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Social change in the 1920s
Social change in the 1920s
Social change in the 1920s
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The Great Gatsby In the novel The Great Gatsby it is greatly seen how the roaring 20’s was a booming society after the World War One. The Roaring Twenties was a period when economic success was sustained. This was a time to rejoice as well as a time to overcome the restrictions of the Victorian era. The fashion in the 20’s was less restricting than the past years and began to wear more comfortable clothes such as short skirts or trousers, the music was all about the jazz and the alcohol and dancing this was rapidly developing in Chicago, the most popular dances during the decade the foxtrot, waltz, and American tango. The fashion in the 20’s were also called the flapper era, Women’s fashions in the early 1920's experienced powerful changes
following the end of the first world war, in a period often referred to as the roaring 20's, the era of the flapper. The dresses in the 20’s were lighter due to less material and new synthetic fabrics and brighter and shorter than ever before.
Fashion of the 1920’s was also known as the roaring 20’s. Fashion in the 1920’s became more relaxed in the 20’s. In the early 1920’s the normal fashion was dropped waistlines, long, cylindrical skirts, 7” to 10” below the knee. Women finally received the right to vote, with this new right women also
The fashion of the 1920’s varied in style, color, and material in comparison to the modern day fashion we have today. The 1920’s, also known as the Roaring Twenties, was a time period where people went against traditions and tried different styles and ideas. Fur coats, bow pumps, tailored suits, and wool sweaters are just a small portion of what people wore in the 1920’s. However, fashion from the 1920’s can be divided into more complex branches such as social class, sports events, and occupations.
In The Great Gatsby written by F. Scott Fitzgerald money, power, and the fulfillment of dreams is what the story’s about. On the surface the story is about love but underneath it is about the decay of society’s morals and how the American dream is a fantasy, only money and power matter. Money, power, and dreams relate to each other by way of three of the characters in the book, Gatsby, Daisy, and Tom. Gatsby is the dreamer, Daisy cares about money, and Tom desires and needs power. People who have no money dream of money. People who have money want to be powerful. People who have power have money to back them up. Fitzgerald writes this book with disgust towards the collapse of the American society. Also the purposeless existences that many people lived, when they should have been fulfilling their potential. American people lacked all important factors to make life worthwhile.
Throughout the novel The Great Gatsby, there is a constant theme present: social class. Fitzgerald makes a connection between the theme of social class, and the settings in the novel for example The Valley of Ashes which is described as a “desolate area of land” (p.21) and a “solemn dumping ground” (p.21) which is where the poor people live. The Valley of Ashes is situated between West Egg and New York, West Egg being the place where the aspiring classes are situated, which is the “less fashionable of the two” (p.8), this is where Gatsby lives. West Egg is the place of ‘new money’, Fitzgerald shows this by the idea of the main character Jay Gatsby, rumoured to be selling illegal alcohol (prohibition) which means he is quickly making vast amounts of money.” Who is this Gatsby anyhow? Some big bootlegger?”(p.86) Gatsby shows off the amount of wealth he has by his fabulous parties and oversized mansion. “There was music from my neighbour's house through those summer nights. In his enchanted gardens, men and girls came and went like moths, among the whispering and the champagne and the stars.”(p.33) Fitzgerald uses the word ‘enchanted’ to paint a visual picture of what the house and the scene looks like, a magical and enchanted castle, with elegant furniture. This is in comparison to East Egg where Tom and Daisy Buchanan live, in a house where “The windows were ajar and gleaming white against the fresh grass outside” (p.10). East Egg being the place of ‘old money’ which is made from the inheritance of their past generations, the people who live it East Egg are mainly well educated, historically wealthy and live quite elegantly, but they are also quite ‘snobbish’. Gatsby’s background does not fit into the social standards of East Egg...
The Great Gatsby written by F.Scott Fitzgerald and published in 1926. The novel is set in the early nineteen twenties in the post world war one era and takes place in the New York on the west and east egg of Long Island. The novel explores the life of the central character, Jay Gatsby. Nick Carraway, the narrator of the story, tells of Gatsby's ongoing quest to win over the love of Daisy, despite her marriage with Tom Buchanan. Fitzgerald uses ideologies and marginalizes class, education, race and gender to represent the moral decay of the nineteen twenties and of society in general. Without the marginalization of these social groups than the reader would not be able to identify with certain characters and would not be able to either relate sympathetically or callous towards particular characters.
