Class, Forms of Capital, and Celebrity Culture in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby
Date Issued
2016
Date
2016
Author(s)
Chien, Hsin-ho Chang
Abstract
This thesis aims to examine social mobility and the impacts of celebrity culture on social class in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby through Pierre Bourdieu’s theory of forms of capital. The French Sociologist Pierre Bourdieu illustrates in his theory how individual social position is determined by several forms of capital instead of by economic capital alone, and he offers a systematic theory to illustrate how classes are constructed and reproduced in a subtle process. Bourdieu’s discussion of different forms of capital enables a study of why Gatsby fails in his attempt to be a member of the upper class. Since what Gatsby lacks is not economic capital, I intend to argue that Gatsby’s insufficient cultural capital, symbolic capital, and social capital are the central causes for the upper class to deny his access to the class and to reject a permanent relationship with him. Bourdieu’s theory offers a lens to examine impacts of forms of capital on other characters’ judgments of Gatsby. Besides studying how the forms of capital Gatsby owns or lacks define him and his relationship with other characters, I will also explore if the formation of celebrity culture has any effects on Gatsby’s understanding of the class structure and further on the ideal self that he pictures. This thesis will investigate the relationship between the social structure in the twenties in the United States and the accomplishment Gatsby aims to achieve in order to figure out the key cause to his tragedy. Also, I attempt to suggest that the 1920s America is a significant historical background in which Gatsby’s failure is almost inevitable.
Subjects
Fitzgerald
The Great Gatsby
Bourdieu
class
capital
celebrity
Type
thesis
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