F. Scott Fitzgerald

Author: The Great Gatsby

Frances Scott Fitzgerald

Born St. Paul, Minnesota, September 24. 1896

Named after his father’s distant relative, author of the “Star-Spangled Banner”: Frances Scott Key

His mother was wealthy- her father earned his fortune through the grocery business

Both parents were strict Catholics Frances Scott Key

Edward & Mollie Fitzgerald Edward (father) failed at

earning a living to support his family Furniture business went

bankrupt Fired from Proctor & Gamble

after 10 years in New York firm Returned to St. Paul,

Minnesota Family’s only support was

Mollie’s (F. Scott’s mother) inheritance money

Early Author

At age 13, he published his first story in the school paper; about a detective

In high school, he wrote and acted in 4 plays produced by the Elizabethan Dramatic Club in St. Paul

In college at Princeton University, he wrote 3 plays. The plays were produced and performed, but he was not allowed to act due to academic probation

Army Career

Joined the army in 1917

because he was not going to

to graduate from Princeton Second Lieutenant in the infantry Stationed in Montgomery, Alabama Feared death in WWI, so quickly wrote novel The

Romantic Egotist Supposed to be sent overseas, but WWI ended Discharged 1919

Zelda Sayre

While in Alabama, Fitzgerald fell in love

Daughter of an Alabama Supreme Court judge

Engagement broken off by Zelda due to a lack of confidence in Fitzgerald’s ability to provide for her lifestyle

The Romantic Egotist = This Side of Paradise

Book Fitzgerald wrote during his military career

Rejected for publication twice; received praise but told to revise

Rewrote and renamed This Side of Paradise

Published March 26, 1920; Fitzgerald became the new star of the literary world

Zelda renewed their engagement and married him in less than a weeks time

The Saturday Evening Post Beginning in the Fall of

1919 Fitzgerald begins writing for the magazine audience “Bernice Bobs Her Hair” “The Offshore Pirate” “Babylon Revisited” Wrote over 160 stories

Most of his income from the stories, not novels

Highest payment for a story = $4,000

Salary= less than $25,000 a year

Today’s market= about $250,000

Lavish Lifestyle

Acted and spent money like young celebrities

Couple kept expecting to make more & more money and overspent accordingly

Fitzgerald gained a reputation for being a playboy

Became an alcoholic Zelda accompanied him in

his drunken and financial adventures

Wrote sober; it became increasingly harder for him to finish projects

Frances Scott (Scottie) Fitzgerald Born October 1921 Moved back to St. Paul to

raise her Kept a home and kept up

appearances for a normal childhood for Scottie

Obers (Fitzgerald’s story broker) became her unofficial adopted family when Zelda became sick (Scottie was 9)

At 14, she went to boarding school

Fitzgerald kept in close contact through mail

Zelda’s Mental Breakdown During the mid 1920s Zelda’s

“unconventional behavior became increasingly eccentric”

1929 Zelda began training to become a professional dancer- damaged her health and the couple’s relationship

In 1930 she experienced her first mental breakdown She spent over a year in a mental health clinic in

Switzerland She relapsed in 1932 (admitted to Johns Hopkins

Hospital in Baltimore) and continued to be either a resident or outpatient of mental health asylums until her death in 1948

Themes of Fitzgerald’s Writings Hypocrisy Money & Greed American Dream Aspiration idealism Unpredictability Loss Mental Health

The Beautiful and Damned (the life of an heir to a business tycoon’s fortune and his relationship with his wife)

The Great Gatsby (downfall of a newly rich entrepreneur)

Tender is the Night (examines the deterioration of a brilliant American psychiatrist, during his marriage to a wealthy mental patient)

Fitzgerald & Hollywood (return to the screen)

1937- contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer for screenwriting; he made over $91,000 in 1 ½ years; he lost his contract

Paid off many debts, but created more by visiting Zelda on the East coast often

Fell in love with Sheilah Graham, a movie columnist

Began a Hollywood novel- The Love of the Last Tycoon (only half completed)

He died of a heart attack in Ms. Graham’s apartment in 1940