Transcript An Introduction to The Great Gatsby: The Life and Times of

• Born into an upper-class family in St.
Paul, Minnesota in 1896.
• Was encouraged to become a writer
at the age of 15, and seriously began
to hone his craft while attending
Princeton University as a student.
• However, Fitzgerald was not
considered a good student, and after
being placed on academic probation,
he dropped out of Princeton in
favour of joining the army in 1917.
• The war ended however in 1918, before he was ever
deployed. At the time, he was stationed in Alabama.
• While in Alabama, he fell in love with a court justice’s
daughter, Zelda Sayre.
• After the war ended, he moved to New York City, trying
desperately to get Zelda to marry him. When she was
convinced that he could not support her, the engagement
was called off.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SeyjCSFesoY
• Fitzgerald did end up marrying Zelda in 1920, after the
success of his semi-autobiographical novel, This Side of
Paradise.
• They became famous in New York City, in part because
of his literary achievements, but also because of their
crazy, excessive lifestyle.
• However, their marriage did have its fair share of
problems.
• In their 20s, his alcoholism increased, and she exhibited
signs of erratic behavior, leading her to end up in a
psychiatric facility for schizophrenia
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYoSi-LwvWI
• While Zelda was in the hospital, Scott began seeing another
woman.
• At one point, he spoke about how he was cheated out of his
dream by Zelda.
• After a disastrous vacation in 1938, the two split up, never
to see each other again.
• During the 20’s, Scott and Zelda made
several trips to Europe, mostly Paris.
• He made many friends with the American
expatriate community – a group of
writers, artists, and intellectuals, who
chose to leave the U.S. because they
found it too artistically, intellectually,
politically, racially, or sexually limiting or
even oppressive.
• Some of his friends included writers Ford
Maddox Ford & Edith Wharton, author/
playwright Gertrude Stein, and his closest
friend, author Ernest Hemingway.
• Fitzgerald was the more recognized and successful of the two, and
took Hemingway under his wing, acting as a mentor, manager, and
editor.
• However, with Hemingway’s success, came a reversal in the role
between the two of them – Hemingway now acting as the mentor to
Fitzgerald
• Eventually the two lost touch, after Fitzgerald got tired of
complimenting his friend, and Hemingway criticized Fitzgerald one
too many times for Zelda’s lavish lifestyle and Scott’s obsession with
creating a commercial hit rather than a good novel.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kw9spMYA-XU
• Having been a heavy drinker since college, Fitzgerald’s
drinking caused him a variety of health problems in the
1930s, including bouts of tuberculosis.
• In the 1930s, he suffered from 2 heart attacks, one of which
was the cause of his death.
• He was 44 when he died, leaving one novel unfinished.
• Fitzgerald’s writing was considered to be quite modern for
its time.
• He often used a lot symbolic imagery within his stories and
the characters he created, which helped convey the inner
emotions of the characters.
• His characters are also considered much more realistic;
rather than have a specific hero, his characters are flawed
and not necessarily reliable or relatable.
• At times though, his writing could be considered pompous
and overly-dramatic, however, readers must keep in mind
that the style at the time was brand new and that
Fitzgerald helped to define it.
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novels include:
 The Great Gatsby
 This Side of Paradise
 The Beautiful and Damned
 Tender is the Night
 The Love of the Last Tycoon (published posthumously)
He also wrote numerous short stories, newspaper articles, etc.
• Written in 1925, it is considered to be Fitzgerald’s magnum opus (his
masterpiece).
• When it was first released, it received mixed reviews and did not sell very
well – in fact, it only sold 20,000 copies.
• Fitzgerald died believing that his book was a failure.
• However, during World War II, The Great Gatsby proved to be a success with
soldiers overseas, which helped to increase its popularity at home.
• It began reselling at a high rate during the 1960s.
• Since then, there have been 6 film adaptations, 1 opera, 4 spin-off books,
different radio shows, various theatre performances, etc.
• It is now considered to be one of the greatest American novels of the 21st
century.
• ENJOY THE NOVEL!