The Great Gatsby – Context (OCR A-Level English Literature): Revision Notes
The Great Gatsby – Context
Understanding the historical and biographical context of The Great Gatsby is essential for appreciating Fitzgerald's critique of 1920s American society. This note explores the key contextual factors that shaped the novel, from the author's personal experiences to the social and economic forces of the Jazz Age.
Contextual understanding enriches your interpretation of the novel's themes, characters, and symbolism. Consider how each historical element influences the narrative and Fitzgerald's critique of American society.
F. Scott Fitzgerald: life and influences
Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald was born in 1896 in Minnesota and named after his ancestor who wrote the verses that became the US national anthem. Though not academically gifted, he attended Princeton University in 1913 before leaving to join the army in 1917 during the First World War.
Personal life and Zelda
During his military service, Fitzgerald met seventeen-year-old Zelda Sayre and fell deeply in love. However, Zelda's desire for wealth and luxury meant she delayed their wedding until he could prove himself financially successful. When Fitzgerald published This Side of Paradise in 1920 and became an overnight literary sensation, Zelda agreed to marry him.
The Fitzgeralds' marriage was characterised by:
- Extravagant parties and hedonistic lifestyles
- Fitzgerald's alcoholism, driven by his desperation to earn money for Zelda
- A turbulent relationship marked by infidelity and violence
- Zelda's mental health struggles, including nervous breakdowns in 1930 and 1932
Key events in their relationship included violent outbursts at social gatherings and Zelda's affair, which Fitzgerald later explored in his novel Tender is the Night. Despite these difficulties, Fitzgerald remained devoted to Zelda, though they eventually separated. He died of a heart attack in 1940 at age forty-four, likely triggered by his long-term alcoholism.
Autobiographical elements in The Great Gatsby
Fitzgerald drew heavily on his own experiences when creating the novel. Nick Carraway shares Fitzgerald's Minnesota origins, Ivy League education, and move to New York after the war. More significantly, Gatsby's character mirrors Fitzgerald's own life in several ways:
- Both idolise wealth and luxury
- Both fall in love with women from higher social classes
- Both struggle to prove their social standing and secure their beloved's affection
Notably, Zelda's famous line after giving birth – "I hope it's beautiful and a fool - a beautiful little fool" – is echoed when Daisy says of her daughter Pammy: "All right... I'm glad it's a girl. And I hope she'll be a fool -- that's the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool."
Exam tip: Consider why Fitzgerald kills off Gatsby whilst keeping the wealthy Buchanans alive and together. This suggests his conflicted feelings about class and his own sense of inadequacy compared to the upper classes.
The novel's narrative structure is significant: the autobiographical elements are filtered through Nick's memories, creating distance as Fitzgerald tells his own story. Fitzgerald exists as both Nick and Gatsby simultaneously, living "within and without" the story.
First World War and the Jazz Age
The First World War fundamentally shook society, being unprecedented in its scale and devastation. The 1920s emerged as a period of economic growth and prosperity, but also cynicism and corruption. This contradiction gave birth to the Jazz Age – a glamorous decade noted for cultural, artistic and social developments.
Key features of the Jazz Age
Defining characteristics of the 1920s:
- Economic prosperity following wartime deprivation
- Cultural and artistic innovation, particularly in music and literature
- Social experimentation and the breaking of traditional norms
- A clear class hierarchy: 'old money' ruled whilst 'new money' tried to climb the social ladder, and 'no money' were excluded
The extravagance of Gatsby's parties reflects this lavish decade. However, beneath the golden surface lay harsh realities. Ultimately, it is the 'no money' characters who suffer most from the ruthlessness of the 'old money' elite: Myrtle is killed, George kills Gatsby before committing suicide.
The Jazz Age ended abruptly with the Wall Street Crash of 1929, which triggered the Great Depression of the 1930s.
The Lost Generation
The Lost Generation refers to those who came of age during or immediately after the First World War. The term was coined by American writer Gertrude Stein to describe a generation that felt powerless and saw life as pointless in the aftermath of the conflict.
