The Cambridge Introduction to F. Scott Fitzgerald

155 Pages·2007·1.18 MB·English

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TheCambridgeIntroductionto
F. Scott Fitzgerald
AlthoughF.ScottFitzgeraldremainsoneofthemostrecognizable
literaryfiguresofthetwentiethcentury,hislegendarylife–includinghis
tempestuousromancewithhiswifeandmuseZelda–continuesto
overshadowhisart.Howeverglamoroushisimageasthepoetlaureateof
the1920s,hewasfirstandforemostagreatwriterwithagiftforfluid,
elegantprose.ThisintroductionremindsreaderswhyFitzgerald
deserveshispreeminentplaceinliteraryhistory.Itdiscussesnotonlyhis
best-knownworks,TheGreatGatsby(1925)andTenderIstheNight
(1934),butthefullscopeofhisoutput,includinghisothernovelsand
hisshortstories.Thisbookintroducesnewreadersandstudentsof
Fitzgeraldtohistrademarkthemes,hismemorablecharacters,his
significantplots,theliterarymodesandgenresfromwhichhe
borrowed,andhisinimitablestyle.
kirk curnutt isProfessorofEnglishatTroyUniversity-
Montgomery.HeisvicepresidentoftheInternationalF.ScottFitzgerald
Society,managingeditoroftheF.ScottFitzgeraldReviewandaboard
memberoftheScottandZeldaFitzgeraldMuseuminMontgomery,
Alabama.
Cambridge Introductions to Literature
Thisseriesisdesignedtointroducestudentstokeytopicsandauthors.
Accessibleandlively,theseintroductionswillalsoappealtoreaderswho
wanttobroadentheirunderstandingofthebooksandauthorstheyenjoy.
(cid:1)
Idealforstudents,teachers,andlecturers
(cid:1)
Concise,yetpackedwithessentialinformation
(cid:1)
Keysuggestionsforfurtherreading
Titlesinthisseries:
EricBulson TheCambridgeIntroductiontoJamesJoyce
JohnXirosCooper TheCambridgeIntroductiontoT.S.Eliot
KirkCurnutt TheCambridgeIntroductiontoF.ScottFitzgerald
JanetteDillon TheCambridgeIntroductiontoEarlyEnglishTheatre
JaneGoldman TheCambridgeIntroductiontoVirginiaWoolf
KevinJ.Hayes TheCambridgeIntroductiontoHermanMelville
DavidHoldeman TheCambridgeIntroductiontoW.B.Yeats
M.JimmieKillingsworth TheCambridgeIntroductiontoWaltWhitman
RonanMcDonald TheCambridgeIntroductiontoSamuelBeckett
WendyMartin TheCambridgeIntroductiontoEmilyDickinson
PeterMessent TheCambridgeIntroductiontoMarkTwain
JohnPeters TheCambridgeIntroductiontoJosephConrad
SarahRobbins TheCambridgeIntroductiontoHarrietBeecherStowe
MartinScofield TheCambridgeIntroductiontotheAmericanShortStory
PeterThomson TheCambridgeIntroductiontoEnglishTheatre,1660–1900
JanetTodd TheCambridgeIntroductiontoJaneAusten
The Cambridge Introduction to
F. Scott Fitzgerald
KIRK CURNUTT
CAMBRIDGEUNIVERSITYPRESS
Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo
Cambridge University Press
TheEdinburghBuilding,CambridgeCB28RU,UK
Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York
www.cambridge.org
Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521859097
© Kirk Curnutt 2007
Thispublicationisincopyright.Subjecttostatutoryexceptionandtotheprovisionof
relevantcollectivelicensingagreements,noreproductionofanypartmaytakeplace
withoutthewrittenpermissionofCambridgeUniversityPress.
Firstpublishedinprintformat 2007
ISBN-13 978-0-511-27393-3 eBook(EBL)
ISBN-10 0-511-27393-2 eBook(EBL)
ISBN-13 978-0-521-85909-7 hardback
ISBN-10 0-521-85909-3 hardback
ISBN-13 978-0-521-67600-7 paperback
ISBN-10 0-521-67600-2 paperback
CambridgeUniversityPresshasnoresponsibilityforthepersistenceoraccuracyofurls
forexternalorthird-partyinternetwebsitesreferredtointhispublication,anddoesnot
guaranteethatanycontentonsuchwebsitesis,orwillremain,accurateorappropriate.
