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''This Side of Paradise'' is the
debut novel A debut novel is the first novel a novelist publishes. Debut novels are often the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to p ...
by American writer
F. Scott Fitzgerald Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald (September 24, 1896 – December 21, 1940) was an American novelist, essayist, and short story writer. He is best known for his novels depicting the flamboyance and excess of the Jazz Age—a term he popularize ...
, published in 1920. It examines the lives and morality of carefree American youth at the dawn of the Jazz Age. Its protagonist, Amory Blaine, is an attractive middle-class student at Princeton University who dabbles in literature and engages in a series of romances with flappers. The novel explores the theme of love warped by greed and status-seeking, and takes its title from a line of
Rupert Brooke Rupert Chawner Brooke (3 August 1887 – 23 April 1915)The date of Brooke's death and burial under the Julian calendar that applied in Greece at the time was 10 April. The Julian calendar was 13 days behind the Gregorian calendar. was an En ...
's poem ''Tiare Tahiti''. Within months of its publication, ''This Side of Paradise'' became a cultural sensation in the United States, and reviewers hailed the work as an amazing debut novel. The book went through twelve printings and sold 49,075 copies. It became especially popular among American college students, and the American national press depicted its 23-year-old author as the standard-bearer for "youth in revolt". Overnight, F. Scott Fitzgerald became a household name. His newfound fame enabled him to earn much higher rates for his short stories,: "My story price had gone from $30 to $1,000. That's a small price to what was paid later in the Boom, but what it sounded like to me couldn't be exaggerated." and his improved financial prospects persuaded his reluctant fiancée Zelda Sayre to marry him one month later. With his debut novel, Fitzgerald became the first writer to turn the national spotlight upon the so-called Jazz Age generation. In contrast to the older
Lost Generation The Lost Generation was the social generational cohort in the Western world that was in early adulthood during World War I. "Lost" in this context refers to the "disoriented, wandering, directionless" spirit of many of the war's survivors in th ...
to which Fitzgerald and
Ernest Hemingway Ernest Miller Hemingway (July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and journalist. His economical and understated style—which he termed the iceberg theory—had a strong influence on 20th-century f ...
belonged, the Jazz Age generation were those younger Americans who had been adolescents during
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fig ...
, and were largely untouched by the conflict's psychological and material horrors. Fitzgerald's novel riveted the nation's attention upon the leisure activities of this hedonistic younger generation and sparked a societal debate over their perceived immorality. As a consequence of this novel, Fitzgerald became known as "the outstanding aggressor in the little warfare which divided our middle classes in the twenties—warfare of moral emancipation against moral conceit,
flaming youth Flaming Youth can refer to: * ''Flaming Youth'' (novel), a 1923 novel by Samuel Hopkins Adams * ''Flaming Youth'' (film), a 1923 film based on the novel starring Colleen Moore and Milton Sills * Flaming Youth (band), a 1960s British rock group * ...
against old guard". When he died in 1940, social conservatives rejoiced over his death. In a column for ''
The New York World-Telegram The ''New York World-Telegram'', later known as the ''New York World-Telegram and The Sun'', was a New York City newspaper from 1931 to 1966. History Founded by James Gordon Bennett Sr. as ''The Evening Telegram'' in 1867, the newspaper began ...
'', critic
Westbrook Pegler Francis James Westbrook Pegler (August 2, 1894 – June 24, 1969) was an American journalist and writer. He was a popular columnist in the 1930s and 1940s famed for his opposition to the New Deal and labor unions. Pegler aimed his pen at president ...
wrote that Fitzgerald's death recalled "memories of a queer bunch of undisciplined and self-indulgent brats who were determined not to pull their weight in the boat and wanted the world to drop everything and sit down and bawl with them. A kick in the pants and a clout over the scalp were more like their needing."