These feelings of loss and emptiness were often filled with alcohol and indulgent behaviour. Fitzgerald wrote that this new generation found "all Gods dead, all wars fought, all faiths in man shaken." This sense of spiritual emptiness pervades the novel.
Gatsby stands out from the faithless society of East and West Egg for his "extraordinary gift for hope" – making him both exceptional and tragically vulnerable.
Flappers and women's emancipation
The 1920s saw a revolution in women's roles and freedoms. The 19th Amendment, enacted in 1920, gave women the right to vote, marking a significant step towards independence.
The flapper phenomenon
Flappers were young women who challenged social and gender norms through:
- Short skirts and bobbed hair
- Wearing makeup
- Abandoning corsets to achieve a more masculine silhouette
- Engaging in previously male-dominated activities
Jordan Baker as a flapper
Jordan Baker embodies the flapper ideal in several ways:
- Her name references car manufacturers (Jordan and Baker), suggesting a lack of traditional femininity
- She works as a professional golfer, an unusual career for women
- She remains unmarried and childless
- She dresses in masculine terms: "her evening dress, all her dresses, like sports clothes—there was a jauntiness about her movements as if she had first learned to walk upon golf courses on clean, crisp mornings"
Some critics, including Lois Tyson, suggest Jordan is "associated with numerous lesbian signs" and note that "even when dressed in her most feminine attire, she is described in rather masculine terms." Nick observes that Jordan "instinctively avoided clever shrewd men . . . because she felt safer on a plane where any divergence from a code would be thought impossible" – perhaps suggesting she avoids men who might detect her deviation from heterosexual norms.
Myrtle Wilson: traditional femininity
In stark contrast to Jordan, Myrtle conforms to traditional ideas of femininity and uses her sexuality to climb the social ladder. She "carried her flesh sensuously as some women can" and when she sees Tom, she seductively smiles, "slowly and walking through her husband as if he were a ghost, shook hands with Tom, looking him flush in the eye. Then she wet her lips."
Myrtle's death is particularly significant: she is killed and "her left breast was swinging loose like a flap." The car that kills her – bought with new money – violently extinguishes both her and her sexuality. Critic Kathleen Parkinson describes this as a "symbolic rape", noting that "the impersonal death machine violates Myrtle's female identity and ravages her."
Interpretation: Myrtle's brutal death suggests that the American Dream is an impossibility for women of her social class who attempt to use their sexuality to achieve it.
The American Dream
Origins and ideology
When European settlers arrived in America, the American Dream was promoted as the 'land of opportunity' – a place where hard work would guarantee success and wealth, regardless of social background. Many immigrants came to America to escape hardship, such as the Irish fleeing the potato famine.
The term itself was coined by historian James Truslow Adams during the Great Depression in his book The Epic of America.
Fitzgerald's critique
Fitzgerald and other writers challenged this ideology, questioning its possibility and suggesting the American Dream had become reduced to the mere pursuit of wealth. Ironically, whilst critiquing widespread materialism, Fitzgerald himself was deeply indulgent in the decade's decadence.
Gatsby as the embodiment of the American Dream
Jay Gatsby personifies the energy and promise that the American Dream inspires in American society. However, crucially, Gatsby does not achieve the American Dream despite being more invested in its promise than any other character. His wealth is merely a means of obtaining Daisy, whilst Daisy herself serves as a proxy for wealth and the American Dream.
Key insight: Whilst Gatsby's wealth is a means of getting Daisy, Daisy represents wealth and the American Dream itself.
Myrtle and the failed American Dream
Myrtle represents the lower class desire and "frenetic quest for wealth". She desperately clings to the American Dream, but its cold, hard metal ultimately kills her. Gatsby's car – a symbol of the American Dream associated with "restlessness" and "power" – becomes the instrument of her destruction.
Media and the mass market
The 1920s witnessed exponential growth in consumer goods and advertising. This created a new landscape of commercial culture that Fitzgerald explores in the novel.
