폴과 제임스 개츠: 『위대한 개츠비』의 전사(前史)로서 「폴의 사례」 (Paul and James Gatz: “Paul’s Case” as a Prequel to The Great Gatsby)

서지정보

· 발행기관 : 한국근대영미소설학회
· 수록지 정보 : 근대영미소설 / 22권 / 1호 / 49 ~ 74페이지
· 저자명 : 박하정

초록

The literary influence of Willa Cather on F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby has been discussed in relation to her early novels such as Alexander’s Bridge, A Lost lady, and My Antonia. While Fitzgerald himself acknowledged an analogy between Daisy and Marian Forrester in A Lost lady, this essay draws attention to similarities between Cather’s early short story, “Paul’s Case,” and the story of James Gatz’s transformation into Jay Gatsby in Fitzgerald’s novel. The essay shows the ways in which Paul and James Gatz, the narcissistic, ‘misfit’ protagonists, share in common in their dissatisfaction with class structure and in their aspirations for the stylistic, affluent, aesthetic world of the upper class. Both Paul and James Gatz invent a lineage and a new aristocratic identity to fulfill their life-long dreams of social mobility and a wealthy, glamorous life. The apparent difference in the narrative perspectives between the two pieces can be minimized considering an argument that the first drafts of The Great Gatsby were written in the third-person narration. Cather maintains an aesthetic ironic distance from Paul, while investing into the artistically sensitive character Paul her autobiographical experiences as teacher and young novelist. On the other hand, Fitzgerald creates a first-person narrator whose ambivalence and sympathy presents the ambiguous title character as an ideal romanticist and validates his dream. The essay examines how the omniscient narrator’s description of Paul’s dream and illusion provides a supplement to a caricatured fragmentary portrait of James Gatz, whose life story was deleted by the author in order to “preserve the sense of mystery.” Ultimately, the essay argues that while “Paul’s Case” claims an unacknowledged influence onto James Gatz’s rebirth as Jay Gatsby, it can be read as a prequel to The Great Gatsby.

영어초록

The literary influence of Willa Cather on F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby has been discussed in relation to her early novels such as Alexander’s Bridge, A Lost lady, and My Antonia. While Fitzgerald himself acknowledged an analogy between Daisy and Marian Forrester in A Lost lady, this essay draws attention to similarities between Cather’s early short story, “Paul’s Case,” and the story of James Gatz’s transformation into Jay Gatsby in Fitzgerald’s novel. The essay shows the ways in which Paul and James Gatz, the narcissistic, ‘misfit’ protagonists, share in common in their dissatisfaction with class structure and in their aspirations for the stylistic, affluent, aesthetic world of the upper class. Both Paul and James Gatz invent a lineage and a new aristocratic identity to fulfill their life-long dreams of social mobility and a wealthy, glamorous life. The apparent difference in the narrative perspectives between the two pieces can be minimized considering an argument that the first drafts of The Great Gatsby were written in the third-person narration. Cather maintains an aesthetic ironic distance from Paul, while investing into the artistically sensitive character Paul her autobiographical experiences as teacher and young novelist. On the other hand, Fitzgerald creates a first-person narrator whose ambivalence and sympathy presents the ambiguous title character as an ideal romanticist and validates his dream. The essay examines how the omniscient narrator’s description of Paul’s dream and illusion provides a supplement to a caricatured fragmentary portrait of James Gatz, whose life story was deleted by the author in order to “preserve the sense of mystery.” Ultimately, the essay argues that while “Paul’s Case” claims an unacknowledged influence onto James Gatz’s rebirth as Jay Gatsby, it can be read as a prequel to The Great Gatsby.

참고자료

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