Tender is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald | Characters, Summary, Analysis

 

Hello and welcome to the Discourse. Tender is the Night is a semiautobiographical novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald that was published in the year 1933. His wife Zelda Sayre (Fitzgerald) was suffering from mental disorders and was hospitalized in Baltimore, Maryland due to her suicidal and homicidal tendencies. During this period, Fitzgerald rented a house in the suburbs of Towson to be close to the hospital where his wife was being treated. Meanwhile, he continued to write the manuscript of his fourth novel. The novel chronicles the rise and fall of Dick Diver, a promising young psychiatrist, and his wife, Nicole, who is one of his patients. The story mirrors events in the lives of Scott and Zelda as Nicole descends into mental illness and Dick starts his descent into alcoholism. While working on the book, Fitzgerald was beset with financial difficulties and drank heavily.

The title of the novel is taken from the poem “Ode to a Nightingale” by John Keats.

Characters:

Richard Dick Diver is a Yale alumnus, a psychiatrist who gets the responsibility of treating the daughter of a business tycoon. He falls prey to Florence Nightingale Syndrom and marries the rich girl. However, the marriage doesn’t work and he becomes an alcoholic. Nicole Diver is an affluent mental patient who was sexually abused by her father. She improves under the treatment of Dick and falls for him and marries him. Rosemary Hoyt is an eighteen-year-old promising Hollywood actress who falls in love with Dick Diver. Tommy Barban is a Franco-American part-time soldier who admires Nicole and when Nicole fails to save her marriage with Dick, she divorces Dick and marries Tommy Barban. Frank Gregorovious is a Swiss psychiatrist who introduces Dick Diver to Nicole. Beth Warren is Nicole’s sister who opposed her marriage to Dick. Abe North is an alcoholic music composer while Mary North is his spirited wife who later divorces him and remarries a rich man. Albert McKisco is an American novelist who challenges Tommy for a duel. Violet McKisco is the wife of Albert McKisco who discovers that Nicole is suffering from mental illness and gossips about it while demeaning her. Jules Peterson is a black man who helps Abe North and is later found dead on the bed of Rosemary Hoyt.

Summary of Tender is the Night

The novel begins as a third-person narrative with the description of a beautiful ‘rose-colored’ hotel in the south of France on the French Rivera. The first character that appears is the young beautiful actress Rosemary Hoyt. She is just 18 years old and is vacationing in the hotel with her mother. To avoid the attraction of people in the hotel, she wanders off to a less-trafficked part of the hotel and there she sees Dick Diver and his gorgeous wife Nicole Warren Diver. Dick is the son of a prominent minister. He is a genius psychiatrist who married one of his former patients. Nicole Diver was his patient who is an extremely wealthy American. Her sister didn’t approve of their marriage as she believed that Dick married Nicole because of her fortune. However, Dick genuinely cares for Nicole who suffered incestuous sexual abuse from her father. As Nicole faces a mental meltdown, she completely relies on Dick for constant support.

As Rosemary observes the couple, she immediately falls in love with Dick. She adores his sophisticated behavior, personal intelligence, status, and equally wealthy friends. Rosemary admires Nicole and Dick as a couple as they appear so smart, fashionable, beautiful, and glamourous. However, she senses something wrong as if there is a strain in their relationship. She tries to make use of that fissure and imagines developing an affair with Dick. When she finds Dick alone, she tries to kiss him but Dick resists. Yet, he starts feeling warmth towards her and considers having an affair with her.

All appear gay and cheering as the days and nights and tender in the villa. One day, Abe North in his alcoholic spell accidentally kills a black man named Jules Peterson whose body is found in Rosemary’s bed. Rosemary gets horrified and seeks Dick’s help. Dick moves the bloodied body and makes the murder look like an accident so that Rosemary’s film career is not destroyed. Witnessing a homicide, Nicole suffers a mental meltdown and Violet McKisco sees Nicole having a nervous breakdown in the hotel bathroom. Violet gossips around about Nicole and this confirms Rosemary’s suspicion that something is wrong between the couple. As Violet continues to defame Nicole, Tommy Barban, another guest, comes to Nicole's defense and insists that Violet is lying. Angered by this accusation, Violet's husband Albert duels Barban on the beach, but both men miss their shots. Following these events, Dick, Nicole, Rosemary, and others depart the French Riviera.

The narrator then offers some back flashes. Dick was in his early 20s when he met a 16-year-old Nicole in the Viennese hospital where he worked. Dick helps Nicole overcome her fear of men. Gradually, Nicole improves and she becomes infatuated with Dick who, in turn, develops Florence Nightingale syndrome. The Florence Nightingale effect is a trope where a caregiver falls in love with their patient, even if very little communication or contact takes place outside of basic care. Feelings may fade once the patient is no longer in need of care.

Dick determines to marry Nicole to provide her with lasting emotional stability. The couple has two children, they travel extensively, and are visibly happy.

