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Lauren Gallagher
Dr. Lloyd
English 201
23 April 2016
New Historicist Approach to The Great Gatsby
To analyze literature, there are many literary criticisms to use in order to evaluate the
characters, plot, setting, and other aspects of a novel. The Great Gatsby, is a reflection of the
Jazz Age, or Roaring Twenties. It can be analyzed with a new historicist approach to explain
how historical events such as prohibition, women obtaining suffrage, the ideals of the
“American Dream,” and the economic success in the twenties inspired the writing of the
novel.
New historicism is a literary criticism that approaches the history of a text by
providing background information on the power, society, or ideology of a specific time
period. This means that historical documents are read with fictional novels in mind. By doing
so, one could explain the historical context within a novel to further understand the text
(Meyer 592).
Fitzgerald writes about a time period in which he lived: the twenties, otherwise
known as the “Jazz Age,” a term which he coined. The Jazz Age was a time period after
World War I that witnessed the transformation of a culture (Beidler 3-5). People were angered
by the outdated way of life they returned to after the war and began rebelling. The birth of
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Jazz music, the ban on alcohol, the role of women, economic success and new ideologies
formed a new America after World War I (Suico 219).
Women during this time period became more involved in the workforce and were also
not too keen on returning to the old ways of life. During this time, women earned the right to
vote and became more liberated. “Flappers,” which Fitzgerald helped create the idea of,
redefined women of the era. These women broke down the typical ideas gender norms
presented ("About The Great Gatsby").
Flappers challenged the oppressive morals of the time period. They wore flashy outfits
with shorter skirts, cut their hair into short, bobbed styles, and some became involved with
sports. Flappers adopted traits traditionally thought of as masculine and opposed the typical
ideals of femininity ("About The Great Gatsby").
Jordan Baker is a perfect embodiment of a flapper in the Jazz Age. Not only is she a
golfer but she is also described as “a slender small breasted girl with an erect carriage which
she accented by throwing her body back at the shoulders like a young cadet” (Fitzgerald 11).
Women stopped wearing corsets to accentuate their bodies, which could explain Jordan’s
cadet-like, manly appearance ("About The Great Gatsby").
Nick also states that “Jordan Baker instinctively avoided clever, shrewd men […] She
was incurably dishonest. She wasn't able to endure being at a disadvantage” (Fitzgerald 58).
Being clever, dishonest and not allowing yourself to be at a disadvantage were typically
thought of as more masculine traits. During this time period, the ideal woman was Daisy, who
would mindlessly adhere to her husband’s wishes and thought the best thing a woman could
be was a fool.
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Because of his experiences during the Jazz Age, Fitzgerald draws parallels to many of
the characters. In a sense, The Great Gatsby can considered an autobiography of sorts.
Fitzgerald would visit Long Island’s north shore and attend parties that inspired those in the
novel. Like Gatsby, Fitzgerald idolized the wealthy and like Nick, the lifestyle intrigued and
excited him. Both he and Nick were also young men originally from Minnesota that attended
Ivy League schools ("About The Great Gatsby").
Similarly to Gatsby, Fitzgerald also shared a love for a woman who married another.
Although the character Daisy was thought to be based off of Fitzgerald’s wife Zelda, it is
more likely that Daisy is inspired by a previous flame, Ginevra King, who also was described
as having a melodic voice. King was of higher status than Fitzgerald, like Daisy to Gatsby.
Her love for wealth outweighed her love for Fitzgerald. Ultimately, Fitzgerald used Daisy to
express his love and hate for his lost love ("About The Great Gatsby").
During the “Roaring Twenties,” activists pushed for a controversial law banning the
sale of alcohol. They successfully eradicated alcohol in the United States via prohibition, but
this resulted in the illegal distribution of alcohol. It is thought that this is where Gatsby makes
his fortune from. Due to it being banned and harder to obtain, alcohol also became a symbol
of Gatsby’s great wealth because he was able to throw massive parties with excessive
amounts of alcohol. This also explains his connections with Meyer Wolfsheim and
Wolfsheim’s affiliation with the mob. (Beidler 5).
