Performances of private life: Francis Scott Fitzgerald

This Side of Paradise or in the first version The Romantic Egotist of Francis Scott Fitzgerald(1896-1940),  is an absolutely decontextualization, this is an absolutely will of remove of original education, for to assume behavior that are distant and stranger of the American habit; the principal motive is that the Beatrice Blaine, mother of Amory Blaine protagonist, has travelled on the word, she has studied in Rome, Italy, Austrian and England, hence she has received a formal education that was certainly much polite but also formal alone, we must also think to the historical context that seen the American women more emancipated in confront to European women, and Beatrice was also much rich inasmuch much freedoms were enables from the money, in fact he said: “A brilliant education she has had, hers youngness is past in the Renaissance, in the gossip of Roman nobility, she was famous as a American young, very much rich, and she was known from the queen Margaret and to the cardinal Vittori; it is alone a told about to the education of a teen but where is the contextualization? Simple is the following step: “Beatrice O’Hara assumed that kind of education, that isn’t possible; an education whose measure was given from the things and persons that she can despise…”; it is the remove of American education; he has received an education very fine and he has seen the American country, Fitzgerald mentioned some town of California, as Coronado and in the Mexico in the City of Mexico; but the finest education of Beatrice emerges from the impatience, that she bored in California and she has risked a nervous collapse; it is the effect of finest politeness that translated on itself the effect of extreme boring, that hides a weakness very radical of the women of high society, but not certainly of uptown, that are alone farmer cleaned. Anyway Amory felt herself superior to other, and here Fitzgerald is master when he describes the sense of superiority of Amory: “Amery resided by two months to Minneapolis, and his principal cure was hide to his classmates as he fells herself superior to everybody…”; certainly Fitzgerald, has seen and studied the human typologies that he has described, because is perfect this description, that followed to other, when Beatrice said to hers friends: “This is my son is very sophisticated très charmant but delicate. We are every delicate. Here.”, the decontextualization is also evident in the rescue of form, that must hide other origin: “Those pilgrims on every part of USA were always through the luxury: on the car with driver, two waiters Ms. Blain when he could and also the doctor…”; it is a pitiless of a social class that tries overcome his inferiority and can uses alone the form. And the form tries of rescues also the other women, because the description of Fitzgerald is very cruel when Beatrice spoke about the women of west: “They spike as would spike a English waiter that has lived much years in Chicago, in the theatre”…”it is the moment when a woman of west thinks that she considers her husband so rich that she can permits one accent, in short they tries impress me…”. Very pitiless because it is the egocentric reaction of nonentity that want believes that to be something. It is the distance from the context, social, cultural and it is alone a simulation of something that is very ridiculous. The tentative of imitation, hence of decontestualization, is after in other step: “There was, therefore, a curious weakness of wit, hence a phrase  sharp of a major boy turned to him, was sufficient  because he lost the calm and he becomes touchy or timidly stupid. He was slave also of his changeable humor, and although he was able to bold actions, he felt that he…”; the decontestualization is in the portrait of Amory that is almost mirror to a portrait of young lord of Italian writer Giuseppe Parini(1729-1799), perfectly idler and useless. Anyway this romance is alone a translation decontextualized of the humor and life of author, therefore Fitzgerald has translated in a romance his life.

Alessandro Lusana