Meanwhile, the murder of Jules Peterson has a strong effect on Nicole, so when a Swiss mental clinic offers Dick a fellowship, the Divers agree to move there. Things go wrong as soon as they reach Switzerland. One former patient of Dick accuses him of cheating on Nicole. Disturbed by this accusation, Nicole purposefully crashes her car. Dick somehow manages to soothe Nicole. Soon he receives news that his father died. He must travel to the States to attend the funeral.

After the funeral, Dick decides to go to Rome where he meets Rosemary who is working on her new film. It doesn’t take long for the two of them to act upon the sexual longings they shared at the French Riviera. However, one day, Dick sees Rosemary with one of her co-actors in a compromising situation and objects to that. Their affair ends abruptly, and a drunk Dick eventually gets in trouble with the police. He is thrown in jail, and Nicole’s sister wires money to meet his bail. Dick is humiliated to his core. After the affair and his time in jail, Dick increasingly feels that he is no longer in control of his life. His reliance on alcohol increases.

He returns back to Switzerland but soon the other staff and patients of the hospital recognize that Dick is often drunk or is reeking of liquor. The management at the clinic eventually pays for him to leave. He starts making scenes in public and Nicole realizes that he is longing for Rosemary, who now is a major star in Hollywood.

Dick and Nicole return to Riviera. One Night Dick gets so drunk that he creates a scene and throws major insults at the couple’s old friends. Forced to support Dick and diffuse the situation, Nicole finds an inner strength that she previously thought she lacked. Nicole tries to better the situation but finds that she cannot do much as Dick is longing for Rosemary who is now a major star in Hollywood. As she realizes that Dick doesn’t love her and their marriage is a sham, she thinks of developing an affair with Tommy Barban who deeply admires her. She seeks divorce from Dick to be with Barban and Dick agrees to the divorce. Nicole soon marries Tommy Barban and begins her new confident and happy life. One day, she learns that Dick has returned to America and is living a nomadic existence. While he pined for Rosemary, she refused to return his affection and Dick continues to deteriorate.

Thus the novel ends here. Fitzgerald considered Tender is the Night is his best work, even better than The Great Gatsby. Tender is the Night has since been ranked as one of the best books of the 20th century. Its themes include adultery, the dangers of fantasy, parenting, the meaning of true love, and the instability of financial and social success.

This is it for today. We will continue to discuss the history of American literature. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards.

The Collar by George Herbert | Structure, Summary, Analysis

Hello and welcome to the Discourse. The Collar is a religious poem by Welsh Poet George Herbert which was published in 1633 in his poetic collection The Temple. The poem depicts the inner conflicts of a religious clergyman who has devoted his life to the worship of God but experiences a loss of faith and feelings towards his commitments. He then expresses his desire to break free of his religious restrictions and social expectations, only to return back to the path of God in the end. The Collar is Herbert’s one of the best poems.

Structure of The Collar

The Collar is a metaphysical poem and hence, it follows the basic idea of the poem in its structure too. Just like the poet wants to break free of his religious regulations and social norms, the poem doesn’t follow any specified pattern of poetry. There’s no recurring rhyming scheme in the poem yet, the last four lines offer the rhyme abab. The title itself offers a strong conceit. The Collar suggests a dog collar or the collar of a slave. The collar signifies submission and control. On the other hand, the Collar also refers to the piece of clothing worn by a member of the clergy. In addition, the Collar can also be related to its homonyms like the ‘Caller.’ At the end of the poem, God, the Caller calls the poet and the poet responds with complete submission. The other homonym is ‘choler’, or anger with which the complaint against God is being made.

The Collar is a thirty-six lines long poem with a single stanza. It is a free-verse poem that includes a dialogue between the poet’s two inner voices, sometimes identified as the heart and the will. While the will rebels against God and the “collar” or yoke of religion, the heart wins the battle, overcoming the will.

The lines are of irregular lengths. The poet uses metaphor, similies, and conceit. The poet express ‘Harvest’ as the motif of the poem. The poet complains that he has had “no harvest” except for “a thorn.” He believes that, after planting the seeds of religious devotion, he has not received the harvest he expected. When the speaker’s second voice interjects, it reminds him that “there is fruit.” The harvest, therefore, can be seen as a metaphor for spiritual “fruits” or rewards that are reaped in heaven. The poet expresses his desires and worldly striving for pleasure and gains as his “cage” as a symbol. God, then, frees him.

Summary of The Collar

Lines 1-9

I struck the board, and cried, “No more;

I will abroad!

What? shall I ever sigh and pine?

My lines and life are free, free as the road,

Loose as the wind, as large as store.

Shall I be still in suit?

Have I no harvest but a thorn

To let me blood, and not restore

What I have lost with cordial fruit?

The poet begins with a shocking cry without any provocation and says, enough, he will tolerate No More. He explains his situation as he has had enough and now he will revolt and run away (abroad). He further explains his dilemma and asks if it is necessary for him to “sigh and pine” and continue to suffer the frustration? The poet believes that this is not his sole purpose to want and strive for something that he cannot have. The poet shows dissatisfaction with the current direction of his life and is willing to make a change.

