F.S. FITZGERALD

F.s. Fitzgerald

By Marco Calesella

Introduction

Francis Scott Fitzgerald was an American writer and a scriptwriter, author of novels and short stories. He is considered as one of the major authors of the Jazz Age and of the century.

index

Life

The Jazz Age

Style

Major works

This Side of Paradise

The Great Gatsby

Tender Is the Night

The curios case of Benjamin Button

Curiosities

Timeline

24/09/1896

1913

1917

1920

1920

Born in Saint Paul

Studyied at Princeton University

Published "This Side of Paradise"

Joined the army

Married Zelda Sayre

Timeline

1922

1925

1934

1939

1940

Publihed Tales of The Jazz Age and The Beautiful Damned

Published The Great Gatsby

Began his last novel, The Last Tycoon, which remained unfinished

Published Tender Is the Night

Died of heart attack

The jazz age

The Jazz Age is a period after the First World War, when all the european influences disappeared from American literature. This period was full of excitement due to the radical changes in the way people behaved and thought. There was a reaction against the strict puritan morality, especially evident in young people with roaring cars and new dances like Charleston. The novelists dealt with the Jazz Age, like Fitzgerald, describing the glamour of the society but with the awareness of the moral desert behind it.

The style

Fitzgerald uses vivid imagery and metaphors to provide a visual picture of his characters and settings and incorporate deeper meaning beyond just physical appearance.

Major works

This Side of Paradise

Published in 1920, it's his first novel and provides a picture of the life of young people during the "Roaring Twenties"

The Great Gatsby

Published in 1925, it's considered as his masterpiece. It tells the story of Jay Gatsby, a self-made millionaire, and his pursuit of Daisy Buchanan, a wealthy young woman whom he loved in his youth.

Tender Is the Night

Published in 1934, in this novel the author dealt with the failure of the dreams and the ideas of the twenties.

This side of paradise

The story is about Amory Blaine, a wealthy and charming young man born in 1896 in a Catholic Irish family of the middle class. As a teenager, Amory is aware of his intelligence, charisma, and selfishness, showing himself to be competitive and determined in seeking social success. During his years at Princeton, he hopes for eternal loves, but romantic disappointments, academic failures, and financial difficulties lead him to realize the ephemeral nature of his dreams. Involved in the First World War, upon his return, Amory realizes that youth is over, leaving him to reflect on lost illusions and shattered dreams.

The great gatsby

The story is set in New York, in a fictional area called 'West Egg' where Nick Carraway, the main character, has just moved.There Nick meets his neighbour, Jay Gatsby, and they become friends. Jay tells him his story, he is a self-made man, from a middle-class family. Before the war Jay had a relationship with Nick's cousin, Daisy, but she decided to marry Tom Buchanan while Jay was in Europe.Thanks to Nick, Daisy and Jay start an affair.During a lunch at Buchanan's house, Daisy has a fight with Tom, and while driving back home, she runs over Tom's mistress, Myrtle, who dies. Myrtle's husband, who knows that the car was Gatsby's one, kills Gatsby.Nick arranges a funeral for Jay and goes back home, where he consider that the American dream is over.

The great gatsby

Nick Carraway, the protagonist, could be considered as the representation af the author, the only one with sense of moral and decency. Nick is also the narrator, a retrospective one, who looks back to an experience he has lived. This way, Fitzgerald refuses a cronological order, to give the impression of Nick's experiences. There is a strong use of symbolism: the car represents the destructive power of modern society, Gatsby's house of melancholy and loneliness. Blindness is also a very important image: characters don't wish to see.

tender is the night

"Tender Is the Night" is set in 1920s France and follows the story of Dick and Nicole Diver, a wealthy American couple. Dick is a brilliant psychiatrist and Nicole is a former patient afflicted with mental illness. The plot follows their complicated relationship as they travel across Europe, facing issues such as infidelity, alcoholism, and the decline of their relationship. During their journey, they encounter various interesting characters, including Rosemary Hoyt, a young actress with whom Dick has an affair.Ultimately, Dick and Nicole confront the crisis in their relationship and the loss of their dreams, as the novel reflects on the disillusionments of life and the fleeting nature of happiness.

The curios case of benjamin button

This is a short story, part of the collection "The Tales of the Jazz Age".In this book is told the unique story of Benjamin Button, a person whose age goes from old to young.Benjamin is born as a seventy years old man, and during his life e keeps on becoming younger and younger, ending as a newborn.During his life he takes part in wars and has a child, but all his relationships end due to his different aging.

CUriosities

• Despite being known for his novels, Fitzgerald had difficulties with spelling and may have suffered from dyslexia.
• Fitzgerald and Hemingway became close friends after meeting in Paris in 1925. Their relationship wasn't easy due to Hemingway's dislike of Zelda.
• About 150,000 copies of The Great Gatsby were sent to American soildiers

Thank you for the attention!