Although Gatsby’s intentions are romantic, his relationship with Daisy still centres around money. Just as he was first attracted to her “beautiful house”, Daisy is now attracted to the luxurious display of her mansion. This forms the underlying question; was his bootlegging all for Daisy’s love? Or does his true happiness lie in an ideal life of luxury, aesthetic appeal, and a beautiful woman? Perhaps Gatsby is also guilty of having materialistic values.
The Roaring Twenties is considered a time of mass corruption and excessive absurdity. F. Scott Fitzgerald uses his novel, The Great Gatsby, to criticize the American society and its values in this era. This criticism is best shown in the behaviour of the people who go to Gatsby's parties; they are careless, rude and only looking out for themselves. It is also shown in the corruption of the police, who are easily paid to look the other way. It is finally apparent in the corruption of friendship and love, the truth being that there is none. This society and its values are self-centered and materialistic, caring very little for consequences and others. Fitzgerald's message is delivered magnificently and causes one to be appalled by the behaviour of the people during this time in history.
In The Great Gatsby, one of the predominant themes is the death of thee American dream. In this, F. Scott Fitzgerald is showing how the American dream has become corrupt and that the dream is dead..
The people in the 1920’s did not give much attention to F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. It was not until the ‘50s and ‘60s that the book finally started becoming popular. The book displayed the societal basis of wealth, extravagance, and ambition in the 1920’s. Many people in the 20’s agreed that Fitzgerald’s book was an accurate portrayal of the “Roaring Twenties,” but it was not what they wanted at the time. After he successfully published The Great Gatsby, his alcoholism got progressively worse, and Zelda was struggling with mental health problems. Nevertheless, Fitzgerald was committed to continue supporting his family both financially and emotionally. He gave up his daughter so she could be better educated and taken care of,
The Great Gatsby tells the story of the lives of the wealthy living in New York during the period commonly known as “The Roaring 20s”. The story is narrated by Nick Carraway. Nick comes from the Midwest and has supposedly been raised on stereotypical Midwestern values like for example: kindness, perseverance, justice, etc. He is F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “every man”. The “every man” character can be defined as “[being] constructed so that the audience can imagine themselves in the same situation without having to possess knowledge, skills, or abilities that transcend human potential. Such characters react realistically in situations that are often taken for granted with traditional heroes” (Wikipedia*). In the case of The Great Gatsby, Nick is
The Roaring Twenties was a time of great changes. The Jazz Age began after World War I and ended when the stock market crashed. The economy in that time was through the roof but Americans felt cheerful and carefree after WWI ending which caused people to party everywhere. During the war, women had to take over jobs men had while they fight but after the war, they became free which lead to the time of the flappers. During this time, there was a legal ban on making and selling alcohol which was the prohibition. All of these events tie into F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby’s historical background.
Time remains a universal continuation of the past into the present and bears a strong hold on the future. The destruction of satisfaction in history withholds the contentment of the future with an impeding sense of unalterable guilt. In The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald demonstrates “the past is forever in the present” through numerous literary and narrative techniques, suggesting that memories serve as crucial components in the development of individuals.
I agree Gatsby is superior to the idle rich that he is trying to imitate. Gatsby comes from a poor family and his dream was to become rich. In the book he puts all his energy to impress a woman that he loves named Daisy that he hasn’t seen in 5 years, and tries to win her heart back. He does this by becoming rich because, before he was poor and rich girls do not marry poor men at this time. By doing this he tries to take Daisy from her marriage by showing her that he has lots of money now to win her heart back.
Fashion in the Roaring Twenties and modern day relate in numerous ways. During the twenties, it became popular for women to be sexier and start showing their legs. Flapper dresses, high heeled shoes, knee skirts, floral print, and men’s suits and sportswear were all introduced during this era. The short dresses, along
Regarded as a brilliant piece of social commentary The Great Gatsby offers an insight into the American life in the 1920s. The novel exposes that in the 1920’s the American Dream had entered into a state of moral decay. Joshua Zeitz provided insight on this point in the article F. Scott Fitzgerald and the Age of Excess by claiming,“In reality, the nation’s most prosperous decade had been built on a house of cards.” Joshua’s claim can be applied to the American Dream of the 1920’s and how since it “had been built on a house of cards” it would fail. Throughout the novel F. Scott Fitzgerald, the author of the novel, uses analysis and tone to argue that the American Dream is an illusion. The idea behind the American Dream represents the dream