The poet believes that he can live his life and write his story in lines “free, free as the road.” What he means is that he is willing to break all the patterns, restraints, and norms that bind him and live a carefree life like a loose wind with an enormous unlimited world to cover.

The poet then asks if he must remain “still in suit.” Though he can break free, he is not convinced. He enquires if it is possible for him to change his life now or has he trapped himself so deep that he cannot escape the cage he created? He then compares his current life with a plant that offers no fruit except thorns. These thorns harm him alone and he bleeds. The poet says that what he loses cannot be restored though he hopes to use it to reinvigorate himself. Perhaps he can benefit from his own present suffering.

Lines 10-18

Sure there was wine

Before my sighs did dry it; there was corn

Before my tears did drown it.

Is the year only lost to me?

Have I no bays to crown it,

No flowers, no garlands gay? All blasted?

All wasted?

Not so, my heart; but there is fruit,

And thou hast hands.

In the next lines, the poet remembers that he had a different life before in the past when he had wine. It would have had to have been before his “sighs did dry it.” The poet suggests that though he is suffering now, it was not like this since always and he had better times when he had ‘wine’ and ‘corn.’ These days would be before his “tears did drown it.” He feels as if his own emotional state is making his already bad situation worse.

The poet then expresses that he is striving to save this year. He asks if there is any way for him to “crown” or save his year. He does not want it to be “lost to” him. The poet is bleeding because of the thorns he has harvested but he is searching for the ‘flowers’ and ‘garland gays’ to improve his current situation and better his future. He asks if there is no hope or if he has lost everything? Then his heart answers that it is not so there is the fruit of his striving. He is determined to take that fruit along with his happiness in his hands and though he has lost a lot of time that has been wasted, he wants to make better use of his remaining time.

Line 19-28

Recover all thy sigh-blown age

On double pleasures: leave thy cold dispute

Of what is fit and not. Forsake thy cage,

Thy rope of sands,

Which petty thoughts have made, and made to thee

Good cable, to enforce and draw,

And be thy law,

While thou didst wink and wouldst not see.

Away! take heed;

I will abroad.

The poet plans for his remaining time and says that his primary concern is to recover the pleasures of his past that he could have but hadn’t. He is willing to leave behind all the “cold disputes” concerning what is right and what is wrong (fit or not). He has wasted a lot of time thinking about what is holy, proper, or good. These things will no longer interest him. It is his goal to leave behind his cage and “rope of sand.”

The poet says that these confinements that he has been trapped in were made by religion and he erected them around him, confining himself. They were made by “petty thoughts” and turned into “Good cable” which was able to “enforce and draw” and turn into the “law” that he obeyed. However, now he is willing to revolt, and to break away. The poet again announces that he will depart (abroad).

Lines 29-36

Call in thy death’s-head there; tie up thy fears;

He that forbears

To suit and serve his need

Deserves his load.”

But as I raved and grew more fierce and wild

At every word,

Methought I heard one calling, Child!

And I replied My Lord.

As the poem reaches conclusion, the argument of the poet becomes more fierce and then the poet offers a pleasing twist. The poet suggests that he is no more worried about death and accepts his mortal being. Rather, the poet suggests that now he is willing to tie the fact of death for his own advantage and purpose of gaining as much pleasure as he could. Like a child, the poet is complaining and as he continues to grow fierce, angrier, and wild, his inner being hears a soft sound “Child!” It is God’s calling, and the poet immediately responds, “My Lord.” Like a child, he was chastised and brought back into the glory of God.

The poet uses a lot of imagery in this poem. One such is that of fruit and harvest. The idea of fruitfulness is an obvious image of fulfillment in life. But Herbert combines this with images of freedom. The similes of ‘free as the road, Loose as the wind' brings a sense of space as well as plenty waiting out there for him. The use of verbal echoes and assonance is strong. We have noted the long i-vowel sounds. ‘Abroad' is another word that gets echoed around in assonances: ‘board', ‘store', ‘restore', ‘law', ‘draw', and so on. ‘Abroad' particularly symbolizes freedom, meaning ‘anywhere I choose to go'.

So this is it for today. We will continue to discuss the history of English literature. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards.

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald | Characters, Summary, Analysis

Hello and welcome to the Discourse. The Great Gatsby is considered the best novel by Scott Fitzgerald that was published in 1925. Like his other novels, this novel was also inspired by the incidences of his own life and was based on his own youthful romance with socialite Ginevra King. The story depicts the moral deterioration of the Jazz Age and is set on Long Island near New York City. The novel tells the tragic story of Jay Gatsby, a self-made millionaire, and his pursuit of Daisy Buchanan, a wealthy young married woman whom he loved in his youth. The novel is written as a first-person narrative and depicts the interactions of enigmatic millionaire Jay Gatsby with Nick Carraway (the narrator). Fitzgerald himself was enamored by Ginevra but failed to marry her because of the differences between their economic class. The same class clash is depicted in this novel too. In 1998, the Modern Library selected The Great Gatsby as the 2nd best English language novel of the 20th century.

