THE JAZZ AGE

F. Scott Fitzgerald1896-1940—Minnesota

Named for ancestor—Francis Scott Key

Coined the term “Jazz Age” to describe the time period (1920s) he both critiqued and participated in

“Bad student”—later went to Princeton

WWI—never went overseas

Stationed in Alabama—fell in love with Zelda Sayre

1920—first novel, This Side of Paradise published

1920—married Zelda, moved to NYC

Heart of 1920 social scene in NYC

Lived in France, then returned to St. Paul, Minnesota

Daughter Frances born

1925—published The Great Gatsby (financial failure)

Hollywood

1930—Zelda suffers mental breakdown

1940—Fitzgerald dies of heart failure, The Last Tycoon published after his death

THE GREAT GATSBY: The American Dream?

F. Scott Fitzgerald and Family

Zelda Fitzgerald:

Zelda—A search for identity

“She refused to be bored, chiefly because she wasn't boring.”

“I am really only myself when I'm somebody else whom I have endowed with these wonderful qualities from my imagination.”

High school yearbook quote:

“Why should all life be work, when we all can borrow.Let's think only of today, and not worry about tomorrow”

Born 1900, grew into a“rebel” woman in Montgomery, Alabama

Fitzgerald called her the “first American flapper”

Hungered for new experiences/identity

Painter, writer, dancer, wife

1930—mental breakdown, in and out of mental asylums for the rest of her life (schizophrenia)

Died 1948--fire

FLAPPERS

“The Flapper”

“I don't want to live, I want to love first and live incidentally.”

Short, bobbed hair

Short skirts, no corsets, “boyish” figure, makeup

Sexual liberation

Drinking/smoking/dancing/jazz (Charleston)

THE ROARING 1920s