Synopsis

Amory Blaine, a young Midwesterner, is convinced that he has an exceptionally promising future. He attends a posh college-preparatory school and later Princeton University. He grows estranged from his eccentric mother Beatrice and becomes the protégé of Monsignor Thayer Darcy, a Catholic priest. During his sophomore year at Princeton, he returns to Minneapolis over Christmas break and encounters Isabelle Borgé, a wealthy, young debutante whom he first met as a boy. They embark upon a romantic relationship. While at Princeton, he deluges Isabelle with letters and poems, but she becomes disenchanted with him due to his incessant criticism. After his prom, they break up on Long Island. Following their separation, Amory graduates from his alma mater and enlists in the United States Army amid
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fig ...
. He is shipped overseas to serve in the
trenches A trench is a type of excavation or in the ground that is generally deeper than it is wide (as opposed to a wider gully, or ditch), and narrow compared with its length (as opposed to a simple hole or pit). In geology, trenches result from erosi ...
of the
Western front Western Front or West Front may refer to: Military frontiers * Western Front (World War I), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (World War II), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (Russian Empire), a maj ...
. While overseas, he learns his mother Beatrice has died and most of his family's wealth has been lost due to a series of failed investments. After the armistice with Imperial Germany, Amory settles in New York City as it undergoes the birth pangs of the Jazz Age. He becomes infatuated with a cruel and narcissistic flapper named Rosalind Connage. Desperate for a job, Amory is hired by an advertising agency, but he detests the work. Due to his poverty, his relationship with Rosalind deteriorates as she prefers a rival suitor, Dawson Ryder, a man of wealth and status. A distraught Amory quits his job and goes on an alcoholic bender for three weeks until the start of
prohibition in the United States In the United States from 1920 to 1933, a nationwide constitutional law prohibited the production, importation, transportation, and sale of alcoholic beverages. The alcohol industry was curtailed by a succession of state legislatures, an ...
. When Amory travels to visit an uncle in Maryland, he meets Eleanor Savage, an 18-year-old atheist. Eleanor chafes under the religious conformity and gender limitations imposed on her by contemporary society in Wilsonian America. Amory and Eleanor spend a lazy summer conversing about their love. On their final night together before Amory must return to New York City, Eleanor attempts suicide in order to prove her disbelief in any deity, and Amory realizes that he does not love her. Returning to New York, Amory learns that the fickle Rosalind is engaged to be married to his affluent rival Dawson Ryder. A devastated Amory is further dispirited to learn that his beloved mentor Monsignor Darcy has died. Homeless, Amory wanders from New York City to his alma mater Princeton and, accepting a car ride from a wealthy man driven by a resentful chauffeur, he speaks out in favor of
socialism Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes th ...
—although he admits he is still formulating his thoughts as he is talking. Concluding his long argument about their time's political and societal problems, Amory emphasizes his disillusionment with the current era. He announces his hope to stand alongside those who would bring forth fundamental changes to the age. The men in the car denounce his views, but upon learning that one of them was the father to one of his old friends at Princeton and that the son had died in World War I, Amory and the man reconcile, acknowledging mutual respect. It dawns on Amory that his time as a young promising Princetonian man has all been but a wasted dream, and he parts ways with his travel mates amicably. Continuing his lonesome walk towards Princeton, Amory gradually forsakes the final obsessions about times and people that once constituted fundamental ideologies of his old self. Standing alone and musing at the sight of Princeton's gothic towers, Amory ecstatically yet somberly concludes: "I know myself . . . but that is all."


