(1934), Scott Fitzgerald’s fourth novel, and the last he completed, appeared nine years after
The Great Gatsby. More muted than its predecessor,
Tenderis the Night, which takes its title from Fitzgerald’s favourite poem, John Keats’s “Ode to a Nightingale” (1820), is a subtle, moving study of disintegration focused through the figure of Dick Diver, who moves from success as a brilliant young psychiatrist, through marriage to a beautiful and wealthy schizophrenic, to obscurity as a small-town doctor. The autobiographical aspects of
Tenderis the Nightare more evident than those of
Gatsby– most notably, Dick’s marriage to Nicole resembles Scott’s marriage to Zelda; but the novel transmutes these components to produce a work of fiction that functions…
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Citation: Tredell, Nicolas. "Tender is the Night". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 16 September 2006 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=1685, accessed 27 November 2024.]
