30 pages • 1 hour read
F. Scott FitzgeraldBabylon Revisited
Fiction | Short Story | Adult | Published in 1931A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Background
Authorial Context: F. Scott Fitzgerald
Content Warning: This section of the guide discusses alcoholism.
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “Babylon Revisited” is deeply rooted in the author’s personal history, mirroring his descent from the dizzying heights of fame to the lows of financial and personal ruin. Born in 1896 in Minneapolis, Fitzgerald experienced first-hand the volatility of the Jazz Age, a term he popularized to encapsulate the hedonism and spirit of the 1920s. His most famous work, The Great Gatsby, is a stark portrayal of the glittering but shallow world of the upper class.
The Great Gatsby, which was published in 1925, captures the spirit of the Jazz Age, a term attributed to Fitzgerald, delving into themes of decadence, idealism, resistance to change, and excess. “Babylon Revisited” is a reevaluation of these themes. In this narrative, Fitzgerald reflects on the consequences of the materialism and extravagance of wealthy Americans during the 1920s through the eyes of Charlie Wales, a figure who echoes Gatsby in his fall from grace and subsequent longing for redemption and personal transformation. Just as The Great Gatsby dissected the illusions and disillusionments of the era, “Babylon Revisited” offers a more introspective and sober look at the aftermath of such illusions, representing Fitzgerald’s own contemplation of the era’s impact on individual lives and society at large.
The economic crash of 1929 marked a dramatic shift in Fitzgerald’s life. As he watched his and the nation’s prosperity crumble, his own fortunes declined. He never recaptured the fame he gained with The Great Gatsby, and his writing took on a new depth of introspection and regret. “Babylon Revisited” is a clear reflection of this change. The protagonist, Charlie Wales, returns to Paris burdened with the memories of his past extravagance. This narrative of seeking redemption parallels Fitzgerald’s own life, particularly his attempt to navigate the financial instability that followed the crash and his alcohol addiction.
In the latter half of his life, F. Scott Fitzgerald faced a period marked by decline and despair, mirroring the theme The Quest for Personal Redemption that permeates “Babylon Revisited.” The decadence of the Jazz Age gave way to personal and financial hardship for Fitzgerald. His wife, Zelda, had a mental health condition which led to her being committed to a mental health facility in 1930, placing a strain on both their relationship and Fitzgerald’s emotional state. He grappled with financial difficulties, exacerbated by the Great Depression, and his once-lucrative earnings from short stories, such as “The Diamond as Big as the Ritz,” his first and most popular story published in 1922 in The Smart Set magazine, dwindled.
Fitzgerald moved to Hollywood in the late 1930s in hopes of reviving his fortunes through screenwriting. However, despite some success, his career did not flourish as he had hoped, and his struggle with alcohol addiction continued. His literary output slowed as he battled these personal demons, and his reputation as a writer suffered.
As he worked on his Hollywood projects and his last unfinished novel, The Last Tycoon, Fitzgerald’s health deteriorated. He faced numerous health conditions, and on December 21, 1940, Fitzgerald had a heart attack and died at the age of 44, leaving behind a legacy that would only grow posthumously. Although he never found the successes of the 1920s in his later writings, “Babylon Revisited” is a poignant expression of Fitzgerald’s personal disillusionment with the era with which he became synonymous. The parallel between Charlie Wales’s narrative of redemption and Fitzgerald’s own futile quest for personal and professional rejuvenation is stark, serving as a testament to the era’s lasting effects and the fragility of the American Dream.
Literary Context: Modernism
“Babylon Revisited” is an example of Modernism. As a literary movement, Modernism emerged in the early 20th century as a response to the rapid changes in society and culture during that time. Modernism is characterized by a deliberate break from traditional, linear narrative structures, embracing fragmented forms, stream of consciousness, and a strong emphasis on subjective experiences (The University of Toledo. “What Is Modernism?” The University of Toledo, 2020). These narrative techniques create a disjointed sense of reality, mirroring the chaos and uncertainty of the post-World War I era, and reflecting the internal disarray of the protagonist, Charlie Wales.
In “Babylon Revisited,” Fitzgerald employs several Modernist techniques. The narrative is not linear but interspersed with Charlie’s thoughts and memories, which interrupt and inform the present action, such as when Charlie’s reflections on Paris intrude on the present action of the story: “I spoiled this city for myself. I didn’t realize it, but the days came along one after another, and then two years were gone, and everything was gone, and I was gone” (Paragraph 28). Charlie’s thoughts indicate a fragmented sense of self, a key theme in Modernism. His internal struggle with his past actions and their irreversible consequences is central to the story, aligning with the Modernist focus on psychological depth.
The story also reflects the Modernist preoccupation with disillusionment following World War I. In “Babylon Revisited,” this disillusionment focuses particularly on the financial excesses of Americans before the crash. Charlie’s disillusionment is highlighted when he revisits the sites of his formerly lavish spending in Paris, only to find these places hollow and transformed. At the Ritz Bar, when Charlie asks the bartender Alix about a fellow American, Claude Fessenden, an acquaintance from Charlie’s past, Alix responds, “He ran up a bill of thirty thousand francs […] And when Paul finally told him he had to pay, he gave him a bad check” (Paragraph 18). The stark difference between the Paris he remembers and the Paris he sees now mirrors the Modernist motif of alienation and the loss of pre-war innocence.
“Babylon Revisited” thus captures the essence of Modernism not just in its themes but also in its narrative style, characterized by its focus on the internal and fragmented narrative, reflecting the complexity of the human psyche and the uncertain realities of the time. The story is a poignant exploration of the Modernist preoccupation with time, memory, and the quest for meaning in a changed world.
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