Date
6-2015
Department
English and Modern Languages
Degree
Master of Arts (MA)
Chair
Mark Harris
Keywords
1920's culture, Fitzgerald, Gender roles, Identity, Masculinity
Disciplines
English Language and Literature | Literature in English, North America
Recommended Citation
Bender, Tara, "The Romantic Egoist: Fitzgerald's View on Identity and Culture" (2015). Masters Theses. 369.
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/masters/369
Abstract
"Who am I?” is a question that not only each individual asks himself or herself at various points in the process of maturation from childhood to adulthood, but also society itself as it changes and grows. During the 1920s, Americans were asking themselves these defining questions. F. Scott Fitzgerald as one of the pre-eminent writers of that time period provides examples in his novels This Side of Paradise, Beautiful and The Damned, and The Great Gatsby of the immaturity of masculine figures. Amory Blaine, Anthony Patch, and Jay Gatsby exemplify the struggle of men in the 1920s to develop their identities, whether through the influence of romantic relationships, the pursuit of the American dream, or the traditional expectation of a successful man.
