F. Scott Fitzgerald Biography
Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald’s life is a tragic example of both sides of the American dream, the joys of young love, wealth and success, and the tragedies associated with excess and failure. He is considered one of the greatest American writers of the twentieth century and his works have embodied the Jazz Age spirit. Fitzgerald wrote novels and short stories, he finished four novels as well as beginning one that was never finished due to his untimely death, as well as writing many short stories with themes of youth and promise with age and despair. His works of literature as well as his personal life have been adapted into films. The dominant influences on F. Scott Fitzgerald were aspiration, literature Princeton, Zelda Scott Fitzgerald, and alcohol.
Francis Scott Fitzgerald was born in St. Paul, Minnesota on September 24, 1896 to an upper-middle class family. He was named after his famous second cousin, three times removed, Francis Scott Key, who wrote the Star Spangled Banner. Edward Fitzgerald, his father, was from Maryland with strong ties to the South. Mary Mollie McQuillan, his mother, was the daughter of and Irish immigrant who became rich as a grocer in St. Paul. Both of his parents were Celtic Catholics. His mother had lost two of her children to epidemics before her son was born. His mother enjoyed showing off her son and was very ambitious for her son socially. Fitzgerald began writing at an early age. His high school newspaper printed his detective stories when he was just thirteen, thus encouraging his writing career.
At Princeton, he dedicated himself to improving his craft as a writer. As a member of the Princeton Class of 1917, Fitzgerald ignored his studies for his literary training. He wrote scripts and lyrics for Princeton Triangle Club musicals and was an avid contributor for the Princeton Tiger and the Nassau Literary Magazine. Although Fitzgerald exceled with his writing at college, he struggled with his...