Advertising and symbolism
Advertising billboards were introduced in the mid-19th century, but by the 1920s advertising was everywhere:
- Jingles on commercial radio (from 1923)
- Roadside signs with rhyming slogans (from 1925)
- Mass-circulation newspapers and magazines
The eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg
One major symbol of advertising in the novel is the eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg. This old billboard becomes significant in multiple ways:
- It symbolises the power of advertising in 1920s America
- It represents tensions between reality and appearance
- It functions as a substitute for God
When Myrtle dies, George Wilson remarks that "God sees everything" whilst "looking at the eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg." This suggests that if God is advertising, then capitalism has become religion for Gatsby and his society.
Fitzgerald describes the advertisement as a "voyeur of the valley" with "retinas...one yard high" that "brood on over the solemn dumping ground." The eyes overlook the valley of ashes, perhaps judging its inhabitants as God might do.
Interpretation: Doctor T.J. Eckleburg represents the ills that capitalism created in American society. Fitzgerald's use of the advertisement as a substitute for God exposes America's diminished faith in conventional religion. Significantly, George Wilson doesn't "belong to any" church but finds solace in the placid billboard's eyes.
Consumer culture and debt
Advertising techniques created desire for commodities, reflecting the tastes and lifestyles of the 1920s. Finance companies loaned people money to purchase attractive products, leading many into debt whilst keeping the American economy healthy.
George Wilson wishes to move "west" to start afresh, perhaps escaping debt and its destruction. Conversely, Myrtle doesn't see debt as restrictive – she buys "a small, expensive dog-leash, made of leather and braided silver" without concern for cost.
Symbolic significance: Fitzgerald highlights the penalties for lower-class women who dare to ascend the social ladder; Myrtle is crushed by the ostentatious car that "everybody had seen."
Mass culture
The 1920 American census showed America becoming predominantly urban for the first time. This migration towards cities created solidarity in the masses. People consumed:
- Mass-circulation newspapers
- Magazines like Town Tattle (which Myrtle reads)
- Fast-moving films
- Photography
Photography as a leitmotif
Photography appears throughout The Great Gatsby as a significant motif. Photographs capture and freeze moments in time and space, framing and preserving experiences.
Examples in the novel:
- Gatsby displays a photograph of Dan Cody on his wall
- Henry Gatz carries a picture of Gatsby's mansion
- Gatsby shows Nick a photograph of himself at Oxford to prove his social position
These photographs suggest importance and serve as metaphors for Gatsby's reputation. Gatsby wishes to transcend the frame of the present moment and recapture his past with Daisy.
Key point: Fitzgerald created Jay Gatsby as a figure who transcends time through entrepreneurial efficiency. Gatsby rebranded himself from Gatz to Gatsby and marketed himself through parties. He remains a brand even today – we use "Gatsbyesque" to describe the Jazz Age and the hopefulness the character embodies.
Conspicuous consumption
Conspicuous consumption – a term coined by social scientist Thorstein Veblen (1857-1929) – refers to the wasteful display of wealth through pretentious mansions and behaviour. Veblen critiqued the rise of wealthy businessmen who flaunted their riches whilst poverty increased among lower classes.
Consumption and class divisions
The billboard of T.J. Eckleburg's eyes portrays the significance of advertising and consumption in 1920s American society, including among the lower classes in the valley of ashes. Products are marketed to all classes with indifference towards individual financial status. People like Myrtle and George Wilson – the 'no money' class – cannot afford to participate in consumer culture, inevitably spiralling into debt.
Fitzgerald creates a world where conspicuous consumption serves as a litmus test for wealth and social status:
- Tom Wilson's polo ponies signal his elite status
- Jay Gatsby's extravagant parties and flamboyant lifestyle demonstrate his position in West Egg
Critical perspective: Fitzgerald critiques this system. Gatsby's car kills Myrtle and drives George to commit murder-suicide as revenge. The same vessel that "everybody ha[s] seen" becomes enough to link and convict Gatsby as the murder weapon.