Major characters

Most of the characters are drawn directly from Fitzgerald's own life. * Amory Blaine a Princeton alumnus from the
Midwest The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four Census Bureau Region, census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of ...
and later a World War I veteran who has a series of unfulfilling romances with young women. The character is based on Fitzgerald and his failed relationships. The name "Amory" is taken from Fitzgerald's football hero at Princeton, Hobart Amory Baker. * Isabelle Borgéa wealthy but shallow debutante who becomes Amory's first love. The character is based
Ginevra King Ginevra King Pirie (November 30, 1898 – December 13, 1980) was an American socialite and heiress. As one of Chicago's " Big Four" debutantes during World , she inspired many characters in the novels and stories of writer F. Scott Fitzgerald; ...
, an heiress upon whom Fitzgerald developed a life-long fixation. Like Isabelle and Amory, Fitzgerald met King on Christmas break during his sophomore year at Princeton, and their relationship ended in a similar fashion. Purportedly, "Fitzgerald was so smitten by King that for years he could not think of her without tears coming to his eyes". * Rosalind Connagea cruel and selfish flapper who becomes Amory's second love. Rosalind is based on Zelda Sayre and, to a lesser extent, on the fictional character of Beatrice Normandy in H. G. Wells' realist novel ''
Tono-Bungay ''Tono-Bungay'' is a realist semiautobiographical novel written by H. G. Wells and first published in book form in 1909. It has been called "arguably his most artistic book". It had been serialised before book publication, both in the United ...
'' (1909). Mirroring Rosalind's materialistic relationship with Amory, Sayre initially ended her relationship with Fitzgerald due to his lack of financial prospects and his inability to support her privileged lifestyle as an idle
Southern belle Southern belle () is a colloquialism for a debutante in the planter class of the Antebellum South. Characteristics The image of a Southern belle is often characterized by fashion elements such as a hoop skirt, a corset, pantalettes, a wid ...
. * Eleanor Savagea beautiful 18-year-old atheist whom Amory meets in Maryland. Fitzgerald based Eleanor on Elizabeth Beckwith MacKie, a romantic interest whom he knew briefly. MacKie later commented that "the Eleanor he described only reminded me of how little he really knew me. His Eleanor loved to sit on a haystack in the rain reciting poetry. Forgive me, Scott: if that is the way you wanted it, then you missed the whole idea of what can happen atop a haystack." Fitzgerald also partly based Eleanor on a young love of his mentor Father Sigourney Fay. * Thayer Darcya Catholic priest who becomes Amory's spiritual mentor. The character is based on Father Sigourney Fay, Fitzgerald's mentor and confidant. While writing ''This Side of Paradise'', Fitzgerald quoted verbatim entire letters sent to him by Father Sigourney Fay. In addition to using Fay's correspondence, Fitzgerald drew upon anecdotes that Fay had told him about his private life, including his failed romances. When reading ''This Side of Paradise'', Fay wrote to Fitzgerald that the use of his own biographical experiences told in confidence to the young author "gave him a queer feeling." * Beatrice Blainean aging and eccentric matron who is Amory's mother. Based on the mother of one of Fitzgerald's friends. * Clara Pagea widowed older cousin whom Amory loves, but she doesn't return his affections. Based on Fitzgerald's cousin Cecilia Delihant Taylor. * Cecilia ConnageRosalind's cynical younger sister who purloins Rosalind's cigarettes. She is jealous of her sister's success with many young men. * Allenbya heroic football captain at Princeton based on
Hobey Baker Hobart Amory Hare "Hobey" Baker (January 15, 1892 – December 21, 1918) was an American amateur athlete of the early twentieth century. Considered the first American star in ice hockey by the Hockey Hall of Fame, he was also an accomplished Am ...
, the legendary Princeton athlete and military aviator who died during World War I. * Thomas Parke D'Invilliersa Princeton classmate who has a gift for poetry. He becomes Amory's close friend and confidante of various subjects, among which are literature, love for young beauties, politics and the meaning of the self. D'Invilliers later becomes a journalist, developing his own perspectives as apart from that he shares with Amory. Fitzgerald based D'Invilliers on his friend, poet
John Peale Bishop John Peale Bishop (May 21, 1892 – April 4, 1944) was an American poet and man of letters. Biography Bishop was born in Charles Town, West Virginia, to a family from New England, and attended school in Hagerstown, Maryland and Mercersburg Acade ...
. The character reappears as a fictitious poet in the opening of ''
The Great Gatsby ''The Great Gatsby'' is a 1925 novel by American writer F. Scott Fitzgerald. Set in the Jazz Age on Long Island, near New York City, the novel depicts first-person narrator Nick Carraway's interactions with mysterious millionaire Jay Gatsby ...
''.