The economic boom of the twenties is also seen in The Great Gatsby. During this
time, “dividends from stock rose by 108 percent, corporate profits increased by 76 percent,
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and personal wages grew by 33 percent.” This thriving economy of the twenties would
explain Nick’s journey to the East in search of wealth ("About The Great Gatsby.")
The economy of the twenties also has to do with the “rampant materialism” seen in the
novel. Because personal wages increased, people were spending more money on luxuries
opposed to just necessities. Goods like cars, radios and telephones became symbols of one’s
status, which is exemplified in the novel through the description of Gatsby’s car (Beidler 3).
Tom describes Gatsby’s car as a “circus wagon” because of how extravagant it is. The
car does not have the qualities of the typical elegance of old money, but the excessive
qualities of new money. It acts as symbolism for Gatsby’s place in society. While he has
money, he can never live up to the standards set by old money. Thus, he can never truly live
up to Daisy’s material standards ("About The Great Gatsby.")
The American Dream, or the idea that Americans are entitled to equal opportunities to
obtain money, property, and happiness, also played an important role in the lives of those in
the twenties. A major theme in the novel is the idea of a corrupt American Dream. Some want
to believe that The Great Gatsby is the story of one man’s journey to achieve the American
Dream. However, the ways by which Gatsby obtains his means would counteract this theory
(Suico 218-219). He is not earning his Dream in an honest, wholesome way, but presumably
through bootlegging.
The distinction between classes, wealth and race made it hard to achieve the
“American Dream.” The old money characters, who were white, were privileged in the sense
that they had no obstacles. No matter how much money Gatsby made, legally or otherwise, he
still could not accomplish his dream to be with Daisy. His class difference kept Daisy from
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being with him because being with Tom was safer than being with someone who made his
money through bootlegging (Beidler 5).
The American Dream is also seen as being corrupt in this novel because the characters
that inherited wealth, Tom and Daisy, are described as the most immoral characters, yet they
are not held accountable for their actions. “I couldn't forgive him or like him, but I saw that
what he had done was, to him, entirely justified. It was all very careless and confused. They
were careless people, Tom and Daisy – they smashed up things and creatures and then
retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them
together and let other people clean up the mess they had made […]” (Fitzgerald 179). Even
though Daisy and Tom had done the most damage by causing people to die, it was almost as if
their affiliation with Gatsby and Myrtle did not matter. They escaped similar problems and
always had their money to protect them ("About The Great Gatsby.")
Another issue Fitzgerald touches on in his novel is racism. Tom talks about his
“dislike for outsiders” and is described as being racist. Nick also mentions immigrants in
West Egg in a negative way. Their comments on immigrants could be because the early
twentieth century saw the peak of immigration to America ("About The Great Gatsby.")
By being written and based off of the Roaring Twenties, The Great Gatsby, can easily
be evaluated by its historical context in order to further understand the novel. Women’s
suffrage, prohibition, economic success, Fitzgerald’s personal experiences, and the idea of the
American Dream inspired the writing of the novel.
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Works Cited
"About The Great Gatsby." CliffNotes. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Web. 03 May 2016.
Beidler, Philip. "The Great Party-Crasher: Mrs. Dalloway, The Great Gatsby, And The
Cultures Of World War I Remembrance." War, Literature & The Arts: An International
Journal Of The Humanities 25. (2013): 1-23. Academic Search Premier. Web. 3 May 2016.
Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. New York, NY: Scribner, 1925. Print.
Meyer, Jürgen. "Editing Textual Synergies: New Historicism and New Textualism." Poetics
Today 35.4 (2014): 591-613. Academic Search Premier. Web. 3 May 2016.
Suico, Theresa. "Gatsby: The Cultural History Of The Great American Novel." Journal Of
Popular Culture 48.1 (2015): 218-220. Academic Search Premier. Web. 3 May 2016.