Characters:

Nick Carraway is the first-person narrator of the novel. He is a World War I veteran belonging to a rich Minnesota family. He is a Harvard graduate who visits New York City to learn more about Bond Business. He is the cousin of Daisy Buchanan.  Jay Gatsby is the titular protagonist of the novel. His real name is James Gatz; he was born in North Dakota to an impoverished farming family. While serving in the Army in World War I, Gatsby met Daisy Fay (now Daisy Buchanan) and fell passionately in love with her. However, he could not marry her because she belonged to a well-to-do family while he was poor. He worked his way out to high society through hard work and some mysterious works with the help of a millionaire. Gradually, he became acquainted with the people of high society but lost Daisy as she married someone else. Daisy Buchanan, formerly known as Daisy Fay is Nick’s cousin. She is married to Tom Buchanan. She loved Jay Gatsby and had promised to wait for him until the end of the war, but after meeting Tom Buchanan and comparing his extreme wealth to Gatsby's poverty, she broke her promise.  Tom Buchanan is a brutal strong man belonging to a highly rich family. He is sexist and racist. He is a vicious bully, physically menacing both his wife and his mistress. Jordon Baker is Daisy’s long-time friend. She is a golfer who cheated to win her first tournament. George B. Wilson is a listless poor man whose only passion is his love for his cheating wife. Myrtle Wilson is George’s wife. She is an earthy, vital, and voluptuous woman who seeks improvement in her life. She is in an extramarital affair with Tom Buchanan and is jealous of his wife. Meyer Wolfsheim is a notorious underworld criminal figure involved in bootlegging and betting. He is a business associate of Jay Gatsby. He is a jew. He is the only one who feels real grief after the murder of Jay Gatsby.

Summary

The novel begins with Nick Carraway’s monologue

“In my younger and more vulnerable years, my father gave me some advice that I've been turning over in my mind ever since.

‘Whenever you feel like criticizing any one, he told me, just remember that all the people in this world haven't had the advantages that you've had.'”

Nick is the first-person narrator who is a World War I veteran. Nick was educated at Yale and he belongs to a rich family. Nick is thinking back on his life events that happened in the summer of 1922. Throughout the story he tells, he remains a passive observer offering his perspective about the other characters and events. Nick was from Minnesota and visits his cousin Daisy Buchanan in New York to learn about the bond business. Daisy is married to Tom Buchanan and they live in the posh Long Island District of East Egg. Nick decides to have accommodation in West Egg which is a less fashionable area. People living in East Egg do not consider it a good place to live. There is a certain class clash as even though people living in West Egg are also very rich and successful, they have recently made their money and they lack the usual established social contacts in high society. Tom is also a Yale alumnus who was a football player during his college days. He is a brutal bully who is too much sensitive about class and race. Nick’s cousin Daisy, on the other hand, is a calm lady who appears to be listless as if she is not happy. At Daisy’s home, Nick meets Jordon Baker, a professional golfer who is very cold and cynical by nature. Nick learns that she is the one who cheated in her first tournament. Nick and Jordon make a friendly relationship that soon turns out to be romantic.

Jordon tells Nick that Tom is not loyal to Daisy as he is having an affair with Myrtle Wilson, a woman living in the Valley of Ashes which is an industrial wasteland outside of New York City. Nick then returns to his home at West Egg. He sees Jay Gatsy, his neighbor, gazing at a mysterious green light across the bay. Jay extends his hand towards the light as if he will touch it.

Tom Buchanan takes Nick to New York City to have some fun. On their way, they stop at a garage owned by George Wilson. They meet Wilson and his wife Myrtle in the garage. Nick remembers what Jordon told about Myrtle. Tom tells Myrtle to join them later in the city and then they move out of the garage.

In the city, Tom takes Nick and Myrtle to Morningside Heights. Tom expressively shows that Myrtle is his mistress. Myrtle’s sister Catherine also visits there along with a couple named McKee. All the five enjoy their evening with a lurid party. Nick listens to their gossip. Catherine talks about the mysterious Gatsby living in West Egg. She says that Gatsby has some underworld connections and he is in some relationship with Kaiser Wilheim who was the leader of Germany during the First World War. As Myrtle drinks alcohol, she loses control and becomes aggressive. She starts showing how jealous she is of Daisy and starts taunting Tom about her. Tom also shows a temper and breaks her nose and thus the party comes to an end.

At home, Nick observes that his neighbor Gatsby is fond of throwing extravagant parties. Nick gets an invitation to one such party by Gatsby and he decides to attend it. At the party, Nick meets Jordan Baker who was also invited. Nick sees that while many prominent people attended the party, most of them didn't know who Gatsby was. He had never seen Gatsby before from close. He observes that Gatsby is a handsome young man with an English accent. While Nick and Jordan were talking, Gatsby approaches them and introduces himself. He then asks to speak to Jordan Baker alone. Jay and Jordan talk for quite a long time and then Jordan returns back to Nick. She says that she has learned remarkable news but she cannot share the details with Tom at this time.

