Infatuating Idealism in F. Scott Fitzgerald
Idealism Is undoubtably present in F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Last Tycoon. Infatuation may be a better word, for that was exactly what possessed the main character, Monroe Stahr. He was totally engorged with one Kathleen Moore. He idealized Miss Moore as the second coming of his deceased wife Minna Davis. Stahr was a true man of men that had little to do with women since the tragic passing of his wife. He would rather put his feet up with a cigar and shoot the breeze with the boys. Yet once he laid eyes on Kathleen for the first time, all of that changed. It was love at first sight. Kathleen and Stahr meet after an earthquake rocked Los Angles. Stahr was surveying the damage done to the studio, when a prop came floating by with two "dames" clinging to it for their lives. A stage hand rescued and presented them to Stahr for judgement. That was the moment that would change everything. The following excerpt is a narration of what was going through Stahr's mind when he was struck blind by Cupid's golden arrow. "Smiling faintly at him from not four feet away was the face of his dead wife, identical even to the expression. Across the four feet of moonlight, the eyes he knew looked back at him, a curl blew a little
The fact that she could not truly love him killed him. She tried to tell him, but could not. I too idealized the woman in my life as the "wind beneath my wings. Though Stahr is a fictional character, his feelings are real. She improved his life during their brief affair. Yet in Stahr's case it would have been better for him if he had never loved at all. In retrospect, I really loved that girl. Scott Fitzgerald's own words: "Stahr is miserable and embittered toward the end. He had achieved it during a time of incredible time of national economic upheaval. 26) She was Minna, but she wasn't. In being, but not spirit, she was a replica. All this fuss over a woman might seem a bit trivial, but in true love, nothing is trivial.
Common topics in this essay:
Kathleen Moore,
Minna's Nevertheless,
Richard Slotkin,
Angles Stahr,
Monroe Stahr,
Stahr Kathleen,
Dear John,
Chp II,
Davis Stahr,
Author's Notes,
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stahr idealized kathleen,
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perpetual self-improvement,
scott fitzgerald's,
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