1. F. Scott Fitzegerald's full name is Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald. He was named after Francis Scott Key, his second cousin three times removed and the writer of the "Star-Spangled Banner"
2. Zelda and Scott met at a country club in Montgomery, where Zelda lived and Scott was stationed for a period. Zelda's parents thought Fitzgerald wasn't wealthy enough to take care of her, which led to him writing more and more so he could be rich enough for them (like Gatsby!!!)
3. F. Scott Fitzgerald was actually an alcoholic (the complete opposite of Nick) and his wife, Zelda, was diagnosed as schizophrenic and bipolar. (not really a very "fun" fact)
4. Zelda wrote a novel called Save Me the Waltz in 1932 while in a mental health facility, which angered Scott because it used details from their life that he was planning to use in a book.
5. Zelda and Scott are featured as characters in the 2011 Woody Allen film, Midnight in Paris.
6. The 1970 biography, Zelda:A biography, portrayed Zelda as an artistic woman who was repressed by her husband, Scott. The book turned her into a feminist icon.
7. After giving birth to her daughter, Frances, in 1921, Zelda reportedly said "I hope it's beautiful and a fool-- a beautiful little fool."
8. Scott and Zelda's only child was referred to as "Scottie" and her full name was Frances Scott Fitzgerald. I imagine she was named after her father.
9. Scott died of a heart attack at the age of 44 and Zelda died in a fire at her mental health facility at the age of 47 (again, a not very "fun" fact)
10. The last line from The Great Gatsby, "So we beat on, boats against the current. Borne back ceaselessly into the past", is inscribed on the Fitzgeralds' gravestone.
11. Scott was close friends with Ernest Hemingway, but he and Zelda disliked each other.
12. The epitaph at the beginning of Gatsby "Then wear the gold hat, if that will move her;/ If you can bounce high, bounce for her too,/ Till she cry "Lover, gold-hatted, high-bouncing lover,/ I must have you" was written by Fitzgerald under the pen name Thomas Parke D'Invilliers, who was also a character in Fitzgerald's This Side of Paradise.
13. Although Fitzgerald's writings made him a considerable amount of money, his and Zelda's lifestyle was so decadent that he was almost constantly in financial trouble.
14. J.D. Salinger was a huge Fitzgerald fan and even wrote letters to him.
15. Although Scott preferred to write novels, his constant need for finances led to him having to write Hollywood scripts and commercial short stories, which he was often reported to have loathed.
I think it's very interesting that F. Scott Fitzgerald was named after his cousin who wrote the national anthem. Gatsby is very patriotic: It dives into the "American Dream" and one of its reject titles was Under the Red, White, and Blue. (Pattern 3 sentence anybody? ;)) F. Scott Fitzgerald was clearly very into 'Merica. I also found it very interesting that Zelda allegedly said she hoped her daughter was a "beautiful little fool" just like Daisy. This reminded me that Fitzgerald probably referenced a lot about his life in Gatsby.
ReplyDeleteI find it interesting that there are so many similarities between F. Scott Fitzgerald's life and "The Great Gatsby". I like the contradiction of Fitzgerald being an alcoholic to Nick and Gatsby, neither of whom drink a lot.
ReplyDeleteIt's very interesting that Salinger was interested in Fitzgerald's writing because the two utilized many of the same motiffs and symbols. Water played a large role in both Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby" and Salinger's "9 Stories". Also, Fitzgerald's motiff of noses reminds me of Salinger's constant ue of feet in 9 stories; these are both fairly obscure body parts to be used as symbols.
ReplyDeleteI love that Fitzgerald had "So we beat on, boats against the current. Borne back ceaselessly into the past" inscribed on his gravestone. I feel like that's something Gatsby would do: he seems like he would leave some sort of mysterious message behind after his death. It also shows the Fitzgerald placed a significant amount of himself into his work, so much so that he would quote the book as the message he leaves behind on his grave.
ReplyDeleteI think it's cool that Fitzgerald was close friends with Hemingway. I noticed that Hemingway came up in many of Fitzgerald's notebook entries, so I had suspected that they had some connection. All of these famous authors must have had some great get-togethers.
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