A few days later, Jay visits Nick’s house and invites him to lunch. At lunch, he says that he belongs to a rich family in San Francisco and he attended Oxford thus he has an English accent. He tells him that like Nick, he joined the army during World War I. While Jay speaks with confidence, Nick feels that something is fishy about all this. Gatsby introduces Nick to his business associate Meyer Wolfsheim who is an underworld criminal with possible links to the 1919 World Series Fixing case.

Nick observes that while Gatsby continues to arrange parties, he mysteriously avoids inviting Buchanans. Later on, Nick learns the reason for this from Jordan Baker. Jordan tells him that Gatsby had been in love with Daisy Buchanan when they met in Louisville before the war. Jordan subtly intimates that he is still in love with her, and she is with him.

Gatsby asks Nick to arrange a meeting between him and Daisy. As Nick agrees, Gatsbycarefully plans his meeting with Daisy and rehearses for it. When Daisy arrives, he attentively welcomes her and offers a tour of his mansion. He flaunts his huge property and wealth. Despite his cold behavior, the love between Daisy and Gatsby reignites and they begin an affair.

Nick continues to know more about Gatsby and he learns that he was born James Gatz in North Dakota, but had his name legally changed at the age of seventeen. Nick learns that James Gatz was a poor farmer. Jay fell in love with Daisy who belonged to a rich family. Daisy’s family opposed their relationship because of the class difference between them. Daisy promised to wait for him till he returns from the war but when Daisy met Tom as a suitor, she broke her promise as she had little hope that Jay could ever earn such a huge fortune and decided to marry Tom. After failing in his love life, Jay began a mission to become highly rich and successful and he got the able direction of gold baron Dan Cody who introduced him to the world of wealth, power, and privilege.

One day, Tom accidentally reaches Jay’s mansion while riding his horse and sees Nick and Jay together. He immediately feels a dislike towards Jay as for him, Gatsby belongs to the newly rich group and hence, is a threat to the old order that Tom considers important. Gatsby invites Daisy and Tom to his next party together and Tom and Daisy attend the party. At the party, Tom behaves exceedingly rudely toward Gatsby. Nick learns that Gatsby wants Daisy to leave her husband and reunite with him. Nick feels that Gatsby has a great many qualities, but his worship-like obsessive love for Daisy is his flaw. Nick observes that Gatsby is unable to see Daisy's flaws. He believes that he can undo the past, and forgets that Daisy's essentially small-minded and cowardly nature was what initially caused their separation.

As Daisy shows an inclination to come back to Gatsby, he stops throwing extravagant parties. Nick learns that the only reason Gatsby threw such parties was the chance that Daisy (or someone who knew her) might attend. On the other hand, Daisy feels cheated as she comes to know about Myrtle and Tom’s affair. She invites Gatsby, Jordan, and Nick to her home for lunch. To make Tom feel jealous, she openly shows her affection toward Gatsby. Then she tells Gatsby that she loves him while Tom is in earshot.

Tom himself is having an extramarital affair but he is not able to accept that his wife is in love with someone else. He gets angry and forces the group to drive to the city. During the drive, they stop at Plaza Hotel where Tom and Gatsby argue bitterly. Tom abuses Gatsby and denounces him for his lower birth. He reveals to Daisy that all the huge fortune that Gatsby has earned is a result of illegal activities such as betting and bootlegging. Gatsby begs Daisy to leave Tom and accompany him but Daisy says that her real allegiance is towards her husband and refuses him. Gatsby accepts her decision and asks to drive them back home. Tom says that he will come later and allows Gatsby to drive Daisy back to East Egg. In a way, he shows contempt for Gatsby and expresses his confidence in his wife.

During the drive to East Egg, Gatsby allows Daisy to drive so that she may feel better after his bitter argument with Tom. As they pass through Wilson’s garage, Daisy tries to avoid a collision with another car coming from the opposite side and accidentally ends up hitting Myrtle. Myrtle is fatally wounded and she immediately dies. Gatsby takes the blame for the accident to save Daisy. Nick advises Gatsby to go away from the city to avoid jail. However, Gatsby refuses to go away to ensure tDaisy's safety. Meanwhile, Wilson is too sad after his wife’s death and wishes to avenge her death. Tom meets him and reveals that Gatsby was the driver of the fatal car accident that killed Myrtle. Wilson knew that Myrtle had an affair but he was unaware that she was Tom’s mistress. Wilson believes that the car driver who killed Myrtle must have been her lover. He shoots Gatsby and then commits suicide.

After the murder of Gatsby, the Buchanan family leaves the city to distance themselves from the violence they caused. Jordan Baker also breaks up with Nick and Nick remains alone to arrange for the funeral of Jay Gatsby. He observes that while many people attended the extravagant parties thrown by him, only a few really cared for him. Only Meyer Wolfsheim shows genuine grief. Nick decides to find out about Gatsby’s father Henry Gatz and brings him to the funeral. Henry Gatz reveals a lot and Nick learns about the greatness of Gatsby.

