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Biography
F. Scott Fitzgerald was a self-made man who epitomized
both the glory of the Jazz Age and the desperation of the
aftermath of the 1929 stock market crash. Born and raised
in St. Paul, Minnesota, Fitzgerald met and fell in love with
Zelda Zayre when his army unit was stationed in Montgomery,
Alabama. Zelda refused his marriage proposal, so Fitzgerald
left for New York to win a fortune and Zelda's love. He succeeded
with This Side of Paradise (1920), an instant critical
and financial hit: Zelda married him a week after its release.
The Fitzgeralds were extravagant beyond their means, partying
and drinking into the night and using up all the proceeds
from two short-story collections and a second novel, The
Beautiful and the Damned (1922). They moved to France
in 1924 -- living among the group of American expatriates
that included Hemingway, Stein,
and Pound -- and in 1925 Fitzgerald wrote his masterpiece, The
Great Gatsby. The party ended, though, when heavy debts
drove Scott to alcoholism and Zelda to insanity: she had
a breakdown in 1931 and spent the rest of her life in mental
hospitals. Fitzgerald continued to write to support himself
and their daughter, finally landing in Hollywood in 1937
as a screenwriter. He died of a heart attack at the age of
forty-four.
Explorations
Babylon Revisited contains many of the motifs of
Fitzgerald's most famous stories: a setting among the rich
and the aimless; a theme of failed love and longing for a
time and a world that cannot be regained; a narrative voice
which is urbane, surprising in its imagery, and darkly evocative. 1. Is Babylon Revisited a story about alcohol
abuse and the destruction it causes -- or does the story
treat alcoholism as a symptom of some other or larger problem
facing Charlie and his world? Cite details from the story
to develop an answer to this question.
2. Describe Charlie's relationships with women -- Helen;
Lorraine; and his own daughter, Honoria. Is there a recurring
problem with these relationships? Does he become fully
aware of such a problem during the story? How does he regard
anyone beyond, or below, his own social circle? How do
his various attitudes affect your view of him?
3. In another Fitzgerald story, The Rich Boy,
the narrator says, "Begin with an individual, and before
you know it you find that you have created a type." Is
Charlie a type? If so, what does he represent?
Other sites to consult:
The
University of South Carolina's F. Scott Fitzgerald
centenary home page. An extensive Fitzgerald
site including selected online texts, essays and
articles about Fitzgerald, a bibliography, a family
chronology, and more.
F.
Scott Fitzgerald's 100th birthday. Visit
the Minnesota Public Radio site for a number of resources,
including a detailed biographical timeline; contemporary
writers' reflections on Fitzgerald's work; and a
vignette on Fitzgerald in St. Paul, followed by Garrison
Keillor's personal reflections on Fitzgerald.
Minnesota
Center for the Book Fitzgerald "pathfinder".
A brief guide to Fitzgerald, his creative work, and
sources about him.
American
Modernism: F. Scott Fitzgerald. Graphics,
a bibliography, overview, and study questions on
the PAL: Perspectives in American Literature site
maintained by Paul P. Reuben (California State University,
Stanislaus).
"Hometown
Anti-Hero". An article by Alan Bjerga that
was originally the cover story of the 9/26/96 A&E.
http://www.pbs.org/kteh/amstorytellers/bios.html:
A PBS Fitzgerald site.
http://people.brandeis.edu/~teuber/fitzgeraldbio.html:
A Fitzgerald Site at Brandeis.
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