The Great Gatsby

The Life & Timesof

F. Scott Fitzgerald&

F. Scott Fitzgerald Born in Saint Paul, Minnesota

in 1896(-1940), Fitzgerald is attributed to having written, among other novels and short stories, the “great American novel” of the Jazz Age, The Great Gatsby.

“F. Scott Fitzgerald's life is a tragic example of both sides of the American Dream - the joys of young love, wealth and success, and the tragedies associated with excess and failure.” - Erika Willett

Fitzgerald’s MuseAt 21 years old, he submitted his first novel for publication, which was rejected, but with words of encouragement. While in the army, stationed in Alabama in 1918, he met and fell in love with an 18-year-old Southern belle - Zelda Sayre. Unfortunately, his measly salary was not enough to convince Zelda to marry him, and tired of waiting for him to make his fortune, she broke their engagement in 1919. When his revised novel was finally accepted (after Fitzgerald rewrote it for the third time) and published, Fitzgerald, suddenly a rich and famous author, married Zelda.

The Fitzgeralds enjoyed fame and fortune, and his novels reflected their lifestyle, describing in semi-autobiographical fiction the privileged lives of wealthy, aspiring socialites. The extravagant living made possible by such success, however, took its toll. Constantly globe-trotting (living all over Europe and the United States), the Fitzgeralds tried in vain to escape from Scott's alcoholism and Zelda's breakdowns and mental illness.

Post-WWI America

America had just come out of one of the bloodiest and most violent episodes in this nation's history: World War One. Young people had sacrificed their lives for a war that had taken

place on an entirely separate continent. With many families losing fathers, sons, and husbands in the

war, the entire society was submerged in disillusionment, skepticism, cultural experimentation, and hedonism…

After suffering through this tragic war, Americans felt entitled to having fun and concentrating their energies on finding pleasure and comfort in order to forget about the war and the deep emotional and social scars that they had suffered.

Conservatism and moderation were thrown out of the national window - instead, pleasure-seeking and fast times became the national values.

Themes of the “Jazz Age” (1920’s)

The 1920's were an era of optimism and big dreams - a time when individuals felt that they could leave behind their pasts completely and could become anyone they wanted to be. It seemed as if any person could rise to become a member of the social or economic elite. It was a decade obsessed with superlatives - with being the most beautiful, the most powerful, the most wealthy.

The country also experienced an economic boom unlike any other that allowed the values of materialism and ambition to take over the American mindset, creating new classes of consumers and entrepreneurs.

“Jazz Age” Economy The Roaring Twenties was a decade of great economic growth and

widespread prosperity driven by: recovery from wartime devastation and postponed spending a boom in construction & industrial growth rapid growth in the use of consumer goods such as automobiles

telephones, motion pictures, and electricity significant changes in lifestyle and culture

The media focused on celebrities, especially sports heroes and movie stars, as cities rooted for their home team and filled the new palace-like cinemas and gigantic stadiums. In most major countries women won the right to vote for the first time.

The U.S. economy, which had successfully transitioned from a wartime economy to a peacetime economy, boomed and provided loans for a European boom as well. However, there were sectors that were stagnant, especially farming and mining. The U.S. became the richest country in the world, its industry focused on mass production and its society drifted into consumerism.

In response to the rise in the Temperance movement, the 18th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution instituted the national prohibition of alcohol from 1920…

…to it’s repeal in 1933.

The Temperance Movement

A social (and typically religious) movement urging moderation in the consumption of alcoholic beverages through: Criticism of excessive

alcohol consumption Promotion of complete

abstinence from alcohol political influence to press

the government to regulate the availability of alcohol

During the Victorian period, the temperance movement became more radical, advocating the legal prohibition of all alcohol, rather than just calling for moderation.

The Drunkard's Progress: an 1846 lithograph in support of Temperance.

Bootlegging verb: to make, transport, or

sell something, especially liquor, illegally or without registration or payment of taxes.

The term is American slang (1889) and comes from the trick of concealing something (originally a flask of liquor) down the leg of a high boot.

Prohibition ended the legal sale of liquor and thereby created demand for an illicit, or illegal, supply.

Bootleggers smuggled in alcohol from Canada, Cuba, and the West Indies. Bootleg alcohol is what fueled the work of Organized crime. The business of bootleg alcohol was highly profitable for everyone involved which often fueled the Mafia or gang wars.

By the late 1920's more than 1 million gallons of bootleg liquor had been illegally brought into the United States.

Speakeasies were created to supply the demand for banned drinking. Speakeasies were formed very quickly after the 18th amendment was passed and in 1925 there were reportedly 100,000 speakeasies in New York alone.

Flapper Fashion

A fashionable flapper had short sleek hair, a shorter than average shapeless shift dress, wore make up and applied it in public, smoked with a long cigarette holder, exposed her limbs and epitomized the spirit of a reckless rebel who danced the nights away in the Jazz Age.

Flapper fashion embraced all things and styles modern. 

In the 1920s, fashion entered the modern era. It was the decade in which women first abandoned the more restricting fashions of past years and began to wear more comfortable clothes (short skirts & trousers). Men also abandoned highly formal daily attire and even began to wear athletic clothing for the first time. Most suits men wear today are still based on those worn in the late 1920s.

Now, Let’s Get to Gatsby…