Nick is thoroughly disgusted by life in New York and decides to return to Minnesota. Before returning, he meets Tom Buchanan who tries to justify his actions. Nick says that of all the people he met in New York, only Gatsby was the one who tried hard to change his dreams into reality and that makes him great. He further says that Gatsby’s greatness has no value in current times as greed and dishonesty have irrevocably corrupted both the American Dream and the dreams of individual Americans.

So this is it for today. We will continue to discuss the history of American literature. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards.

The Beautiful and Damned by F. Scott Fitzgerald | Character, Summary, Analysis

Hello and welcome to the Discourse. The Beautiful and Damned was the second novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald that was published in 1922. Just like his first novel, The Beautiful and Damned was also inspired by his own life. The characters of this novel are also complex, selfish, and materialistic and they suffer difficulties in their social and personal relationships. The story again depicts the Jazz Age in a bad light. The novel was based on Fitzgerald’s own experiences in the early days of his marriage to Zelda Fitzgerald. The Beautiful and Damned follows protagonist Anthony Patch, who is set to inherit a sizable fortune. The story follows his service in World War I, his courtship with his future wife Gloria Gilbert, their post-war life in New York, and his addiction to alcohol later in life. Because both Anthony and Gloria are selfish, they experience many difficulties during their relationship.

Characters:

Anthony Patch is the protagonist of the novel. He represents the Lost Generation of the Jazz Age. He is the heir to his grandfather’s large fortune. Being unambitious, he is not motivated to do any work to earn a living on his own while he continues to squander his grandfather’s fortune. He is drafted into the army for World War I but he doesn’t offer any patriotic service. Having no vocation, he gets addicted to alcohol and squandering at parties. Richard Dick Caramel is a college friend of Anthony Patch. He is an aspiring author and he published a novel titled ‘The Deamon Lover.’ Gloria Gilbert is a cousin of Richard Caramel. She is a selfish beautiful girl who wins the heart of Anthony Patch. Gloria agrees to marry her while breaking the hearts of other suitors. She too engages in wastefulness, alcoholism, and too much partying with no purpose along with Anthony Patch. Maury Noble is another college friend of Anthony and Richard. Unlike Anthony, he is a careful student and becomes a successful businessman. Yet, his experiences in business make him cynical. Joseph Bloeckman is a Jewish young man who pursues Gloria but Gloria chooses Anthony over him. He is attentive, ambitious, and careful. He changes his name to Joseph Back to avoid discrimination and succeeds as a movie producer while Anthony continues to waste all that he had. Adam Patch is Anthony's grandfather. He is a Civil War veteran who made a fortune as a wolf on Wall Street. He is a hardworking, caring, and morally strong man and he wants the same from Anthony but gets disappointment. Edward Shuttleworth is the secretary of Adam Patch. He has some moral transgressions as he falls for alcohol and salon but manages himself when Adam pushes to reform Anthony. While Adam fails to bring any positive change in Anthony, Edward goes through a positive change. As a result, Adam leaves every bit of his fortune to Edward after his death. Dorothy Dot Raycroft is a 19-year-old girl whom Anthony meets while training for the war in the army and begins an extramarital affair with her. She is a lost soul looking for someone to share her life with. She falls in love with Anthony despite learning that he is married, causes problems between Gloria and Anthony, and spurs Anthony's decline.

Summary of The Beautiful and Damned

The story begins in 1913 before the First World War that began on 28^th July 1914. Anthony Patch is a Harvard graduate who has accomplished nothing else other than his degree. After the death of his parents, he was raised by his grandfather Adam Patch, a Civil War veteran who made huge fortunes on Wall Street through his shrewd business sense. His grandfather is a morally strong man who wants his grandson to prove his place in high society through his work. Although Anthony has no interest in any vocation and he just enjoys partying and killing time with his friends. As his grandfather pressurizes him to look for a career, e falsely claims that he is working on a book. He spends most of his time thinking about writing a book (rather than actually writing anything). He is leading a luxurious lifestyle at the expense of his grandfather’s money and hopes to be the only heir and owner of his grandfather’s fortune after his death. In New York, he is living in an extravagant villa with a luxurious bathroom and most of his time is spent in the bathtub of his bathroom while he thinks of what to write.

Dick Caramel is Anthony’s roommate at Harvard. He takes Anthony to a party where he introduces him to one of his cousins named Gloria Gilbert. Gloria is a sensational beauty, a society girl who uses her beauty to persuade young rich men to pay for her meals and spending. Anthony gets fascinated by her. Although he comes to know that Gloria is already dating a movie producer named Joseph Bloeckman, he tries to develop a relationship with her. Gradually, he comes too close to her and realizes that they have much in common. Both of them are afraid of the fleeting nature of youth and life. Anthony decides to propose and marry her. He is absolutely obsessed with her. When he proposes to her and says that he wants to marry her, she immediately accepts while rebuffing Bloeckman.

Before their marriage, Anthony faces some second thoughts. He realizes that his limited fixed income that comes from his grandfather’s granted assets is already appearing thin to cover his own expenses and after marriage, he will have to take care of Gloria’s social exploits too. Furthermore, he is also worried about sharing his apartment with Gloria after their marriage. However, he pushes away all such doubts. He feels that everything will work out and anyhow, he is destined to enjoy the vast fortune of his grandfather who will soon die someday. Like the alcohol or expensive clothing Anthony is always buying, Gloria is a thing he wants and therefore takes. Soon they get married.

