Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/48368
Title: Failure of the American dream in Fitzgerald’s 'The Great Gatsby' and 'Tender is the Night'
Authors: Farrugia, Elaine
Keywords: Fitzgerald, F. Scott (Francis Scott), 1896-1940. Great Gatsby -- Criticism and interpretation
Fitzgerald, F. Scott (Francis Scott), 1896-1940. Tender is then night -- Criticism and interpretation
National characteristics, American, in literature
American Dream
Success in literature
Issue Date: 2019
Citation: Farrugia, E. (2019). Failure of the American dream in Fitzgerald’s 'The Great Gatsby' and 'Tender is the Night' (Bachelor's dissertation).
Abstract: This dissertation aims to analyse the failure of the American dream against the historical background of the 1920s and 1930s, by exploring two of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novels; The Great Gatsby and Tender is the Night. The introduction establishes the chosen theoretical framework of New Historicism as it highlights the significance of such an approach in relation to the objective of this dissertation. In addition, the interwar period is contextualized in accordance with the fundamental importance placed upon the historical context surrounding a work of art. The first chapter proposes a critical debate on the various concerns relating to the American dream in the two novels. A select number of critical works have been chosen in order to portray the diversity in opinions. The second chapter centers around The Great Gatsby. It questions both the existence of the concept of the American dream in the novel and its degree of failure, whilst exploring the causes that lead to Gatsby’s failed dream. Tender is the Night is analysed in the third chapter. Here the phenomenon of the American dream and its failure is established, together with an analysis on the driving forces towards failure. The second and the third chapters portray the influence of the historical background on the novels. This influence becomes evident when exploring the crucial role allocated to society in Gatsby’s and Dick’s failure, which underlines every other driving force, and when observing the parallels between fiction and reality. The latter is predominantly evident in the third chapter as the societal shift, occasioned by the First World War, mirrors Dick’s downfall. The conclusion goes on to discuss the role of New Historicism in relation to the failure of the American dream in the two novels as it explores the benefits gained from a retrospective perspective and it reinforces the analysed link between history and literary works.
Description: B.A.(HONS)ENGLISH
URI: https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/48368
Appears in Collections:Dissertations - FacArt - 2019
Dissertations - FacArtEng - 2019

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