4.2.1 Early Life 12
4.2.2 First Love-- Ginevra King 13
4.2.3 Wife-- Zelda Sayre 13
5. Conclusion 14
References 15
1. Introduction
1.1 Fitzgerald and The Great Gatsby
The Roaring Twenties was a period of literary creativity, and works of several notable authors appeared during the period, such as Earnest Hemingway, Erich Maria Remarque and F. Scott Fitzgerald.
Francis Scott Fitzgerald was one of the most outstanding American novelists in the 1920s. He is widely regarded as the literary spokesman of the “Jazz Age”— a period from the end of the First World War to the beginning of the Great Depression. And his works are the samples of the Jazz Age. At the same time, he was also a spokesman of the “Lost Generation”. He expressed the disillusionment of “the American dream” in many ways in his stories.
The Great Gatsby is a story told by Nick, a man from the Mid-West, going to New York to do business. He heard about his neighbor, a mysterious man called Jay Gatsby, who always held fabulous parties at his house. Gatsby was born in a poor family in the Middle West. During the time of serving in the army, Gatsby fell in love with Daisy, a wealthy girl. However, he was too poor to marry her. When the First World War broke out, Gatsby had to devote himself to the army. Daisy gave up waiting for him and got married with a rich young man Tom Buchanan. However, Daisy’s marriage was not that happy because Tom betrayed their marriage. He had a mistress after their daughter was born. All these things inspired Gatsby’s desire to get married with Daisy. In order to win back his lost love, it took Gatsby just a few years to make a fortune through illegal business. He bought a mansion located on the opposite side of Daisy’s house with a river lying in between. Gatsby held parties every weekend, hoping that one day Daisy would come but she did not turn up even once. With the help of Nick, the cousin of Daisy, Gatsby met Daisy after they broke away from each other. But now the lady in front of him was no longer the ideal lover in his dream. Instead, she became a selfish and vulgar woman. She refused to give up Tom but at the same time she did not refuse Gatsby.
When Daisy drove Gatsby’s car after drinking killed Tom’s mistress, Myrtle Wilson accidently. Gatsby assumed the responsibility instead of Daisy. In the end, Gatsby was shot by Myrtle’s husband. Only Nick and his poor father attended the funeral. Daisy did not appear because she was on way to Europe.
1.2 A Survey of Fitzgerald Studies
According to In Two Heroines, Two Viewpoints of Women ——Exploring Fitzgerald’s and Hemingway’s Views on Women Through Daisy and Brett, Lin Qin“The Great Gatsby is almost the reproduction of Fitzgerald’s early life. According to People, “This extraordinary novel locates the personal struggles of everyday people in the terrible sweep of history.”[1](Lin Qin,2007)
In The Women Characters in the Novel The Great Gatsby, Wang Funing pointed out the setting of shallow foolish “Golden Girl” showed Fitzgerald’s prejudice. Daisy was objectification of Gatsby’s American dream. “So, for Gatsby, he admires Daisy merely because Daisy represents the elegance and virtue of the upper class. Daisy becomes the dream of his lifetime--an image of excellence and perfect which is utterly remote to a penniless young man. Daisy's fascination for Gatsby is upon her unavailability in large part in one sense. As a nobody with the lower class background, Gatsby idealizes the image of Daisy”[2].( Wang Funing, 2013) 源`自,优尔`文.论"文'网[www.youerw.com
In F. Scott. Fitzgerald and His Protagonists' Fascination about Rich Girls: Seen from His Works "The Great Gatsby" and "Winter Dreams" Quan Yanxia indicated fear for flapper. “What one finds at Gatsby's parties, and having the closest possible relation and meaning, are money, girls and dreams. Money has its central importance in the upper class, middle class and more in the lower class, all of whose dreams are to be conditioned by money, which is the determinant metaphor of existence, is especially true to Fitzgerald's girls.”[3] (Quan Yanxia,2011) 《了不起的盖茨比》中菲茨杰拉德复杂的女性观(2):http://www.youerw.com/yingyu/lunwen_55335.html