Contents
Preface page vii
Introduction 1
Chapter 1 Life 12
Childhoodandliteraryapprenticeship
(1896–1917) 13
Zeldaandearlysuccess(1918–1924) 16
Artisticmaturityandpersonaldecline
(1925–1934) 21
Thecrack-upandthecomeback(1935–1940) 24
Chapter 2 Cultural context 28
Mygeneration:youthcultureandthepolitics
ofaging 29
Thetheaterofbeing:personalityand
performativeidentity 31
Themarketplaceofself-making:personalstyle
andconsumerism 34
Flauntingrecreations:conspicuousleisureand
thecultureofindulgence 36
Chapter 3 Works 39
Compositionprocess 40
Majorthemes 53
Majorcharacters 69
Majorplotsandmotifs 85
v
vi Contents
Modeandgenre 97
Styleandpointofview 107
Chapter 4 Critical reception 112
Contemporaryreviewers 112
TheFitzgeraldrevival 118
ModernFitzgeraldstudies 121
Notes 127
Guidetofurtherreading 136
Index 141
Preface
ThisstudyintroducesF.ScottFitzgeraldtotwoverydifferentaudiences:those
whopossessonlyapassingfamiliaritywithhislifeandwork,andthosewho
already know him thoroughly. For the former group – whether students or
general readers – my overviews of his biography, his oeuvre, his historical
context, and his critical reception provide the basic information necessary
for appreciating his literary legacy. While assembling the essential details, I
also wish to impart a working knowledge of how they have been previously
presentedsothatnewcomersmayunderstandwhytheirrecitationhasreduced
somefactstocommonplaceswhileothersremainrelativelyignored.
ThislattergoalfurthersuggestswhyIsimultaneouslyaddressasecondread-
ershipoffellowaficionados,manyofwhom,frankly,arefarmoredistinguished
scholarsthanI:IfirmlybelievethatFitzgeraldisundergoingthekindofcrit-
ical makeover that writers of his stature periodically require to prevent their
reputationsfromfossilizing.Throughoutthesevendecadessincetheauthorof
TheGreatGatsbywasposthumouslyrehabilitated,scholarshavedemonstrated
atalentforreinvigoratinginterestinhim.The1990sand2000shaveprovedan
especiallyfertileperiod,withtheresultthattodescribeFitzgeraldasaleading
literaryencyclopediadoesseemslamentablyreductive:“Widelyconsideredthe
literaryspokesmanofthe‘jazzage’...Partoftheinterestofhisworkderives
from the fact that the mad, gin-drinking, morally and spiritually bankrupt
menandwomenhewroteaboutledlivesthatcloselyresembledhisown.”1In
attemptingtoscrapeawaysuchbarnaclesofcliche´,thepresentvolumereflects
devotees’concertedeffortstoproviderecentinitiatesandlong-timeadmirers
alikeadimensionedappreciationofhisoutput.
Accomplishingthisgoaljustifieswhatreadersmayfindasurprisingstruc-
turaldecisiononmypart:inanalyzingFitzgerald’sworkinmycentralchapter,
“Works,”Ieschewchronologyinfavorofatopicalorganizationthatallowsme
toassessthemes,characters,andgenresfreeofanyprejudicialpresumptions
aboutapiece’splaceinthetrajectoryofhiscareer.The“developmentalmodel”
of literary analysis, I contend, has limited our understanding of Fitzgerald.
Althoughfewwoulddisagreethathe“peaked”in1925withTheGreatGatsby,
vii
viii Preface
thatconvictioninevitablytaintsthediscussionofothereffortsbyinvitingusto
lookforflawsthatcanbeattributedtowhateverpersonaland/orprofessional
valleyhemayhavebeensufferingataparticularmoment.Anon-chronological
approach,bycontrast,allowsustoassesshistextsaccordingtotheirowncri-
teriaratherthanthatofhisbest-knownwork.Itdiscouragesusfromreading
his debut novel, This Side of Paradise (1920), for the greatness it might fore-
shadowinsteadofachieve,forexample,andtorediscoverastorylike“Family
intheWind”(1932)thatisneglectedsimplybecauseitdoesnotreinforcethe
legend.Organizingbycategoryinsteadoftimelinehastheadditionalbenefit
ofhighlightingthecontinuityofauthorialinterests.Itinvitesustocompare,
forexample,JayGatsbytoMonroeStahr,theheroofFitzgerald’sfinal,uncom-
pletednovel,TheLastTycoon(1941),twocharactersnotoftendiscussedinthe
samebreathsimplybecausefifteenyearsseparatetheirconception.2
MyviewsonFitzgeraldreflecttheinfluenceofseveralmentorstowhomIam
indebted:RuthPrigozy,JacksonR.Bryer,J.GeraldKennedy,ScottDonaldson,
RonaldBerman,MiltonR.Stern,LindaWagner-Martin,JamesL.W.WestIII,
andMatthewJ.Bruccoli.SpecialthanksaswelltoJamesH.Meredith,William
Blazek,GailD.Sinclair,CathyW.Barks,HeidiKunz,MichaelK.Glenday,Susan
Wanlass,andmany,manymore;theeditorialboardofthe F.ScottFitzgerald
Review; the board of directors of the Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald Museum in
Montgomery, Alabama; and the membership of the International Fitzgerald
Society,whoseenthusiasmiscontagious.