3. The Great Gatsby: Old Money, Murder, and the American Dream

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Mar 3, 2026

A dive into 1920s Jazz Age America, from flappers and bootlegging to Prohibition’s contradictions. A look at F. Scott Fitzgerald’s life and the real people who shaped his characters. Close readings of class, old money versus new money, Gatsby’s reinvention, the green light symbol, and the hollowness behind lavish parties.

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ANECDOTE

Fitzgerald and Zelda Lived The Jazz Age

Fitzgerald and Zelda lived the Jazz Age excess that fuels the novel, partying, drinking, and celebrity life in Great Neck.
Dominic and Tabitha describe their alcoholism, Zelda's notoriety, and the couple becoming a fashionable literary pair.

insights

INSIGHT

Cover Art Shaped Gatsby's Themes

Fitzgerald revised Gatsby to reflect an evocative cover image of floating eyes, shaping themes of watching and blindness.
Tabitha notes the celestial-eyes jacket prompted Fitzgerald to tweak text to echo eyes and vision motifs.

question_answer

ANECDOTE

Hemingway's Bizarre Defence Of Fitzgerald

A notorious Hemingway–Zelda feud produced a tale where Hemingway 'verified' F. Scott's anatomy in a public loo to refute Zelda's gossip.
Dominic recounts the bawdy story to illustrate their toxic friendship and rivalries in the literary set.

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Fitzgerald, the Jazz Age and initial impressions

02:28 • 3min

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Gatsby's tragedy, nostalgia and themes

Context: Jazz Age America and Prohibition

07:49 • 1min

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Fitzgerald's life and inspirations

09:18 • 3min

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Early loves: Geneva King and Zelda

11:56 • 3min

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Writing Gatsby: drafts, titles and influences

14:33 • 6min

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Editor Maxwell Perkins and the famous cover

20:26 • 2min

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Hemingway anecdotes and Fitzgerald's later decline

22:03 • 3min

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The novel's sensual style and Nick as narrator

24:43 • 2min

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Class, identity and Nick's social position

26:44 • 2min

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Daisy and Tom Buchanan: old money portrait

28:31 • 4min

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Gatsby's mystery and real-life models

32:03 • 2min

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Green light, longing and Gatsby's reinvention

Gatsby's background: James Gatz and Dan Cody

38:59 • 4min

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New money versus old money and Gatsby's parties

43:20 • 4min

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Valley of Ashes and the motif of watching eyes

47:17 • 4min

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Party hollowness, caricature and anti-Semitism

51:30 • 5min

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Gatsby's imitation of old wealth and Horatio Alger echoes

56:02 • 3min

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The hot day climax and unraveling of dreams

59:09 • 5min

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Nick's final meditation and the American Dream

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The great Gatsby

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Published in 1925, 'The Great Gatsby' is a tragic love story, a mystery, and a social commentary on American life during the Jazz Age. The novel is narrated by Nick Carraway, who moves to Long Island and becomes entangled in the lives of his wealthy and mysterious neighbor, Jay Gatsby, and Gatsby's obsession to win back his first love, Daisy Buchanan. The story delves into themes of honesty, the temptations of wealth, and the struggle to escape the past, ultimately reflecting on the disintegration of the American Dream.

Was Daisy Buchanan, the object of Jay Gatsby’s obsessive love in the novel, inspired by the author’s own love life? What window does The Great Gatsby open onto 1920s America, with its Jazz, flappers, and bootlegging? Who was F. Scott Fitzgerald, the man behind one of the most iconic novels in all literature?

Join Dominic Sandbrook and Tabitha Syrett as they delve into the fascinating story behind the writing of the Great Gatsby, the world it was born of, and the novel itself.

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