UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations 1-1-2001 Nervousness in the works of F Scott Fitzgerald Michael Emil Tischler University of Nevada, Las Vegas Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/rtds Repository Citation Tischler, Michael Emil, "Nervousness in the works of F Scott Fitzgerald" (2001). UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations. 2480. http://dx.doi.org/10.25669/2t6p-6eax This Dissertation is protected by copyright and/or related rights. It has been brought to you by Digital Scholarship@UNLV with permission from the rights-holder(s). You are free to use this Dissertation in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s) directly, unless additional rights are indicated by a Creative Commons license in the record and/or on the work itself. 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SCOTT FITZGERALD by Michael Emil Tischler Bachelor of Arts State University of New York at Potsdam 1991 Master of Arts Saint Bonaventure University 1995 A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctor of PhOosophy Degree Department of English Collegeo tLiberal Arts Graduate College University of Nevada, Las Vegas December 2001 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. UMI Number 3049557 Copyright 2002 by Tischler. Michael EmQ All rights reserved. UMI UMI Microform 3049557 Copyright 2002 by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17. United States Code. ProQuest Information and Learning Company 300 North Zeeb Road P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Copyright by Michael Emil Tischler 2002 All Rights Reserved Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Dissertation Approval IJNTV The Graduate College University of Nevada, Las Vegas November 19 20 01 The Dissertation prepared by Michael Emil Tischler Entitled Nervousness In the Works of F. Scott Fitzgerald is approved in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Examination Committee Chair // Dean of the Graduate College y /^Exttminatnm Committee Member Exammation Committee M emb^ idduatecollege FacultyEacu Representatnx VK -,4\1 U Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ABSTRACT Nervousness in the Works of F. Scott Fitzgerald by Michael Emil Tischler Dr. Richard L. Harp, Examination Committee Chair Professor of English University of Nevada, Las Vegas This study examines how nervousness and the ideas that came to be associated with it manifest themselves in the works of F. Scott Rtzgerald, often influencing both the characters and themes in his fiction. Chapter one traces the development of what is referred to as a “nervous discourse” from the eighteenth to the early twentieth centuries, revealing how the pre-Enlightenment sense of nervous, which signified strength, gradually gave way to a meaning which indicates agitation or timidity and implies a sense of weakness. In addition, this chapter demonstrates that nervousness, even within medical literature, became linked to a number of other cultural ideas, particularly modernity, social status, gender, and sensibility. Chapter two examines how the ideas connected with nervousness can be seen in Fitzgerald’s early work and This Side of Paradise, particularly in his treatment of nervous mothers, restless children, and enervation. Chapter three demonstrates that dissipation and hysteria became connected with nervous discourse, and that these ideas are contrasted with efficiency in The Beautiful and Damned and several of Fitzgerald’s other stories from this period. Chapter four discusses the nervous men who fall in love with iii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. nervous women in The Great Gatsbv and other fiction Rtzgerald published from 1922 to 1927, which reveals that nervousness had a different significance for characters of different genders. Chapter five demonstrates how the theme of vitality which runs through the Basil and Josephine stories. Tender is the Night, and The Crack-Up essays is associated with the nervous system, and that Rtzgerald conceived of his artistic and emotional crisis in the 1930s as a type of nervous bankruptcy, while it also examines how the theme of degeneration emerges during this period of Rtzgerald’s career. And chapter six concludes the study by revealing that some of Rtzgerald’s ideas regarding nervousness began to change in the final years of his life, as can be seen in The Love of the Last Tvcoon. and that after Rtzgerald’s death, the “age of anxiety” came to displace Fitzgerald’s nervous era. IV Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT..................................................................................................................................iü ABBREVIATIONS FOR WORKS BY F. SCOTT FITZGERALD.................................... vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.........................................................................................................vii CHAPTER ONE TRACING A NERVOUS DISCOURSE.............................................I Notes...................................................................................................................................... 43 CHAPTER TWO NERVOUS MOTHERS, RESTLESS CHILDREN, AND ENERVATION: EARLY WORK AND THIS SIDE OF PARADISE....................... 44 Notes.......................................................................................................................................77 CHAPTER THREE DISSIPATION AND HYSTERIA VERSUS EFFICIENCY: THE BEAUTIFUL AND DAMNED AND RELATED STORIES..............................79 Notes.....................................................................................................................................106 CHAPTER FOUR NERVOUS MEN IN LOVE WITH NERVOUS WOMEN: THE GREAT GATSBY ERA .......................................................................................... 107 Notes.....................................................................................................................................148 CHAPTER FIVE VITALITY, NERVOUS BANKRUPTCY, AND DEGENERATION: THE BASIL AND JOSEPHINE STORIES. TENDER IS THE NIGHT. AND THE CRACK-UP.................................................... 149 Notes..................................................................................................................................... 185 CHAPTER SIX FEELING JITTERY AND TENSE: THE LOVE OF THE LAST TYCOON AND PAT HOBBY STORIES. AND THE AGE OF ANXIETY AND BEYOND............................................................................................. 186 Notes.................................................................................................................................... 208 WORKS CITED ....................................................................................................................... 209 VITA...........................................................................................................................................221 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ABBREVIATIONS FOR WORKS BY F. SCOTT FITZGERALD AF The Apprentice Fiction of F. Scott Fitzgerald BD The Beautiful