Prohibition and organised crime
The Prohibition Act
Fitzgerald's novel is set during the Prohibition era, following the Prohibition Act of 1919. This law made it illegal to manufacture, sell or transport alcohol in America.
However, many people, including gangsters, sold alcohol to secret bars called speakeasies for great profit. This was called bootlegging because sellers originally hid bottles in their boots. By 1925, there were approximately one hundred thousand speakeasies in New York alone. The Prohibition Act was repealed in 1933.
Organised crime
The illegal alcohol economy was organised by notorious and powerful gangs of criminals who also engaged in gambling. Famous American gangsters included:
- Al 'Scarface' Capone (1899-1947)
- Lucky Luciano (1897-1962)
- Meyer Lansky (1902-1983)
These figures gained legendary reputations for their ruthless and dangerous criminal behaviour.
Crime in The Great Gatsby
Fitzgerald weaves real news stories into the novel. Gatsby's involvement with Meyer Wolfsheim places him in the underworld of gangs and gambling. Wolfsheim discusses 'Rosy' Rosenthal, who was shot by gangsters – a reference to the real gambler Herman Rosenthal, killed in 1912 at the request of corrupt police officers.
Historical connection: Wolfsheim is based on the real-life gambler Arnold Rothstein, who allegedly fixed the 1919 World Series and gained great profit from it.
Race and prejudice
Immigration and tension
Thousands of immigrants arrived in America during the 19th century pursuing the American Dream. Many lived in New York, arriving at Ellis Island. This high concentration of immigration led to tension and prejudice between different groups.
Established immigrants from Northern Europe identified themselves as American and felt uncomfortable with new arrivals from Southern and Eastern Europe.
The Immigration Act of 1924
This act restricted the number of southern and eastern Europeans moving to the USA and prohibited any Asian immigration. Prejudice against ethnic minorities was widespread. Despite the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833, African Americans were still treated as second-class citizens.
Antisemitism and Wolfsheim
Prejudice against 'new' immigrants is reflected in Nick's antisemitic representation of Wolfsheim, a Jewish character. His Jewishness is emphasised through multiple references to his nose – a feature supposedly prominent amongst Jews according to old racial stereotypes:
- "Mr Wolfsheim's nose flashed at me indignantly"
- "his tragic nose was trembling"
- "His nostrils turned to me in an interested way"
Wolfsheim is even metonymically reduced to his nose: "Mr. Wolfsheim's nose flashed at me indignantly."
Analysis: Wolfsheim is cast as both shady and comic, involved in organised crime. Through this character, Fitzgerald suggests that legitimate power in America belongs to the 'Nordics' that Tom Buchanan identifies with. The route to prosperity and wealth may be open to other racial and ethnic groups, but whether through legitimate or illegitimate means remains unclear.
Nick's racism
Nick's racism is also evident when he refers to an African-American couple in a limousine as "bucks" in Chapter 4. He is surprised and doesn't believe they obtained their wealth legitimately – an assessment based solely on their race.
Remember!
Key Points to Remember:
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Fitzgerald's life shaped the novel: His relationship with Zelda, his alcoholism, and his ambivalent feelings about wealth and class are all reflected in The Great Gatsby.
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The Jazz Age context is crucial: The 1920s was a period of prosperity and excess, but also cynicism, corruption and rigid class divisions that ultimately led to the Great Depression.
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The American Dream is critiqued: Fitzgerald questions whether the promise of opportunity regardless of social background is achievable, suggesting it has been reduced to mere materialism.
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Gender roles were changing: Flappers like Jordan challenged traditional femininity, whilst characters like Myrtle show the dangers of using sexuality to climb the social ladder.
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Consumer culture dominated: Advertising, mass media and conspicuous consumption became central to 1920s American identity, with capitalism replacing traditional religion for many.
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Crime and prejudice pervaded society: Prohibition created organised crime opportunities, whilst racism and antisemitism remained widespread despite America's promise of equality.