Resumen
Resumen de Flappers y filósofos
Para quién es
For readers who love short fiction, the 1920s and Fitzgerald's early work, and anyone curious about young women's lives in the Jazz Age. These stories explore love, rebellion, fashion and the wish to be someone new.
De qué trata este libro
Flappers and Philosophers is the first collection of short stories by F. Scott Fitzgerald. It appeared in 1920, just after his first novel, This Side of Paradise, made him a young name. The book holds eight stories, most of them first printed in magazines. Fitzgerald was writing them to earn money and to win a wife, and you can feel both hopes in the pages.
The stories look at young Americans just after the First World War. Girls bob their hair, dance to new music and refuse to wait for men to choose them. Boys come home from the war unsure what they are for. Money, class and fashion decide who is let in and who is left out. In this summary you will meet the main stories in turn, from a yacht attacked by pirates to a haircut that changes a girl's standing. Then we will look at what the stories share and how Fitzgerald tells them. Let us begin on the water, with a bored heiress and a very unusual pirate.
En este resumen
- 1A bored heiress meets a polite pirateFree
- 2A Southern girl goes north into the cold
- 3Strange marriages and a cursed bowl
- 4Bernice learns the price of being popular
- 5Faith, war and fighting back against fate
- 6What the stories share and how they work
Idea clave 1 de 6
A bored heiress meets a polite pirate
The collection opens with The Offshore Pirate. Ardita Farnam is a rich, bright, restless young woman. She is sailing on her uncle's yacht off the coast of Florida, and she is tired of everything. She spends her days smoking, reading and mocking the men who try to court her.
Her uncle is a stern, old-fashioned man who disapproves of her ways. The two argue, and Ardita answers him with cool wit. She does not seem to care what anyone expects of a girl her age. Fitzgerald paints her in a few lines, and she is clearly the kind of young woman the book's title is aiming at.
Then another ship appears, and the calm of the voyage breaks. Armed men board the yacht, and Ardita finds herself among pirates. Their leader is polite, good looking and strangely cheerful. He speaks to her like an equal, and she is more curious than afraid.
The story moves like a light comedy, full of banter, music and quick turns. It sets the tone for the whole book. Love is a game here, but games can matter very much. Ardita wants a man who is not dull, and the story asks whether such a man can be found on the open sea. Fitzgerald keeps the pace quick and the mood playful, and the story gives the reader a taste of the Jazz Age in a single voyage.
That’s 1 of 6 key points.
The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
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Who’s who
- Ardita Farnam
- Ardita is a restless young heiress sailing on her uncle's yacht and impatient with conventional suitors.
- Sally Carrol Happer
- Sally Carrol is a young Georgian engaged to Harry Bellamy, torn between her Southern home and his Northern world.
- Harry Bellamy
- Harry is Sally Carrol's Northern fiancé, eager to introduce her to the home he admires.
- Horace Tarbox
- Horace is a precocious Yale scholar whose bookish isolation contrasts with Marcia Meadow's lively stage career.
- Marcia Meadow
- Marcia is a spirited stage dancer who introduces the scholarly Horace Tarbox to a less intellectual world.
- Bernice
- Bernice is Marjorie Harvey's shy visiting cousin, anxious to gain confidence and popularity at dances.
- Marjorie Harvey
- Marjorie is Bernice's socially assured cousin, admired at local dances and accustomed to attracting young men.
- Warren McIntyre
- Warren is a young man in Marjorie's social circle who attracts the attention of both cousins.
About this edition
Every format is free to start, and print and large print are at cost.
- LengthAbout 64,000 words
- Reading timeAbout 4 h 15 min
- Listening time7 h 5 min
- FormatseBook, large-print eBook, audiobook, 15-minute summary
- LanguagesEnglish and 11 other languages
Questions about Flappers y filósofos
What is Flappers and Philosophers about?
It is a collection of eight short stories by F. Scott Fitzgerald, published in 1920. They follow young Americans after the First World War as they deal with love, money, fashion and the wish to be someone new.
What does the title Flappers and Philosophers mean?
Flappers were fashionable young women of the early 1920s who bobbed their hair and broke old rules. The philosophers are thinkers such as Horace Tarbox. The title joins play with thought.
Which stories are in Flappers and Philosophers?
The eight stories are The Offshore Pirate, The Ice Palace, Head and Shoulders, The Cut-Glass Bowl, Bernice Bobs Her Hair, Benediction, Dalrymple Goes Wrong and The Four Fists.
Is Flappers and Philosophers hard to read?
No. The stories are short, the language is clear and the dialogue is lively. Each story can be read in one sitting.
What is the best story in Flappers and Philosophers?
Readers most often pick Bernice Bobs Her Hair, a sharp tale of two cousins and a daring haircut. The Ice Palace is also much admired for its use of climate and symbol.