Background and composition


Princeton and Ginevra King

Since childhood, F. Scott Fitzgerald aspired to be a famous novelist. "Three months before I was born," he later wrote, "my mother lost her other two children...I think I started then to be a writer." While attending Princeton University, his passion for writing literature began to solidify into a career choice, and he often wrote fiction as an undergraduate. During his sophomore year at Princeton, Fitzgerald returned home to Saint Paul, Minnesota during Christmas break where the 18-year-old aspiring writer met and fell in love with 16-year-old Chicago debutante
Ginevra King Ginevra King Pirie (November 30, 1898 – December 13, 1980) was an American socialite and heiress. As one of Chicago's " Big Four" debutantes during World , she inspired many characters in the novels and stories of writer F. Scott Fitzgerald; ...
.: Fitzgerald later confided to
his daughter ''His Daughter'' is a 1911 American short silent drama film directed by D. W. Griffith, starring Edwin August and featuring Blanche Sweet. Cast * Edwin August - William Whittier * Florence Barker - Mary * Linda Arvidson * Wilfred Lucas * Mac ...
that Ginevra King "was the first girl I ever loved" and that he "faithfully avoided seeing her" to "keep the illusion perfect".
They began a romantic relationship spanning several years. Although Ginevra loved him, her upper-class family belittled Scott's courtship because of his lower-class status compared to her other wealthy suitors. Rejected by Ginevra as a suitable match, a heartbroken Fitzgerald enlisted in the United States Army amid World War I.: "Like all infantry lieutenants at the time, Fitzgerald expected to be killed in battle. He began writing a novel in training camp, hoping to leave evidence of his genius." Hoping to have a novel published before his deployment to Europe and his anticipated death in the trenches of World War I, Fitzgerald hastily wrote a 120,000-word manuscript entitled ''The Romantic Egotist''. After obtaining a brief leave from the army in February 1918, Fitzgerald continued work on his unpublished manuscript at Princeton's University Cottage Club's library. Ultimately, eighty-one pages of this revised manuscript would later appear in the final version of ''This Side of Paradise''. In May 1918, Fitzgerald gave the revised manuscript to his friend Shane Leslie to deliver to
Max Perkins William Maxwell Evarts "Max" Perkins (September 20, 1884 – June 17, 1947) was an American book editor, best remembered for discovering authors Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, and Thomas Wolfe. Early life and ...
, an editor at
Charles Scribner's Sons Charles Scribner's Sons, or simply Scribner's or Scribner, is an American publisher based in New York City, known for publishing American authors including Henry James, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Kurt Vonnegut, Marjorie Kinnan R ...
in New York City. Leslie asked the publishing company to retain the manuscript no matter what they thought of it. Although Scribner's rejected the manuscript, the impressed reviewer Max Perkins praised Fitzgerald's novitiate efforts and encouraged him to resubmit the manuscript after extensive revisions. In June 1918, Fitzgerald was garrisoned with the 45th and 67th Infantry Regiments at Camp Sheridan near Montgomery, Alabama. Attempting to rebound from his rejection by Ginevra, a lonely Fitzgerald began dating Zelda Sayre, a 17-year-old
Southern belle Southern belle () is a colloquialism for a debutante in the planter class of the Antebellum South. Characteristics The image of a Southern belle is often characterized by fashion elements such as a hoop skirt, a corset, pantalettes, a wid ...
and the affluent granddaughter of Confederate senator whose extended family owned the White House of the Confederacy. A romance soon blossomed, although Fitzgerald continued writing Ginevra, asking in vain if there was any chance of resuming their former relationship. Three days after Ginevra married a wealthy Chicago polo player, a lonely Fitzgerald professed his affection for Zelda in September 1918.


Jazz Age and creative struggles

Upon his army discharge in February 1919, he moved to New York City. He then turned to writing advertising copy to sustain himself while seeking a breakthrough as an author of fiction. Fitzgerald wrote to Zelda frequently, and by March 1920, he had sent Zelda his mother's ring, and the two became officially engaged. However, as he was living in poverty in New York City, Fitzgerald could not convince Zelda that he would be able to support her, and she broke off the engagement in June 1919. In the wake of Fitzgerald's rejection by Ginevra two years prior, his subsequent rejection by Zelda further dispirited him. Unable to earn a successful living, Fitzgerald publicly threatened to jump to his death from a window ledge of the Yale Club, and he carried a revolver daily while contemplating suicide. In July 1919, Fitzgerald quit his advertising job and returned to St. Paul. Having returned to his hometown as a failure, Fitzgerald became a social recluse and lived on the top floor of his parents' home at 599 Summit Avenue, on Cathedral Hill. He decided to make one last attempt to become a novelist and to stake everything on the success or failure of a book. Abstaining from alcohol and parties, he worked day and night in his parents' home to revise ''The Romantic Egotist'' as ''This Side of Paradise''—an autobiographical account of his Princeton years and his unfulfilling romances with Ginevra, Zelda, and others. Fitzgerald chose the new title based on a line in
Rupert Brooke Rupert Chawner Brooke (3 August 1887 – 23 April 1915)The date of Brooke's death and burial under the Julian calendar that applied in Greece at the time was 10 April. The Julian calendar was 13 days behind the Gregorian calendar. was an En ...
's poem ''Tiare Tahiti'', "Well this side of Paradise!...There's little comfort in the wise." Fitzgerald sent the revised manuscript to Scribner's on September 4, 1919. Although the manuscript again impressed editor Max Perkins who wished to publish the novel immediately, senior executives at the publishing house overruled Perkins and rejected the novel on the grounds of indecency. An undeterred Perkins threatened to resign from the company unless the work was published. On September 16, Scribner's accepted the novel for publication. Fitzgerald later recalled his euphoria upon learning his first novel would be published: "The postman rang, and that day I quit work and ran along the streets, stopping automobiles to tell friends and acquaintances about it⁠—my novel ''This Side of Paradise'' was accepted for publication. That week the postman rang and rang, and I paid off my terrible small debts, bought a suit, and woke up every morning with a world of ineffable top-loftiness and promise."


