The Beautiful and Damned

The novel tells the story of a young couple Anthony and Gloria Patch and their struggle to find meaning and purpose in their lives. Anthony is a young man who has inherited a large fortune from his grandfather but he lacks direction and ambition. Gloria is a beautiful and vivacious woman who dreams of a glamorous life but is ultimately disappointed by the realities of marriage and adulthood. The novel is set against the backdrop of the Jazz Age and it explores the excesses and moral decay of the era. Fitzgeralds vivid descriptions of parties drinking and hedonism are contrasted with the characters underlying sense of emptiness and futility. The novel also touches on themes of love class and the corrupting influence of wealth.