Representations of Americanness in selected novels by Henry James, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway

Abstract

The primary scope of this dissertation will be to highlight the Americanness of the authors evident in one of their novels. The texts to be analysed are Henry James’s 'The Portrait of a Lady', F. Scott Fitzgerald’s 'The Great Gatsby' and Ernest Hemingway’s 'The Sun Also Rises'. The American traits and influences in their writing will be shown by an analysis of the writers’ characterisation, style and setting. These specific authors were chosen because they were Americans who travelled to Europe and therefore their inherent Americanness may or may not have become challenged and questionable.

Starting with the first chapter which is an introduction that aims to highlight the ideas of some of the earlier American thinkers and writers who constructed the American dream, the study moves on to an analysis of the authors and the chosen novels. The second chapter will start with an overview of Henry James’s life as an American who travelled back and forth to Europe in order to describe his complicated relationship with his homeland. The novel chosen, The Portrait of a Lady, was specifically chosen because it represents American and European cultures from different perspectives. By focusing on James’s characterisation and style, the chapter seeks to reveal his own attitudes towards the two cultures.

The third chapter deals with F. Scott Fitzgerald and 'The Great Gatsby'. Before the analysis of the author, this chapter seeks to describe the break that modernist writers made with the past, and the way they created their art in accordance with their times, which seems vital when analysing an author that is considered to most represent this age. By analysing the main characters in this work, the chapter seeks to determine how far the author himself believes in the American dream and in what ways he is seen to criticise it. The fourth chapter is an analysis of Ernest Hemingway, another modernist writer who was close to Fitzgerald, and his novel 'The Sun Also Rises' which deals with a group of expatriates living in Europe. Reflecting the lives of the authors of 'The Lost Generation', including Fitzgerald and Hemingway themselves, the novel passes judgments and reveals the inconsistencies of the age. By focusing mainly on his descriptions and portrayal of the hero, the chapter aims to highlight Hemingway’s American influence.