Publication and marriage

''This Side of Paradise'' was published on March 26, 1920, with a first printing of 3,000 copies. The initial printing sold out in three days. Within months of its publication, the 23-year-old author's debut novel became a cultural sensation in the United States, and F. Scott Fitzgerald became a household name. The book went through twelve printings in 1920 and 1921 for a total of 49,075 copies. Initially, the novel did not provide a large income for Fitzgerald. Copies sold for $1.75, for which he earned 10% on the first 5,000 copies and 15% beyond that. In total, in 1920 he earned $6,200 () from the book. According to Fitzgerald's friend
Burton Rascoe Arthur Burton Rascoe (October 22, 1892 - March 19, 1957), was an American journalist, editor and literary critic of the ''New York Herald Tribune''. He was born in Fulton, Kentucky to Matthew L. Rascoe and Elizabeth Burton Rascoe. His father c ...
, Fitzgerald complained that "the book didn't make me as rich as I thought it would". Nevertheless, Fitzgerald's new fame due to ''This Side of Paradise'' enabled him to earn much higher rates for his short stories, and the author could now convince Zelda Sayre to marry him. Zelda resumed her engagement to Fitzgerald on the explicit condition that he could now pay for her privileged lifestyle. However, by the time of their wedding in April 1920, Fitzgerald claimed neither he nor Zelda still loved each other,: Fitzgerald wrote in 1939, "You
elda Elda is a city and municipality located in the province of Alicante, Spain. , it has a total population of 55,618 inhabitants, ranking as the 7th most populous city in the province. Elda joins together with the town of Petrer to form a conurba ...
submitted at the moment of our marriage when your passion for me was at as low ebb as mine for you. ... I never wanted the Zelda I married. I didn't love you again till after you became pregnant."
: "Victory was sweet, though not as sweet as it would have been six months earlier before Zelda had rejected him. Fitzgerald couldn't recapture the thrill of their first love". and the early years of their marriage in New York City proved to be tumultuous and a disappointment.: In July 1938, Fitzgerald wrote to his daughter that, "I decided to marry your mother after all, even though I knew she was spoiled and meant no good to me. I was sorry immediately I had married her but, being patient in those days, made the best of it".: Describing his marriage to Zelda, Fitzgerald said that—aside from "long conversations" late at night—their relations lacked "a closeness" which they never "achieved in the workaday world of marriage."


Critical reception


Literary critics

Many literary reviewers were enthusiastic about Fitzgerald's debut novel.
Burton Rascoe Arthur Burton Rascoe (October 22, 1892 - March 19, 1957), was an American journalist, editor and literary critic of the ''New York Herald Tribune''. He was born in Fulton, Kentucky to Matthew L. Rascoe and Elizabeth Burton Rascoe. His father c ...
of the ''Chicago Tribune'' urged readers to "make a note of the name, F. Scott Fitzgerald. It is borne by a 23 year old novelist who will, unless I am much mistaken, be much heard of hereafter." Rascoe asserted that Fitzgerald's first novel bore "the impress, it seems to me, of genius. It is the only adequate study that we have had of the contemporary American in adolescence and young manhood." "The prize first novel of a decade is F. Scott Fitzgerald's ''This Side of Paradise''," Fanny Butcher raved "a book which...will have a serious and far reaching effect on American literature." In his influential review of the work in ''
The Smart Set ''The Smart Set'' was an American literary magazine, founded by Colonel William d'Alton Mann and published from March 1900 to June 1930. Its headquarters was in New York City. During its Jazz Age heyday under the editorship of H. L. Mencken and ...
'', critic H. L. Mencken described ''This Side of Paradise'' as "an amazing first novel" and heaped praise upon the young author: Although critics praised ''This Side of Paradise'' as highly original, they eviscerated its form and construction. Lillian C. Ford in the ''Los Angeles Times'' complained "the construction is odd and the book has two parts, the first with four chapters and the second with five. The chapters have unexpected topical divisions and when the author feels so inclined he throws his story into drama form and then again it jogs along as plain narrative." A critical consensus soon emerged that Fitzgerald's structural craftsmanship left much to be desired. He could write entertainingly, his detractors conceded, but he gave scant attention to form and construction. Having read and digested these criticisms of his debut novel, Fitzgerald sought to improve upon the form and construction of his prose in his next work, ''
The Beautiful and Damned ''The Beautiful and Damned'' is a 1922 novel by American writer F. Scott Fitzgerald. Set in New York City, the novel's plot follows a young artist Anthony Patch and his flapper wife Gloria Gilbert who become "wrecked on the shoals of dissipati ...
'', and to venture into a new genre of fiction altogether.


