'The Great Gatsby' Context Flashcards Preview

American Literature Revision > 'The Great Gatsby' Context > Flashcards

Flashcards in 'The Great Gatsby' Context Deck (7)
Loading flashcards...
1
Q

Jazz Age/Roaring Twenties

A
  • Economic boom after WW1 (post-war haze)
  • Era of unprecedented prosperity + unrestrained desire for more money
  • Conspicuous consumption/materialism/rise of capitalism
  • Decadent, ostentatious, opulent, wasteful, excess, decay, atrophy
2
Q

Flappers

A
  • Young woman who exercised unprecedented freedom
  • Lifestyle viewed as immoral + dangerous at time
  • Disposable incomes
  • Sign of women’s newfound sexual freedom
  • Era ended with Great Depression
3
Q

Prohibition

A
  • Nationwide ban on sale, production + consumption of alcohol
  • Led to speakeasies + bootlegging
  • Factory owners supported prohibition as hoped it would prevent accidents
  • 30% drop in alcohol consumption
4
Q

Al Capone

A
  • Earned $60 million annually from bootlegging + speakeasies
  • Wolfsheim based on real-life gangster, Arnold Rothstein
5
Q

1776 Declaration of Independence

A
  • Unequal notion of ‘Life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness’
  • ‘All men are created equal’
  • Illusion of American Dream
6
Q

Gospel of Wealth/Robber Barons

A
  • Rise of monopoly capitalism
  • ‘Gospel of Wealth’ written by Andrew Carnegie in 1889, saying that unrestrained capitalism will reward best/most virtuous people + they will use their fortune to benefit society
  • Gatsby = robber baron as both come from poor backgrounds but Gatsby hides his poor background instead of showing it off (Nick: “I think he hardly knew what he was saying”)
7
Q

Scott Fitzgerald

A
  • Lost Generation (alienated)

- Ginevra to Fitzgerald (“rich girls don’t marry poor boys”)