As soon as they marry, both of them come to realize their differences. Anthony is too afraid of dying and takes too many precautions while driving. Gloria can't stand this kind of behavior and thinks it makes Anthony seem cowardly. On the other hand, Anthony expects Gloria to take care of household chores as that would save some money of his but Gloria straightforwardly denies undertaking any domestic activities whatsoever.

Gloria realizes that she doesn’t like Anthony’s large city apartment that much while Anthony considers it his safe haven. Gloria forces Anthony to take a big villa in-country and despite his initial refusal, Anthony accedes to her demand and takes home on rent. However, Anthony likes to live in his city apartment and hence, refuses to give up his apartment for rent. As a result, his expenses further stretch to unmanageable limits. Both of them continue to live extravagant life that they cannot financially afford. Soon they discover that the only way to avoid arguing and worrying about their financial debacles is to through extravagant parties with their friends and drown themselves in alcohol. Socially, Anthony and Gloria become enormously popular because they continue to through parties. On the other hand, they realize that they are being allienated by their friends as their friends are trying to settle in life, working hard and earning and saving money.

Everything comes crashing down when Anthony’s grandfather, a strong proponent of prohibition shows up unannounced at the country house during one of the parties. Disgusted by Anthony’s indulgence in alcohol, Adam Patch disinherits his grandson and replaces him in his will with his secretary, Shuttleworth. This is revealed upon his death which occurs shortly after he changes the beneficiary of his estate.

When Anthony and Gloria come to know about this, instead of controlling their expenditures, they decide to cash in all their bonds while continuing to waste whatever little money they have. While both of them depend on each other, they find each other irritating. At the same time, Anthony gets a draft to join the Army for the First World War. Both Gloria and Anthony enjoy this enforced separation. Anthony begins an affair with a woman named Dorothy Raycroft but feels horribly guilty about it as soon as the affair starts. Anthony is a terrible soldier, but before he is deployed the war comes to an end. He is excited to return home to Gloria, who has missed him too, but soon their old pattern returns and they are unhappy all over again.

Gloria has always dreamed of becoming an actress. She thinks that if she becomes an actress, it will resolve their financial issues. She married Anthony while refusing Bloeckman’s proposal who is a movie producer. She contacts him and asks a favor from him to get a screen test. At the screen test, she learns that she is considered too old to be a leading lady. She is thirty but feels as if her life is over. She prepares herself for death. The only glimmer of hope for her is the lawsuit that she and Anthony have filed against Shuttleworth to get Anthony’s grandfather’s fortune back. She proposes to go to Europe and die there. Anthony suggests that they can stay in America while taking some loans from their friends and wait for the result of the lawsuit.

Anthony decides to meet his estranged best friend Maury Noble who has now settled in as a successful businessman. When he meets Maury Noble, he gets drunk and Maury doesn’t even let him have a chance to ask for a loan. Anthony gets too irritated. At the same time, he sees Bloeckman who is drinking in a very elite drinking club. They get into a fistfight and Anthony is thrown out. A passerby puts him into a taxi but the driver ejects him from the cab because he has no money to pay the fare. Anthony is overwhelmed by the changing situations. He used to be a prospective heir of one of the richest persons in the US and now he is almost penniless. Anthony stumbles home and reflects that he does not even feel drunk anymore, simply frenzied. Anthony descends quickly into life-altering alcoholism. He rarely leaves the house and does not even go to the courthouse with Gloria to hear the verdict of their lawsuit.

Dorothy visits New York to look for Anthony. She visits his apartment but does not receive the reception she had hoped; Anthony is too drunk to process the surprise visit and throws a chair at Dorothy before passing out. That was the day of the final verdict of the lawsuit against Shuttleworth. Gloria and Richard had gone to the court for the final hearing. Anthony wins the case and he gets full rights to his grandfather’s fortune. When Gloria and Dick return home to inform him about their victory, they find him on the floor studying his childhood stamp collection. Meanwhile, Shuttleworth commits suicide as a result of his defeat in court.

In the end, two onlookers talk about Anthony who lost his mind right after the news of Shuttleworth’s suicide. Now he talks to nobody but feels only the sense of victory that he managed to beat an unnamed adversary called "they", and came out on top in the end.

So this is it for today. We will continue to discuss the history of American literature. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards.

The Windows by George Herbert | Structure, Summary, Analysis

Hello and welcome to the Discourse. George Herbert was a poet, orator, and priest of the Church of England who took birth on 3rd April 1953 and died on 1st March 1633. He is one of the most celebrated Metaphysical poets and is considered one of the foremost devotional lyricists. All of his poetry is religious. He was the son of Richard Herbert and Magdalen Newport. While he belonged to a rich family, his father died early in 1596 when he was just 3 years old. Magdalen had a great interest in poetry and literature and she was a known patron of clergyman and poet John Donne and many other poets. After his father’s death, John Donne became his Godfather and mentor.

