picture 1) Caption: Usually parties in the 1920s were very large and extravagant especially in the Great Gatsby. Jay Gatsby would always have large extravagant parties to pretty much prove that he fitted in with “East Egger” even though he did not inherit his money.
Picture 2) Caption: Typically in the 1920’s this is what women would wear on a daily basis. If they were to go out to a party depending on what social class they are in they would dress up very fancy and glamorous and wear expensive pearls. |
In the Great Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald accurately portrays the 1920s in his novel. For one part, the class structure and societal attitudes has a huge impact on the plot and storyline. The ambition to succeed is central in the American Dream and ambition is always present in The Great Gatsby, with several characters trying to get more than they already have. This concept if very important for Jay Gatsby who earned his riches in a short period of time instead of for example Tom Buchanan, who inherited his money. Another reason why class structure and societal attitudes is important in the Great Gatsby is the relationship between Tom Buchanan and his mistress, Myrtle Wilson. Fitzgerald displays this by the unequal relationship between Tom and his mistress Myrtle who belongs to the working class by paying for an apartment in the city and spending money on Myrtle Tom is the dominant one in their secret relationship.Tom’s superior status is displayed when he argues with Myrtle about Daisy and it ends with him breaking Myrtle’s nose (Fitzgerald 40). Myrtle’s city life, with the apartment and the other luxuries, is dependent on Tom and his money. Without Tom she would lose it all. This creates an unequal relationship between them and puts Myrtle in an inferior position. Fashion, trends, sport and leisure also impacted the Great Gatsby too. A lot of the fashion during the 1920s was very classic and glamorous at the same time. The women wore dresses and lots of pearl and diamond jewelry while many men wore suits but would dress up in tuxedos for parties. “By the next autumn she was gay again, gay as ever. She had a debut after the Armistice, and in February she was presumably engaged to a man from New Orleans. In June she married Tom Buchanan of Chicago, with more pomp and circumstance than Louisville ever knew before. He came down with a hundred people in four private cars, and hired a whole floor of the Seelbach Hotel, and the day before the wedding he gave her a string of pearls valued at three hundred and fifty thousand dollars.” This quote explains how much money Tom spent on Daisy. This shows that TOm inherited his money so he’s basically good for the rest of his life which you can tell because he lives on East Egg. Citation Page "Aaron Copland." Newsmakers. Detroit: Gale, 1991. N. pag. U.S. History in Context. Web. 12 Dec. 2014. "Capone, Al (1899–1947)." The Greenhaven Encyclopedia of Terrorism. Patricia D. Netzley. Ed. Moataz A. Fattah. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2007. 85-86. U.S. History in Context. Web. 17 Dec. 2014. "Commentary on Enforcing Prohibition." World War I and the Jazz Age. Woodbridge, CT: Primary Source Media, 1999. American Journey. U.S. History in Context. Web. 17 Dec. 2014. Edelman, Rob. "1920s: TV and Radio." Bowling, Beatniks, and Bell-Bottoms: Pop Culture of 20th- and 21st-Century America. Ed. Cynthia Johnson and Lawrence W. Baker. 2nd ed. Vol. 2: 1920s-1930s. Detroit: UXL, 2012. 359-363. U.S. History in Context. Web. 12 Dec. 2014. "Fitzgerald, F. Scott 1896-1940." American Decades. Ed. Judith S. Baughman, Victor Bondi, Richard Layman, Tandy McConnell, and Vincent Tompkins. Vol. 3: 1920-1929. Detroit: Gale, 2001. N. pag. U.S. History in Context. Web. 12 Dec. 2014. Lapsansky-Werner, Emma J. United States History. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall, 2010. Print. "Literary Modernism." American Decades. Ed. Judith S. Baughman, et al. Vol. 3: 1920-1929. Detroit: Gale, 2001. U.S. History in Context. Web. 16 Dec. 2014. Schalkwyk, Christina Linsenmeyer-van. "Jazz." Dictionary of American History. Ed. Stanley I. Kutler. 3rd ed. Vol. 4. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2003. 467-469. U.S. History in Context. Web. 12 Dec. 2014. "The Scopes 'Monkey' Trial and the Separation of Church and State." American Decades. Ed. Judith S. Baughman, et al. Vol. 3: 1920-1929. Detroit: Gale, 2001.U.S. History in Context. Web. 16 Dec. 2014. WEST, JOHN G., Jr. "Religious Fundamentalism." Encyclopedia of the American Constitution. Ed. Leonard W. Levy and Kenneth L. Karst. 2nd ed. Vol. 5. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2000. 2183-2185. U.S. History in Context. Web. 16 Dec. 2014. "1920s." Bowling, Beatniks, and Bell-Bottoms: Pop Culture of 20th- and 21st-Century America. Ed. Cynthia Johnson and Lawrence W. Baker. 2nd ed. Vol. 2: 1920s-1930s. Detroit: UXL, 2012. 249-256. U.S. History in Context. Web. 17 Dec. 2014 Pictures http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1353104/Nucky-Johnson-Mafia-untouchable-1920s-mob-boss-inspired-TVs-Boardwalk-Empire.html http://www.corbisimages.com/stock-photo/rights-managed/BE043599/police-emptying-beer-barrels-during-prohibition http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Gatsby http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=3713 https://www.flickr.com/photos/leonandloisphotos/8517703514/ https://sites.google.com/site/theeducationalforumofjoshua/charles-darwin-s-theory-of-evolution http://marblemovieskies.blogspot.com/2010/10/party-like-its-1920s.html |