans became obsessed with the frivolous: alcohol, music, dancing, and sex

F. Scott Fitzgerald  said to be representative of the American viewpoint because: He was one of America’s greatest dreamers. He was one of America’s greatest dreamers. He reflected America’s exaggerated hopes and dreams, especially The American Dream. He reflected America’s exaggerated hopes and dreams, especially The American Dream. He was self-indulgent. He was self-indulgent. He was passionate and committed and he died “with his boots on.” He was passionate and committed and he died “with his boots on.”

Early Biography  Born Sept. 24, 1896 in St. Paul, Minnesota. Full name Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald  His parents were Mary McQuillan, the daughter of Irish immigrants, and Edward Fitzgerald, a salesman. Both were Catholic.  His early life is shaped by the fact that his mother’s family is wealthy but his father is unsuccessful at business so money is always an issue. He is poor but he attends prep. Schools (St. Paul Academy, then the Newman School, a Catholic prep school in New Jersey) which make him feel like an outsider.

 Enters Princeton University in Tries, unsuccessfully, to play for the football team.  Writes for the Princeton Tiger and begins to write and act in plays. Impresses peers this way.  Falls in love with Genevra King, a wealthy young socialite but is rejected. He is not wealthy enough.  drops out of Princeton  returns to Princeton

Scott & Zelda Fitzgerald  On academic probation, Fitzgerald joined the army as a 2nd lieutenant in 1917 as a second lieutenant.  First novel attempt, The Romantic Egoist, is rejected.  June 1918: While on assignment in Montgomery, AL, he fell in love with Zelda Sayre, daughter of an Alabama Supreme Court judge.  She broke off their engagement in 1919 (end of WWI) because she was unwilling to live on Scott’s small salary. Theirs is one of the great love stories of their time!

Literary Career Beginnings  Working in advertising, Fitzgerald is living with his parents and writing.  June 1919: Fitzgerald returns to St. Paul, MN to rewrite his novel, This Side of Paradise.  In the fall of that year, he begins writing stories in mass-circulation magazines.  He wrote many stories for the Saturday Evening Post describing the free-thinking flappers of the 1920’s.

Overnight Fame Overnight Fame  March 26, 1920: This Side of Paradise is published, making the 24 year-old Fitzgerald famous almost overnight.  This Side of Paradise captured the hopes of success of Americans but also the fears of failure and poverty.  One week later, he marries Zelda Sayre in New York. NOTE: * A reoccurring theme that runs throughout Fitzgerald’s best works is that happiness and success are unattainable.

“He could glamorize wealth and yet stand away from the people who had it – and look at their values with utter detachment and sometimes with horror.”

 During the next 5-10 years, Zelda and F. Scott Fitzgerald are at the center of Jazz Age culture, and regularly appear in gossip magazines. They were the talk of the town! What was their life like? She was wild! Some would say CRAZY!She was wild! Some would say CRAZY! He was an alcoholic!He was an alcoholic! They partied hard!They partied hard! He worked hard also.He worked hard also. They both had affairs but loved each other deeply!They both had affairs but loved each other deeply!

Their Extravagant Living  Scott & Zelda begin to live as young celebrities, socializing and drinking heavily.  They take their first trip to Europe in  October 1921: Their first and only child, Frances Scott (Scottie) Fitzgerald is born.

Early Stumbling  1922 – The Beautiful and the Damned  1922 – Tales of the Jazz Age (short stories)  Fall, 1922: The young family moves to Great Neck, NY, expecting to earn a lot of money from Scott’s play, The Vegetable.  1923: The play bombs, and Scott has to write short stories to get out of debt.  Scott’s drinking increases. He and Zelda fight often.

Fitzgerald and the Expatriates  During the mid 1920’s in Paris, Fitzgerald becomes part of the group of expatriate American writers which included Ernest Hemingway, Gertrude Stein, and Ezra Pound.

Further Estrangement  During the 1920’s, Scott and Zelda’s relationship continues to be strained due to his drinking and her mental instability. They live in Paris, the Riviera, and a mansion near Wilmington, DE.  Even though Fitzgerald earns about $4,000 per story (equal to about $40,000 today), he and Zelda continue to run into debt.

Gatsby is Born  Spring 1924: The Fitzgeralds go to France.  Summer 1924: Scott starts writing The Great Gatsby. Zelda has a relationship with a French pilot.  Winter : The Fitzgeralds go to Rome where Scott revises Gatsby.  April 1925:The Great Gatsby – the defining novel of the 20’s – critical reviews are positive, but sales remain low.

1930’s 1930’s  The Fitzgeralds rent a house in Montgomery, AL in Scott makes an unsuccessful trip to Hollywood; Zelda suffers a mental breakdown in 1932 and is hospitalized.  Suffering her first of many emotional breakdowns, Zelda is hospitalized in Paris. Later diagnosed with schizophrenia.  As his popularity as a novelist declines, Fitzgerald begins to work on movie scripts for MGM to work himself out of debt. He despises Hollywood, and despises himself for having to write “commercially.”

 : Scott drinks, gets into more debt, and lives in hotels near Asheville, NC. Zelda enters a nearby hospital As Zelda’s mental state worsens, the Fitzgeralds gradually separate.  Tender is the Night (last finished novel) is unpopular because it is published after the start of The Great Depression and it is about people with money. People didn’t want to read about success and excess when they didn’t have enough!

The Last Years  Despite earning $91,000 from MGM, he is unable to save any money.  1938: He falls in love with Sheilah Graham, a movie columnist.  Dec 21, 1940: Fitzgerald dies of a heart attack in Graham’s apartment.  —Zelda Fitzgerald spends next eight years in and out of institutions and dies in a fire at Highland Hospital in Ashland, NC in  His unfinished novel is The Last Tycoon about Hollywood.  Summer 1937: Fitzgerald goes to Hollywood with a screenwriting contract earning $1,000/ week.

Fitzgerald’s Death “On December 21, the Winter Solstice -- the author F. Scott Fitzgerald jolted to his feet from a green armchair, grasped hold of a marble mantlepiece, and fell down dead of a massive heart attack. He was forty-four years old. His woman companion of three-and-a half years ran out into the hallway and began knocking frantically on doors of their small Hollywood apartment building on Laurel Avenue, just south of Sunset Boulevard, crying desperately for help. She refused to accept that Scott was dead, even later when the ambulance came, and a fire engine also, and a fireman stood over the body and shook his head. The name of the woman was Sheilah Graham, Fitzgerald's last heroine -- a young, pretty Hollywood newspaper columnist.” --Robert Westbrook, son of Sheilah Graham

Fitzgerald’s Legacy  Although Fitzgerald’s drinking gave him a reputation as an irresponsible writer, he was a painstaking reviser.  While he endured a lot of criticism just after his death, his reputation grew in the 1960’s.  Today, he is considered one of the great American novelists, and The Great Gatsby is considered his masterpiece.

“Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgiastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that’s no matter – tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther... And one fine morning ” This quote describing Gatsby at the end of his novel could just as easily describe Fitzgerald himself.

Enduring Associations  Fitzgerald has become identified with the extravagant living of 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.” “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.” --F. Scott Fitzgerald --F. Scott Fitzgerald  He felt that aspiration and idealism defined America and its people.  His writing style is known for being clear, lyrical, and witty.

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