George Herbert attended Westminster school and later on won a scholarship to Trinity College, Cambridge in 1609. He completed his post-graduation in 1616 at the age of 23. He was known for his fluency in Greek and Latin and hence was appointed as the Public Orator of Cambridge University. King James Ist was highly impressed by him and often favored him. In 1624, George became a Parliamentarian from Montgomery. However, he didn’t have much interest in governance and politics, and soon after the death of King James I, he chose the devotional path to Church and became a priest in 1629. He died of consumption in 1633.

The Temple: Sacred Poems and Private Ejaculations by George Herbert

Herbert wrote poems in English, Latin, and Greek. However, he almost remained unpublished throughout his life. All his major works were published posthumously. He used to collect the manuscripts of his poems and shortly before his death, he sent the manuscripts of all his poetry to his friend Nicholas Ferrar who was also a priest. He asked Nicholas to read them and publish the poems if he thought they might "turn to the advantage of any dejected poor soul", otherwise to burn them. Soon he died in 1633 and after his death, Nicholas Ferrar published all his English poems in the book The Temple: Sacred Poems and Private Ejaculations with a preface by Nicholas Ferrar. All these poems are religious. Being under the influence of John Donne, George Herbert mastered conceit and all these poems are metaphysical. In these poems, Herbert said that Nicholas will find “a picture of the many spiritual conflicts that have passed between God and my soul before I could subject mine to the will of Jesus, my Master." In this Herbert used the format of the poems to reinforce the theme he was trying to portray. Beginning with "The Church Porch", they proceed via "The Altar" to "The Sacrifice", and so onwards through the collection.

In the book, all poems offer deeper spiritual meaning through various conceits, and visually too the poems are varied in such a way as to enhance their meaning, with intricate rhyme schemes, stanzas combining different line lengths, and other ingenious formal devices. The most obvious examples are pattern poems like The Altar and Easter Wings. In The Altar, the shorter and longer lines are arranged on the page in the shape of an altar. The visual appeal is reinforced by the conceit of its construction from a broken, stony heart, representing the personal offering of himself as a sacrifice upon it. Built into this is an allusion to Psalm 51:17: "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart." In Easter Wings, the words were printed sideways on two facing pages so that the lines there suggest outspread wings. The words of the poem are paralleled between stanzas and mimic the opening and closing of the wings.

The Windows

The Windows is one of the most talked-about poems of The Temple by George Herbert. In this poem, Herbert explores a definite link between the preacher and his work as a communicator of Christian faith. The Windows is written in iambic tetrameter with alternate rhyme. The rhyme scheme is AXABB XCXCC CDCDD. There are three stanzas in the poem and each stanza 5 strings (lines). Thus, the total number of lines in The Windows is 15.

Summary of The Windows

Lord, how can man preach thy eternal word?

He is a brittle crazy glass; 

Yet in thy temple thou dost him afford

This glorious and transcendent place,

To be a window, through thy grace.

The poet begins with a deep question and asks How can the man in all his frailty reflect God in all his glory? The poet then answers and explains that despite his imperfection, God has allowed him to be in the holy temple (church) as a window. Further, the poet describes the grace of God. He says by his grace, he is in the holy place of God. When the story of God is inscribed on the glasses of the windows, the window shines. In other words, the poet’s life shines when the story of God is inscribed in his soul. By the light, glory, preachings of god an ordinary window turn out to be extraordinary. The ordinary glasses are waterish, bleak, thin, and full of dust. But by the grace of God, the window becomes sacred and reverential. The poet suggests that because of god’s grace and his preachings, he becomes sacred.

Herbert uses conceit and compares man with a ‘brittle crazy glass’.

But when thou dost anneal in glasse thy storie,
Making thy life to shine within
The holy Preachers; then the light and glorie
More rev’rend grows, & more doth win:
Which else shows watrish, bleak, & thin.

During those times, window glasses were used to be heated at a high temperature to fix the paints and colors. This process is known as annealing the glass. The poet indicates his intense desire to mingle with god. His union with the god is similar to the combination of colors and light on the window. So the inner life of the preacher must shine with the rich color of the life of God. Only that richness will win the hearer. The hearer will not be won by life and words which are 'waterish, bleak, and thin'.

Doctrine and life, colours and light, in one
When they combine and mingle, bring
A strong regard and aw: but speech alone
Doth vanish like a flaring thing,
And in the eare, not conscience ring.

The poet further suggests that doctrine and life, preaching and practice should mingle with each other in his life inseparably. This is also an indication of the poet’s total union with the god. The poet suggests that the words of God should become a part of his conscience. The poem ends with more weight being put on the emptiness of words without the backing of a holy life. Without the latter, the words do not penetrate to the inner heart and conscience so have the effect of a flare or firework which might momentarily fizz and crackle with life but will quickly vanish.'

It is a common saying that Preachers must practice what they preach. In this poem Herbert is saying the same thing, but with rather more elegance.

So this is it for today. We will continue to discuss the history of English Literature. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards.