The Great Gatsby: Context: F Scott Fitzgerald

F. Scott Fitzgerald: A Brief Biography

Born in 1896, Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald was an American author who is widely admired as one of the greatest writers of the 20th century.
Fitzgerald had a tumultuous life filled with excess and financial instability, which greatly influenced his literary works.
He is renowned for his lyrical prose, his exploration of themes like wealth, desire, and the American Dream, and his critique of American high society during the Roaring Twenties.

The Impact of Fitzgerald’s Personal Life on ‘The Great Gatsby’

Fitzgerald’s own pursuit of wealth, status, and romantic idealization is mirrored in his character Jay Gatsby. Like his protagonist, Fitzgerald was a man from a modest background who sought to improve his social standing, often to his detriment.
His turbulent marriage with Zelda Sayre - a personification of the liberated and reckless youth of the 1920s - influenced the characterisation of Daisy Buchanan.
His life and work were also deeply impacted by his struggles with alcoholism, which are echoed in the excessive lifestyle and destructive tendencies of the novel’s characters.

Fitzgerald’s Perception of the American Dream

Fitzgerald was highly critical of the American Dream, the idea that one can achieve anything through hard work and determination, viewing it as a destructive illusion.
This viewpoint can be discerned in the unfulfilled aspirations of Jay Gatsby, illustrating Fitzgerald’s cynical view of the societal promise.
The novel reveals the hollowness of the American Dream by highlighting the corrupt and soulless nature of wealth and success in the Jazz Age.

‘The Roaring Twenties’ and Fitzgerald

Dubbed as the spokesman of the “Lost Generation”, Fitzgerald captured the spirit of the Roaring Twenties, characterised by a post-war boom in economy, rampant consumerism, and changing social norms.
His novel, ‘The Great Gatsby’, reflects the excess and flamboyance of the decade, coupled with its darker undertones of disillusionment and moral decay.
His characters’ cavalier treatment of wealth and love mirror the societal extravagance and moral ambiguity of this era.

Depression Era and Fitzgerald

By the end of the 1920s, Fitzgerald’s fortune and personal life were in ruins, coinciding with the crash of the stock market and the onset of the Great Depression.
Fitzgerald’s later works, including his stories and unfinished novel ‘The Last Tycoon’, reflect this bleak period of American history and his own personal despair.
This depressive era contrasts sharply with the carefree, hedonistic era depicted in ‘The Great Gatsby’, showing Fitzgerald’s ability to portray the highs and lows of the American experience.