Princeton backlash

Despite its widespread success with critics and readers, Princeton's faculty and older alumni reacted with hostility towards ''This Side of Paradise''. Although Professor
Christian Gauss Christian Gauss (1878 – 1951) was a literary critic and professor of literature. Biography Gauss was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan. His father had fled Württemberg when Prussia began to dominate it in the 1860s. The son graduated from the Univers ...
of French Literature publicly lauded ''This Side of Paradise'' as "a work of art," other Princetonians openly attacked the book in the pages of the ''
Princeton Alumni Weekly The ''Princeton Alumni Weekly'' (''PAW'') is a magazine published for the alumni of Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New ...
'', much to Fitzgerald's dismay. In a public letter, Ralph Kent, a senior editor of the ''Nassau Literary Review'', disparaged the work as impugning Princeton's reputation due to its sordid depiction of undergraduate life. A recurrent criticism by Princetonians was that Fitzgerald's best-selling novel had fostered an unfavorable impression of their alma mater as populated by hedonistic degenerates solely interested in idle pleasures. In a private letter to Fitzgerald dated May 27, 1920,
John Grier Hibben John Grier Hibben (April 19, 1861 – May 16, 1933) was a Presbyterian minister, a philosopher, and educator. He served as president of Princeton University from 1912–1932, succeeding Woodrow Wilson and implementing many of the reforms ...
, the president of Princeton University from 1912–1932, politely but firmly criticized Fitzgerald's depiction of the university in ''This Side of Paradise'': In response to Hibben's correspondence, Fitzgerald wrote an apologetic explanation: "I have no fault to find with Princeton that I can't find with
Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
and
Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...
. I simply wrote out of my own impressions, wrote as honestly as I could a picture of its beauty. That the picture is cynical is the fault of my temperament...I must admit however that ''This Side of Paradise'' does over accentuate the gaiety and country club atmosphere of Princeton. For the sake of the readers interest that part was much over-stressed, and of course the hero, not being average, reacted rather unhealthily I suppose to many perfectly normal phenomena. To that extent the book is inaccurate." Shortly before his death, Fitzgerald recalled how his early happiness of being a published author ended "when Princeton turned on the book—not undergraduate Princeton but the black mass of faculty and alumni. There was a kind but reproachful letter from President Hibben, and a room full of classmates who suddenly turned on me with condemnation...The ''Alumni Weekly'' got after my book and only Dean Gauss had a good word to say or me. The unctuousness and hypocrisy of the proceedings was exasperating and for seven years I didn't go to Princeton."


Critical analysis


Innovative style

For his first novel, Fitzgerald used as his literary templates H. G. Wells' 1909 realist work ''
Tono-Bungay ''Tono-Bungay'' is a realist semiautobiographical novel written by H. G. Wells and first published in book form in 1909. It has been called "arguably his most artistic book". It had been serialised before book publication, both in the United ...
'' and Sir
Compton Mackenzie Sir Edward Montague Compton Mackenzie, (17 January 1883 – 30 November 1972) was a Scottish writer of fiction, biography, histories and a memoir, as well as a cultural commentator, raconteur and lifelong Scottish nationalist. He was one of th ...
's 1913 novel ''
Sinister Street ''Sinister Street'' is a 1913–1914 novel by Compton Mackenzie. It is a kind of ''Bildungsroman'' or novel about growing up, and concerns two children, Michael Fane and his sister Stella. Both of them are born out of wedlock, something which ...
'', which chronicles a young college student's coming of age at
Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
. Although Fitzgerald imitated the plot of these two novels, his debut work differed due to its experimental style. He discarded the stodgy narrative technique of most novels and instead unspooled the plot in the form of textual fragments, letters, and poetry intermingled together, including a passage written in a stream-of-consciousness style. This was largely a result of Fitzgerald's cobbling ''The Romantic Egotist'', his earlier attempt at a novel, together with assorted short stories and poems that he had composed but never published. This atonal blend of different fictive elements prompted cultural elites to celebrate the young Fitzgerald as a literary trailblazer whose work modernized a staid literature which had lagged "as far behind modern habits as behind modern history."
Dorothy Parker Dorothy Parker (née Rothschild; August 22, 1893 – June 7, 1967) was an American poet, writer, critic, and satirist based in New York; she was known for her wit, wisecracks, and eye for 20th-century urban foibles. From a conflicted and unhap ...
later remarked that "''This Side of Paradise'' may not seem like much now, but in 1920 it was considered an experimental novel; it cut new ground."


