The spectacular success of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s first novel,

(1920), made it a hard act to follow. In his second novel,

(1922), Fitzgerald did not try to offer more of the same but struck out in a new direction which anticipated key aspects of his later fiction.

is longer than

, but, despite some digressions, it is more focused and coherent. Its style moves towards that integration of romantic and modernist elements which will come to such dazzling fruition in Fitzgerald’s next novel,

(1925). The theme of

, like that of Fitzgerald’s fourth novel,

(1934), is the decline of a man and of a marriage: it traces Anthony Patch’s…

2722 words

Citation: Tredell, Nicolas. "The Beautiful and Damned". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 23 February 2008 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=1496, accessed 27 November 2024.]