F. Scott Fitzgerald
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Date of Birth - Date of Death
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1896-1940
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Where was he born?
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St. Paul, Minnesota (Midwestern - like Nick)
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His father, Edward, ad an allegiance to...
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the Old South and its vaues
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His mother, Mary "Mollie" McQuillan, was the daughter of...
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an Irish immigrant who became wealthy as a wholesale grocer in St. Paul
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What religion were his parents?
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Catholic - considered outsiders
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From 1911-1913, he attended a...
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Catholic Prep School in New Jersey
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What college did he go to?
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Princeton - however, he neglected his studies for his literary apprenticeship
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What did he do when it was unlikely he would graduate due to the fact that he was on academic probation?
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He joined the army in 1917 and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the infantry
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What did he write when he thought he would die in war?
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The Romantic Egotist The letter of rejection from Charles Scribner's Sons praised the novel's originality and asked that it be resubmitted when revised
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Who was Zelda Sayre?
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An 18 year old girl (when he met her) and the youngest daughter of an Alabama Supreme Court judge
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When and where did Fitzgerald meet Zelda Sayre?
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June 1918, when he was assigned to Camp Sheridan, near Montgomery, Alabama
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Why did Zelda break their engagement?
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He had gone to NYC to seek his fortune in order to marry, but his success in the advertisement business produced only a small salary which Zelda was unwilling to live with
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What novel did he write when he returned to St. Paul in 1919, after quitting his job?
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This Side of Paradise
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When did he commence his career as a writer of stories for the mass-circulation magazines?
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Fall-Winter of 1919
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What made Fitzgerlad famous?
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The publication of This Side of Paradise on March 26, 1920 He was 24 years old and became famous overnight, and a week later, he married Zelda in NY
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What was his second novel?
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The Beautiful and Damned - a naturalistic chronicle of the dissipation of Anthony & Gloria Patch
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What did Zelda and Fitzgerlad do when Zelda first got pregnant?
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They took their first trip to Europe in 1921 and settled in St. Paul for the birth of their only child, Frances Scott (Scottie) Fitzgerald She was born in October 1921
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What was the name of Fitzgerlad's play?
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The Vegetable
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Where did the Fitzgeralds move to in the fall of 1922?
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Great Neck, Long Island in order to be near Broadway
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What prevented Fitzgerald from making progress on his 3rd novel?
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The distractions of Great Neck and NY
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What big problem did Fitzgerlad have?
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He was an alcoholic (though he wrote sober) and this resulted in frequent domestic arguments
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What did his reputation as a drinker inspire?
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A myth that he was an irresponsible writer but he was a painstaking reviser whose fiction went through layers of drafts
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What was his style of writing?
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Clear, lyrical, colorful, witty, emitting emotions associated with the time and place
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What did critics object?
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Fitzgerald's concern with love & success His response was to object that these subjects were appropriate for his vision
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What was the chief theme of Fitzgerald's work?
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Aspiration - the idealism he regarded as defining American character Mutability or loss
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What period of time was Fitzgerald associated with?
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As a social historian, he became identified with the Jazz Age Echoes of the Jazz Age
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Where did the Fitzgeralds go in the spring of 1924?
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France seeking tranquility for his work
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When did he write The Great Gatsby?
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The summer and fall in Valescure near St. Raphael
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Why was the Fitzgeralds marriage damaged?
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Zelda got involved with a French naval aviator We do not know the extent of the affair
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When was The Great Gatsby published?
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April 1925 when the Fitzgeralds were on route to Paris
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What did The Great Gatsby mark?
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A striking advance in his technique, utilizing a complex structure and a controlled narrative point of view
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When The Great Gatsby first came out, what were the critics general reaction?
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Fitzgerald's achievement received critical praise, but sales of Gatsby were disappointing, though the state and movie rights brought additional income
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What increased the Fitzgeralds' estrangement?
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Zelda's intense ballet work, which damaged her health
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When did Zelda suffer her first breakdown?
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April 1930
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Why was Fitzgerald's work on novels suspended?
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He instead wrote short stories to pay for psychiatric treatment for Zelda
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How much was Fitzgerald's peak story worth?
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$4000 (The Saturday Evening Post), which is $40,000 today
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What was Fitzgerald's income like compared to other writers?
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He was not among the highest-paid writers and his novels earned comparatively very little His income came from 160 magazine stories
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What was his average income in the 1920s?
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Under $25,000 - it was good money at the time but not a fortune
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How did the Fitzgeralds' spend their money?
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Faster than Fitzgerald could earn it He wrote so eloquently about the effects of money on character but he was unable to manage his own finances
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What happened after Zelda's 2 serious relapses?
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She spent the rest of her life as a resident or outpatient of sanitariums
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Where was Zelda a patient at?
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John Hopkins in 1932 She wrote Save Me the Waltz there
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What was Fitzgerald's most ambitious novel?
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Tender Is the Night, published in 1934, was a commercial failure Its merits were matters of critical dispute The novel examines the deterioration of Dick Diver, a brilliant American psychiatrist, during the course of his marriage to a wealthy mental patient
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What was the period known as "the crack-up"?
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This was the title of an essay Fitzgerald wrote 1936-1937
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What was going on in 1936?
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Fitzgerald was ill, drunk, in debt, and unable to write commercial stories; he lived in hotels in the region near Asheville, North Carolina At the time, Zelda entered Highland Hospital
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What happened to Scottie Fitzgerald?
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She was put into boarding school when she was 14, and the Ober family became her surrogate family
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How did Fitzgerald care for his daughter?
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He functioned as a concerned daughter by attempting to supervise his daughter's education and to shape her social values via mail
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What did Fitzgerald do in Hollywood?
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He went there alone in the summer of 1937 with a 6 month Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer screenwriting contract at $1000 a week
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What was his only screen credit?
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His adaptation of Three Comrades (1938) and his contract was renewedfor a year at $1250 a week
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How did Fitzgerald pay his debts?
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He made $91,000 at his time at MGM, which was a great deal of money during the late Great Depression He was still unable to save money though
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How were his visits to his wife in the east?
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disastrous
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After Zelda, who did Fitzgerald fall in love with?
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Sheilah Graham in California Their relationship endured despite his benders
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What did Fitzgerald do after MGM in 1938?
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He became a freelance script writer and wrote short-short stories for Esquire
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What was his Hollywood novel?
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He began the novel, the Love of the Last Tycoon, in 1939 but he died of a heart attack when he had already written more than half of the working draft He died in Graham's apartment on December 21, 1940
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What happened to Zelda Fitzgerald?
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She perished at a fire in Highland Hospital in 1948
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Was F. Scott Fitzgerald a failure?
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No, however, he died thinking he was His obituaries were condescending, and he seemed destined for literary obscurity
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When was the first phase of the Fitzgerald resurrection?
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Between 1945-1950
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When was Fitzgerald considered one of America's enduring writers?
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1960
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What defines the classic American novel?
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The Great Gatsby achieved this with the theme of aspiration in an American setting
