CAPE Literatures in English (Unit 1) - An introduction to the life and times of F. Scott Fitzgerald.

2. F. Scott Fitzgerald
 Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald (September 24,
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1896 – December 21, 1940) was an American
author of novels and short stories
His works are regarded as the defining writings of
the Jazz Age (a term he coined)
He is widely regarded as one of the greatest
American writers of the 20th century
Fitzgerald is considered a member of the ‘Lost
Generation’ of the 1920s.
He finished four novels. A fifth, unfinished novel
was published posthumously.

3. Early Years
 Born in 1896 in Saint Paul, Minnesota, to an
upper-middle class family
 His parents were Mollie (McQuillan) and
Edward Fitzgerald
 Family was devout Catholic

4. Education
 Attended Catholic primary schools and a
prestigious Catholic high school
 Started Princeton in 1914, where he became
very involved in literary groups. He ignored
his academics and as a result went on
academic probation
 Fitzgerald dropped out of college in 1917

5. Army Career
 Fitzgerald dropped out of school to join the U.S.
Army.
 Fitzgerald was commissioned a second
lieutenant in the infantry and assigned to Camp
Sheridan outside of Montgomery, Alabama.
 The war ended in 1918, before Fitzgerald was
ever deployed, and upon his discharge he moved
to New York City.

6. Zelda Sayre
 While at a country club, Fitzgerald met and fell in love
with Zelda Sayre, the daughter of an Alabama Supreme
Court justice and the "golden girl," in Fitzgerald's terms, of
Montgomery youth society.
 Zelda accepted his marriage proposal, but he was unable
to convince her that he would be able to support her,
leading her to break off the engagement.
 Zelda and Fitzgerald resumed their engagement upon
publication of one of his novels in 1919
 Fitzgerald and Zelda were married in New York in 1920

7. Zelda Fitzgerald
 She was an icon of the 1920s—dubbed by her husband
"the first American Flapper."
 Had a volatile personality, which would be later
diagnosed as bipolar disorder
 During her first stay in a sanatorium, she wrote a
novel, which was closely based on her tumultuous
relationship with her husband
 She died in 1948 in a fire

8. Marriage and Family Life
 As newlyweds, the Fitzgeralds lived the life of lavish
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celebrities in New York
Their only child, Frances Scott (Scottie) Fitzgerald, was
born in 1921
They had a marriage filled with jealousy, Fitzgerald’s
alcoholism and Zelda’s mental illness.
During their marriage they lived in Rome, France (The
Riviera and Paris), Switzerland and different parts of
America
Their daughter went to boarding school at the age of 14
The Fitzgeralds became estranged in 1937, with Fitzgerald
moving to Hollywood and starting a new relationship
while Zelda spent the rest of her life in and out of mental
hospitals

9. The Jazz Age
 The Fitzgeralds went to France in the spring of
1924 .
 Paris in the 1920s proved the most influential
decade of Fitzgerald's development.
 The Fitzgeralds made several trips to Europe,
mostly Paris and the French Riviera, and became
friends with many members of the American
expatriate community in Paris, notably writer
Ernest Hemingway.

10. Hollywood
 In 1937, Fitzgerald moved to Hollywood
 Besides writing, he also started to get involved in the
film industry.
 Spent the second half of the 1930s in Hollywood,
working on commercial short stories and scripts
for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
 In 1939, MGM ended the contract, and Fitzgerald
became a freelance screenwriter.

11. Illness and Death
 Fitzgerald suffered from severe alcoholism
 He became notorious during the 1920s for his
extraordinarily heavy drinking, leaving him in poor health
by the late 1930s
 Fitzgerald suffered two heart attacks. After the first, he
was ordered by his doctor to avoid strenuous exertion. He
moved in with his girlfriend after the first heart attack
 He suffered a second heart attack in 1940 which was fatal.
He was 44 years old when he died.

12. His Works (Novels)
 This Side of Paradise (1920)
 The Beautiful and Damned (1922)
 The Great Gatsby (1925)
 Tender Is the Night (1934)
 The Love of the Last Tycoon – originally The Last
Tycoon – (unfinished, published posthumously, 1941)