从历史评论角度分析《了不起的盖茨比》

从历史评论角度分析《了不起的盖茨比》

An Analysis of The Great Gatsby from the Perspective of Historical Criticism

Abstract:The Great Gatsby is one of the twentieth century's brilliant works, and also

F. Scott Fitzgerald's most outstanding work. This novel wins the writer a

great deal of acclaim from a substantial number of researchers and

scholars. This thesis is to make a tentative study and exploration of the

writer's own life experiences and its reflections in this novel, which is

analyzed from three perspectives. The thesis begins with the background

of the 1920s, including historical background and literature background,

which can help us know much better about the writer and the work. Then

there is a brief summary of the general academic achievements made by

many scholars and researchers. After that, detailed and specific analysis

will be made on the similarities between Fitzgerald’s and Gatsby’s life

experiences: Fitzgerald’s dream and Gatsby’s dream, The East and the

West v.s. the East Egg and the West Egg, New York and the “Ash Valley”.

Based on the above analysis, we can see that there are some similarities

hidden in Fitzgerald’s world and Gatsby’s world.

Key words: F. Scott Fitzgerald; The Great Gatsby; historical criticism; similarities

摘要：《了不起的盖茨比》是二十世纪最优秀的小说之一，也是司各特·菲茨杰拉德最具代表的作品。这部小说赢得了众多研究家与学者的普遍关注。本篇论文探究的是作者人生经历和它在这部作品中的反映。本文将从以下三个方面进行分析此观点。首先，本文介绍了十九世纪二十年代的背景，包括当时的历史背景与文学背景。这些能够帮助我们更好的了解作家与该作品。然后是对菲茨杰拉德的学者和研究者的学术成果的概述。这之后将详细展开菲茨杰拉德与盖茨比人生经历的相似之处的分析与研究:菲茨杰拉德和盖茨比的梦想，东西部和东西卵以及纽约市和“灰谷”。根据以上分析，我们可以发现菲茨杰拉德的世界与盖茨比的世界之间隐藏着一些相似之处。

关键字：菲茨杰拉德；盖茨比；历史批评；相似之处

I.Introduction (1)

A. Historical background and the definition of historical criticism (1)

B. Literature background (1)

C. Fitzgerald and The Great Gatsb y (2)

II. Literature Review (3)

A. Theme (3)

B. Narrative techniques (4)

C. Cultural studies and feminist studies (4)

D. Morality studies (5)

III. The Similarities between the Reality and the Story (5)

A. Fitzgerald’s dream and Gatsby’s dream (5)

1. Fitzgerald’s dream (5)

2. Gatsby’s dream (6)

B. The East and the West v.s. the East Egg and the West Egg (7)

1. The East and the West (7)

2. The East Egg and theWest Egg (8)

C. New York and the “Ash Valley” (8)

IV. Conclusion (9)

Works Cited (10)

I. Introduction

A. Historical background and the definition of historical criticism

The 1920s in the United States has been described as a period of material success and spiritual frustration. First, the United States made a great deal of money in the war and became, as a whole, a lot richer, so that there appeared an economic boom, a deceptive affluence, when the war was over. All of sudden automobiles and radios appeared which helped to widen the horizon of the people and increase their knowledge. The movie revolution and the music, notably Jazz, now becoming available to everybody, enriched and impacted the way of popular thinking. The country became urban in these years; a new tape of industrial economy developed. Mass production, mass consumption, and mass leisure became essential to economic and cultur al life and were soon to dominate the nation’s culture and institutions.

Unfortunately, also because of the First World War, the heroism, patriotism and the zeal for democracy that the romantic notion of war had inspired now proved to be false and tasteless to a generation who had faith in them. Excitement and enthusiasm subsided to make way for disillusionment. It was as if the party was over and an anti-climax of disillusionment and restlessness and disgust followed. What’s more, modern science destroyed man’s ability to believe unquestioningly. At the same time, there was a general feeling among many who were living through it, that this was “a sad period, the dream had failed, and the country was building up economic troubles all along and heading direc t toward disaster” (Chang 154-56).

Historical criticism means getting more information by reading related histories of the time-period that the story is written in. This doesn’t only make readers get the idea of the things they didn’t understand but also h elps them get a deeper understanding of the theme and details of the story. And by analyzing the evidence of the story, readers can see that there are always a lot the author inferred but didn’t tell. These are surprises left for readers to search which from these they can learn a lot more about the story.

B．Literature background

In the age of fast-paced and “roaring” change, American fiction of the 1920s registered a sense of purposelessness, decadence and cultural emptiness. It also