Prose anomalies

More so than most contemporary writers of his era, Fitzgerald's authorial voice evolved and matured over time, and each of his novels represented a discernible progression in literary quality. Although he was eventually regarded as possessing "the best narrative gift of the century," this narrative gift was not perceived as immediately evident in ''This Side of Paradise''. Believing that prose had a basis in lyric verse, Fitzgerald initially crafted his sentences entirely by ear and, consequently, ''This Side of Paradise'' contains numerous malapropisms and descriptive non sequiturs which irritated readers and reviewers. Reflecting upon these copious defects, critic
Edmund Wilson Edmund Wilson Jr. (May 8, 1895 – June 12, 1972) was an American writer and literary critic who explored Freudian and Marxist themes. He influenced many American authors, including F. Scott Fitzgerald, whose unfinished work he edited for publi ...
later argued that Fitzgerald's debut work had "almost every fault and deficiency that a novel can possibly have".


Thematic content

The underlying themes of
narcissism Narcissism is a self-centered personality style characterized as having an excessive interest in one's physical appearance or image and an excessive preoccupation with one's own needs, often at the expense of others. Narcissism exists on a co ...
in the novel have been examined in a variety of scholarly essays. Scholar Saori Tanaka's essay on narcissism argues that "Amory comes to know himself through Beatrice and his four lovers, which are like five sheets of glass. They are his reflectors...reflecting his narcissism and the inner side." The first three women in the book allow Amory to dream in a narcissistic way. After participating in the war and losing his financial foundation, the last two women he meets, Rosalind and Eleanor, "make him not dream but awake" in postwar America. "With Beatrice and Isabelle, Amory activates the grandiose self," Tanaka states, "with Clara and Rosalind, he restricts narcissism, and with Eleanor, he gains a realistic conception of the self." Others have analyzed
feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...
themes in the work. Scholar Andrew Riccardo views several characters to be feminist templates. Eleanor's character serves as a "love interest, therapeutic friend, and conversational other". Highly educated in discussing poetry and philosophy, "Eleanor not only posits her desires in juxtaposition to the lingering expectations of women in her day but also serves as soothsayer to the demands which would be placed on females".


