Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald was a writer very much of his own time. “As Malcolm Cowley once put it, he lived in a room full of clocks and calendars” (Donaldson). Fitzgerald was born Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald on September 24, 1896, in St. Paul, Minnesota. Scott spent most of his first decade in Buffalo and Syracuse, due to his father's job. When Proctor and Gamble let Edward Fitzgerald go, he returned his family to Saint Paul, where he began consuming large amounts of alcohol, which later plays an immense role in Scott's adult life. The hardships with the loss of three sisters, his relationship with Zelda Sayre, and his unique ability to synthesize both the world around him and the artistic drive within him is what influenced Scott to write the amazing stories, plays, and novels that have went down in American literature as some of the most remarkable pieces of literature to ever be wrote. Scott Fitzgerald's writing was enormously inspired by the loss of his three sisters, his relationships with Zelda Sayre, and his ability to separate the world and his work. The first years of Scott's life were colored by grief and loss. The Fitzgerald family was in deep mourning the afternoon that Scott was born, due to the loss of Mollie and Edward Fitzgerald's two daughters that both died from an illness almost three months before Mollie gave birth to Scott. “Although his mother never spoke of the deaths of her first two children, Scott claimed he felt the effects” (Boon 13). Fitzgerald associated the tragedy of his sisters with his career as a writer. A little more than three years later, another sister was born into the family, but only lived one hour. The deaths of his sisters heavily affected his life as a child and an adult. Fitzgera... ... middle of paper ... ...reflects a lot on recollections of his childhood and a young child's longing for the material things in life, until he realizes over the years when he has became a successful and wealthy adult that the greatest value of dreams resides in hard work and striving, not in fulfillment. A majority of Fitzgerald's writings mirror his relationship with Zelda Sayre. Zelda suffered several breakdowns in both her physical and mental health, and sought treatment in and out of clinics from 1930 until her death. “Zelda's mental illness, the subject of Fitzgerald's fourth novel, Tender is the Night, had a debilitating effect on Scott's writing” (Palmisano). The extravagant living made possible by Fitzgerald's success, however, took its toll. Constantly globe-trotting, the Fitzgeralds tried to vain to escape or at least seek respite from Zelda's mental illness and Scott's alcoholism.
F. Scott Fitzgerald said, “I am not a great man, but sometimes I think the impersonal and objective quality of my talent, and the sacrifices of it, in pieces, to preserve its essential value has some sort of epic grandeur” (“F. Scott Fitzgerald” St. James). Fitzgerald had heavy drinking problems and faced many financial failures throughout his life of writing but has proved to be gifted in many ways of writing. Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald was a short story writer, an essayist, and a novelist that was most famous during the Jazz Age of the 1920s and the Great Depression of the 1930s.
“Life is essentially a cheat and its conditions are those of defeat; the redeeming things are not happiness and pleasure but the deeper satisfactions that come out of struggle”- F. Scott Fitzgerald. Written by F. Scott Fitzgerald published in 1934, Tender is the Night is a novel about wealth and prosperity and the breakdown of love and marriage. Fitzgerald uses foreshadowing, symbolism, imagery and tone to emphasize that human frailty leads to downfall.
Francis Scott Fitzgerald also known under his writer’s name, F. Scott Fitzgerald, is revered as a famous American novelist for his writing masterpieces in the 1920’s and 1930’s. F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote about his extravagant lifestyle in America that his wife, Zelda, their friends, and him lived during that era. In fact, a lot of his novels and essays were based off of real-life situations with exaggerated plots and twists. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novels were the readers looking glass into his tragic life that resulted in sad endings in his books, and ultimately his own life.
Zelda Fitzgerald, wife of famous author F. Scott Fitzgerald, lived an extravagant life. Her life may not have been well known in the same way that her husbands was, but many people still knew of her nonetheless. Fitzgerald was born on July 24, 1900 in Montgomery, Alabama. Her family was rather well known throughout the government. Fitzgerald’s father, Anthony Dickinson Sayre, served on the Supreme Court of Alabama. Zelda’s great-uncle and grandfather served in the United States Senate. Her mother was Minnie Buckner Machen Sayre. Fitzgerald was the youngest among her five siblings. During her adolescence, she was a dancer. She also challenged the normal things a teenage girl her age would do by drinking, smoking, and socializing with boys. She
F. Scott Fitzgerald was born September 24th, 1896, in St. Paul, Minnesota. His first novel's achievement made him well-known and allowed him to marry Zelda, but he later derived into drinking while his wife had developed many mental problems. Right after the “failed” Tender is the Night, Fitzgerald moved to Hollywood to become a scriptwriter. He died at the age of 44 of a heart attack in 1940, his final novel only half way completed.
Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald was born on September 24, 1896 in St. Paul, Minnesota. There, he attended Saint Paul Academy where his passion for writing began. At thirteen, he completed his first story that was published in the Academy’s newspaper. Later, Fitzgerald moved to New Jersey and attended the Newman school for two years from 1911 to 1913. Fitzgerald went on to attend Princeton University; there he wrote scripts and lyrics for the musicals performed at the University. He also contributed greatly to the Princeton Tiger and Nassau Literary Magazines.
