1. Author: The Great Gatsby
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Author: The Great Gatsby

2. Frances Scott Fitzgerald
Born St. Paul, Minnesota, September
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

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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

6. 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

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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

10. 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

11. 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

12. 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)

13. 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