Legacy and influence

The impact of Fitzgerald's debut novel ''This Side of Paradise'' upon societal mores at the time of its publication has been extensively discussed by scholars and critics.: "As a picture of contemporary life and as an indication of codes of conduct obtaining among the American young, the novel is revelatory and valuable. It is a comment upon the times. It shows definitely that whatever the teachings of our elders, the Victorian checks, taboos, and reticences are no longer in force among the flappers, the debutantes, and the collegians of the present azz Agegeneration." With his debut novel, Fitzgerald became the first writer to turn the national spotlight upon the so-called Jazz Age generation. In contrast to the older
Lost Generation The Lost Generation was the social generational cohort in the Western world that was in early adulthood during World War I. "Lost" in this context refers to the "disoriented, wandering, directionless" spirit of many of the war's survivors in th ...
to which Fitzgerald and Hemingway belonged, the Jazz Age generation were those younger Americans who had been adolescents during World War I and were largely untouched by the conflict's psychological and material horrors.: "The generation which been adolescent during the confusion of the War, brusquely shouldered my contemporaries out of the way and danced into the limelight. This was the generation whose girls dramatized themselves as flappers, the generation that corrupted its elders and eventually overreached itself less through lack of morals than through lack of taste." Fitzgerald riveted the nation's attention upon the hedonistic activities of their sons and daughters cavorting in the
rumble seat A rumble seat (American English), dicky (dickie/dickey) seat (British English), also called a mother-in-law seat, is an upholstered exterior seat which folded into the rear of a coach, carriage, or early motorcar. Depending on its configuration, ...
of a Bearcat roadster and sparked a societal debate over their perceived immorality.: Fanny Butcher wrote in her ''Chicago Tribune'' column that Fitzgerald's ''This Side of Paradise'' made him "the first person to turn the spotlight on the flapper in the backseat on a lonely road".: Ralph Coghlan wrote in the ''St. Louis Post-Dispatch'' that "''This Side of Paradise'' focused the thought of the whole nation on the problems of 'flappers and parlor snakes' which it had known before simply as its daughters and sons. Some of the old-lady magazines are still debating these problems with tiresome gravity".: "...where young men in bear-cat roadsters are speeding to whatever Genevra ingMitchell's dominate the day". Due to this thematic focus, his works became a sensation among college students, and the American national press depicted him as the standard-bearer for youth in revolt. "No generation of Americans has had a chronicler so persuasive and unmaudlin" as Fitzgerald, critic Burke Van Allen wrote in 1934, and no author was so identified with the generation recorded. Remarking upon the popular association between Fitzgerald and the flaming youth of the Jazz Age,
Gertrude Stein Gertrude Stein (February 3, 1874 – July 27, 1946) was an American novelist, poet, playwright, and art collector. Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the Allegheny West neighborhood and raised in Oakland, California, Stein moved to Paris ...
wrote in her memoir ''
The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas ''The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas'' is a book by Gertrude Stein, written in October and November 1932 and published in 1933. It employs the form of an autobiography authored by Alice B. Toklas, her life partner. In 1998, Modern Library rank ...
'' that the author's fiction essentially created this new generation in the public's mind.: "Stein had been very much impressed by ''This Side of Paradise''. She read it when it came out and before she knew any of the young american writers. She said of it that it was this book that really created for the public the new generation." Echoing this assertion, critics John V. A. Weaver and
Edmund Wilson Edmund Wilson Jr. (May 8, 1895 – June 12, 1972) was an American writer and literary critic who explored Freudian and Marxist themes. He influenced many American authors, including F. Scott Fitzgerald, whose unfinished work he edited for publi ...
insisted that Fitzgerald imbued the Jazz Age generation with the gift of self-consciousness while simultaneously making the public aware of them as a distinctive cohort.: "But what the first book principally did was to introduce new material; it made this wild, keen, enthusiastic younger generation self-conscious; it encourage them to self-expression; to open revolt against the platitudes and polly-annalysis of precedent. In a literary way, Fitzgerald's influence is so great that it cannot be estimated.": "There were a lot of people writing before ''This Side of Paradise''—but the Younger Generation never really became self-conscious till then nor did the public at large become conscious of it. My slogan is that I am the man who made America Younger-Generation-conscious ." The perception of Fitzgerald as the chronicler of the Jazz Age hedonism and carefree youth led many societal figures to denounce his writings. Social conservatives such as
Heywood Broun Heywood Campbell Broun Jr. (; December 7, 1888 – December 18, 1939) was an American journalist. He worked as a sportswriter, newspaper columnist, and editor in New York City. He founded the American Newspaper Guild, later known as The Newspap ...
decried his use of modern slang and went so far as to claim that Fitzgerald wholly fabricated his depiction of young people engaging in drunken sprees and premarital sex. Fitzgerald publicly ridiculed such criticisms, and he opined that many pundits wished to discredit his works in order to retain their outdated conceptions of American society. As a result of ''This Side of Paradise'', Fitzgerald became regarded as "the outstanding aggressor in the little warfare which divided our middle classes in the twenties—warfare of moral emancipation against moral conceit,
flaming youth Flaming Youth can refer to: * ''Flaming Youth'' (novel), a 1923 novel by Samuel Hopkins Adams * ''Flaming Youth'' (film), a 1923 film based on the novel starring Colleen Moore and Milton Sills * Flaming Youth (band), a 1960s British rock group * ...
against old guard". When he died in 1940, social conservatives rejoiced over his death. In one column for ''
The New York World-Telegram The ''New York World-Telegram'', later known as the ''New York World-Telegram and The Sun'', was a New York City newspaper from 1931 to 1966. History Founded by James Gordon Bennett Sr. as ''The Evening Telegram'' in 1867, the newspaper began ...
'', journalist
Westbrook Pegler Francis James Westbrook Pegler (August 2, 1894 – June 24, 1969) was an American journalist and writer. He was a popular columnist in the 1930s and 1940s famed for his opposition to the New Deal and labor unions. Pegler aimed his pen at president ...
wrote that Fitzgerald's death a few weeks prior reawakened "memories of a queer bunch of undisciplined and self-indulgent brats who were determined not to pull their weight in the boat and wanted the world to drop everything and sit down and bawl with them. A kick in the pants and a clout over the scalp were more like their needing."


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Notes


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Works cited

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External links

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''This Side of Paradise''
at
Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...
* {{DEFAULTSORT:This Side Of Paradise 1920 American novels Modernist novels Novels by F. Scott Fitzgerald 1920 debut novels Novels set in Minneapolis Charles Scribner's Sons books