Fitzgerald was gaining notoriety. It was said to be a representation of the free lifestyle and relaxed morals of what became known as the "Lost Generation.” This couple “personified the immense lure of the East, of young fame, of dissolution and early death.” (Milford, 2011, p. 6) She was said to be his muse, but there was also talk that he plagiarized much of his writing from her journals. In addition, to inspiring his major heroines, she supplied him with many other memorable lines. “Much has been written on Zelda Fitzgerald as F. Scott Fitzgerald's muse and as a victim of mental illness.” (Grogan, 2015, p.110) Zelda was considered an embodiment of the Jazz Age (1920-1929), and had a very tumultuous, substance abuse filled life with Mr.
...im to critique American society in the 1920s, and Zelda specifically was the inspiration for the character of Daisy Buchanan. The parallel can be drawn between the two women when examining their similarly wealthy upbringings and their selfish personalities. It is often said that the key to good writing is to ‘write what you know’, and in this case, Fitzgerald did just that- this novel is basically a thinly veiled autobiography. His unpleasant life experiences led him to be very critical of the wealthy, and it was ultimately his own wife that inspired this criticism. However, the importance of this great novel is not that its author drew on life experience to craft his critique. While that is interesting, what really matters is that it continues to be taught, because Fitzgerald’s message that society is corrupted is certainly one that still applies today.
Scott Fitzgerald was born on September 24, 1896, in St. Paul, Minnesota. He attended Princeton University, but flunked out and joined the US army. While in the army, he met the love of his life Zelda. Zelda refused to commit to him without him having a steady job. After being discharged, he moved to New York City to pursue a career of advertising. After only a few months, he returned to St. Paul to continue his writing career. His first novel's success made him famous and let him marry the woman he loved. His recently found fame gave him a bad reputation that made some people see him as less than a serious literary genius. The Fitzgeralds enjoyed fame and fortune, and the characters in The Great Gatsby closely resemble these characteristics. In The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby is very wealthy and successful, which is what Fitzgerald strived for his entire life. The life Fitzgerald led and the life he wished to lead is reflected in the extravagant life of Jay Gatsby. Gatsby and Fitzgerald were also similar in their devotion to their lovers. Although Zelda spent her final years in an asylum, Fitzgerald continued to be loyal to her. Gatsby spent his entire trying to win back the love of his life, even when things seemed hopeless.
F. Scott Fitzgerald lived a short life of only forty-four years. He underwent many struggles during his lifetime, including alcoholism and the marital psychological issues with his ill wife. Although he experienced many rough patches throughout his lifetime, Fitzgerald was able to become one of the most well known American Authors of the 20th century. Fitzgerald was also able to be known as one of the most prominent novelists and short story writers of the 20th century. During his life time, Fitzgerald would have never dreamt of the importance his posthumous life has on the world today. He truly is the Spokesperson of the Jazz Age.
In 1898 at Saint Paul, Minnesota, born into a middle-upper class family, Fitzgerald was named after his famous second cousin Francis Scott Key but he finally went by the familiar name Scott Fitzgerald. Also he was named after his late sister, Louise Scott, one of two sisters who died shortly before his birth. "Well, three months before I was born my mother lost her other two children ... I think I started then to be a writer." His parents were Mollie (McQuillan) and Edward Fitzgerald. His mother was of Irish ancestry, and his father had Irish and English descent.
Grenberg, Bruce L. "Fitzgerald's 'Figured Curtain': Personality and History in Tender Is the Night." In Critical Essays on F. Scott Fitzgerald's Tender Is the Night, ed. Milton R. Stern. Boston: G. K. Hall, 1986.
On Wednesday February 12 of 1890 F. Scott Fitzgerald's parents were married in Washington D.C. Six years later on September 24, 1896 Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald was born at his home 481 Laurel Ave. in St. Paul, Minnesota. His two infant older sisters had died from a violent influenza so that by the time Fitzgerald came along Mollie Fitzgerald had become the proverbial nightmare that known as an overprotective mother. Fitzgerald's mother was no traditional mother though, for she was known for her eccentricities. These eccentricities disturbed young Scott's life, "Fitzgerald later described his mother as 'half insane with pathological nervous worry'" (Bruccoli 15), but nothing worried anyone in the family so much as his father's failure to hold down a job. It was because his father lost his job as a wicker furniture manufacturer and salesman the family was forced to move from St. Paul to Buffalo in April of 1898, where his father began work for Proctor and Gamble. In January of 1901 the family moved from Buffalo to Syracuse where Edward had been transferred by his employer and where, on Sunday July 21, 1901 Scott's younger sister Annabel was born. Just two years later the family was back in Buffalo and just five years after that the family had returned to St. Paul and Grandma McQuillan's money.
When luxuriant lifestyles of the 1920s, commonly labeled the Roaring ‘20s, come about, morality and individual ethics go instantaneously out of style. Along with these poor morals, crass materialism becomes widespread among the fortunate, transforming noblesse oblige into an unpopular belief, and furthermore leaving those incapable of tremendous success back in the dust. The inevitable alterations in morality repeatedly occur as America continues to progress, and several traits similar to those of the 1920s are visible today. Fitzgerald’s use of The Great Gatsby for social commentary is parallel to today’s social atmosphere.
Bruccoli, Matthew J. and Judith S. Baughman. Reader's Companion to F. Scott Fitzgerald's Tender Is the Night.