The 1920’s was an eventful era in American history, bringing about great changes, epic controversies, and unimaginable successes. F. Scott Fitzgerald was one of the most influential writers of this thriving period of time, writing awesome works of literature such as The Great Catsby, Tales of the Jazz Age, and This Side of Paradise. Many prominent figures of the Jazz Age looked up to Fitzgerald, such as Ernest Hemingway, who wrote in his novel, A Movable Feast, “His talent was as natural as the pattern that was made by the dust on a butterfly’s wings” (Hemingway, 129). Despite this, Fitzgerald led a difficult and melancholy existence until he died of heart failure at age forty-four.

Fitzgerald is most widely known for the literary works that he wrote during his short lifespan. Fitzgerald’s works accurately depict the lives of average people living in and around the great time of uncertainty that was the 1920’s, such as This Side of Paradise, a novel that depicts some of the effects of WWI and prohibition on everyday people. Fitzgerald’s fourth novel, The Great Gatsby, is often referred to as his best work. The book recounts a fictional story of upper-class New Yorkers and all their ties to a man named Jay Gatsby. The book, written over a long period of time, was hailed by many other aspiring writers of the time, such as Ernest Hemingway, T. S. Eliot, and Richard Yates, as the best novel of it’s time.

F. Scott Fitzgerald was at the peak of his life during the Jazz Age, the era in which he published The Great Gatsby. He called it, in his own words, “It was an age of miracles, it was an age of art, it was an age of excess, and it was an age of satire. (Fitzgerald, Echoes of the Jazz Age)” In 1920, Scott married his love of two years, Zelda Sayre, after the publishing his first widely recognized work; This Side of Paradise. They had their first and only child, Frances Scott, while visiting Europe in 1921. For the first few years of the Jazz Age, the couple lived very extravagantly, but went into debt after attempting to make a play. Fitzgerald spent much of 1923 writing short stories to bring the family back to it’s feet, and as a result gained highly alcoholic tendencies. To better concentrate on writing his fourth novel, Fitzgerald moved his family to France in 1924. In 1925, while returning from a trip to Rome, Fitzgerald’s fourth and most famed novel, The Great Gatsby, was published. Despite the great praise the novel received by critics and other writers, the sales of the book were much lower than expected, and unfortunately yielded little profit. Fitzgerald returned to the U.S. shortly afterwards, and finished out the decade writing short stories and articles.

Although Francis Scott Fitzgerald was one of the most prestigious writers of his time, he lived a short life of many troubles, and died believing himself to be an utter failure. Fitzgerald didn’t apply himself well in school, and thus he was on a path towards failure, so in 1917, Scott decided to join the military. While serving at Camp Sheridan, Fitzgerald became engaged to Zelda Sayre, the daughter of a supreme court judge. During the following year, Fitzgerald’s first attempt at a novel, titles The Romantic Egoist, was rejected by publishers multiple times. As a result, his wife-to-be, Zelda, called off their first Engagement. The couple became engaged again after Scott published This Side of Paradise, a novel that brought his almost immediate fame and success. Later in life, after his marriage to Zelda and the birth of their only child, Frances Scott, Fitzgerald continually had to use his skill at writing to pull the family out of debt. Fitzgerald was well known as a heavy alcoholic, and to ease the burden his lifestyle placed upon, Fitzgerald drowned his sorrows in wine and spirits. His marriage to Zelda was also very strained and tumultuous, especially after her supposed affair with a French naval officer. Furthermore, Zelda was prone to mental breakdowns, and in 1932 was placed in the care of John Hopkins Hospital, where she stayed for the remainder of her life. The Fitzgeralds’ relationship was in horrible shape at this time, and after several disastrous visits to his wife, Scott met and fell in love with Sheilah Graham, a Californian movie columnist. On December 20th, 1940, Frances Scott Fitzgerald, in poor health mostly due to his heavy drinking since college, Fitzgerald suffered from a heart attack and died at age forty-four.

Frances Scott Fitzgerald lead a life of many successes and many sorrows. His great works of literary art have withstood the test of time, and are still enjoyed today as classical masterpieces. Fitzgerald was simply a man living a life, yet, through his work, was able to capture the minds and imaginations of many other simple people throughout the country. Overall, Fitzgerald was one of the key iconic figures of the wild and changing time in U.S. history known as the roaring 20’s.