Infatuating Idealism in F. Scott Fitzgerald

A detailed Summary of 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

Monroe Stahr had achieved his American dream. He had achieved it during a time of incredible time of national economic upheaval. His genius had propelled him into the Hollywood spotlight, but with one foul swoop a woman brought him down like a ten-ton beam. Where did he go wrong? The answer lies in the fact that he simply loved and lost. Most people believe it is better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all. Yet in Stahr's case it would have been better for him if he had never loved at all. Stahr had loved once and she died, the second time around he died. The fact that she could not truly love him killed him. He could not deal with the fact that she had already committed to another man. To him Minna Davis and Kathleen Moore were the same. They looked the same, and both brought out his true feelings like no one else ever had. His dream woman had deserted him and he refused to deal with it. His idealistic fantasy had figuratively stabbed him in th!

n instance of grief that makes me feel as if life is just one big joke. I soon come to my senses and re-release that life will go on. Stahr on the other hand cannot get past the facts that love has left his life twice. It is just too much for him to deal with. I too idealized the woman in my life as the "wind beneath my wings." The sad fact is that just is not true. The only wind under my wings is the mountain valley breeze that is ever present on this university campus. I am reason for my survival, not a woman. Stahr saw Kathleen as the only thing missing from his life, and quite possibly that being a true statement. He could have lived without her, but he just didn't see it that way.

All this fuss over a woman might seem a bit trivial, but in true love, nothing is trivial. Monroe Stahr idealized Kathleen Moore as the true cure to all his ills and loveless nights. To him, she was Minna Davis. In being, but not spirit, she was a replica.

I can personally relate to how Monroe feels. I have loved and lost in a similar way. A young woman that I had been seeing for some two and a half years died as the result of a drunk driver.

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Approximate Word count = 1441
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: People