了不起的盖茨比The Great Gatsby

The Disillusion of American Dream in

The Great Gatsby

***** Supervisor *****

School of Foreign Languages,###########

December, 2013

1

Contents

Abstract ......................................................................................... I. Introduction to Fitzgerald and The Great Gatsby .................... 4 A. Fitzgerald’s Life and His Works ........................................ 5 B. Social and Historical Context of The Great Gatsby .......... 6 C. The Main Content of The Great Gatsby ............................ 7 III. The Disillusion of The Dreams .............................................. 8 A. The Disillusion of The American Dream ........................... 8 1. The Definition ............................................................... 8 2. The Development .......................................................... 9 3. The Corruption .............................................................. 9 B. The Disillusion of Gatsby’s Dream ................................. 10 1. The Fortune Dream ..................................................... 10 2. The Love Dream .......................................................... 12 V. The Fundamental Reasons ..................................................... 13 VI. Conclusion ........................................................................... 14

2

The Disillusion of American Dream in

The Great Gatsby

Abstract

F. Scott. Fitzgerald (1896-1940), as one of the most famous and greatest writer of the 1920s, is regarded as a representative of the “Jazz Age” --- an age between the end of the First World War and the outbreak of the Great Depression. The exploration of moral emptiness and hypocrisy beneath the Jazz Age, together with the stylistic language brilliance of the novel ensures Fitzgerald’s position in American literature. Owing to its extraordinary literary merits, Fitzgerald’s Great Gatsby is listed among the most notable twentieth-century American novels. This thesis analyzes Fitzgerald’s life and his works, social and historical context of The Great Gatsby, the main content of The Great Gatsby, the disillusion of the American Dream and Gatsby’s dream, and the fundamental reasons, exposing the social status of American Jazz Age.

Key words: Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby, American Dream, Gatsby, disillusion

3

论了《不起的盖茨比》中美国梦的破灭

内容摘要

弗·司各特·菲茨杰拉德（1986--1940），作为19世纪20年代最具盛名的作家之一，被公认为是美国爵士时代（第一次世界大战后至大危机之前的一个时期）的代表作家。对爵士时代下道德空虚和伪善的探索，以及他独特的小说语言文体使他在美国文学史中占重要地位。由于其非凡的文学价值，菲茨杰拉德的《了不起的盖茨比》被列为二十世纪美国最著名的小说之一。这篇论文分析了菲茨杰拉德的生活和主要作品，《了不起的盖茨比》的社会和历史环境及其主要内容，美国梦及盖茨比的梦想的破灭和其根本原因，揭露了美国爵士时代的社会现状。

关键词： 菲茨杰拉德，了不起的盖茨比，美国梦，梦想，破灭

4