Jay Gatsby

Jay Gatsby
The Great Gatsby character
Jay Gatsby as portrayed by Warner Baxter in The Great Gatsby (1926)
First appearance	The Great Gatsby (1925)
Created by	F. Scott Fitzgerald
Based on	Max Gerlach[1]
Portrayed by	See list
In-universe information
Full name	James Gatz (birth name)
Alias	Jay Gatsby
Gender	Male
Occupation	Doughboy[a] Yachtsman[b] Bootlegger
Family	Henry C. Gatz (father)
Significant other	Daisy Buchanan
Religion	Lutheran[3]
Origin	North Dakota[4]
Nationality	American

Jay Gatsby (originally named James Gatz) is the titular fictional character of F. Scott Fitzgerald's 1925 novel The Great Gatsby. The character is an enigmatic nouveau riche millionaire who lives in a luxurious mansion on Long Island where he often hosts extravagant parties and who allegedly gained his fortune by illicit bootlegging during prohibition in the United States.^[5] Fitzgerald based many details about the fictional character on Max Gerlach,^[1] a mysterious neighbor and World War I veteran whom the author met in New York during the raucous Jazz Age.^[1] Like Gatsby, Gerlach threw lavish parties,^[6] never wore the same shirt twice,^[7] used the phrase "old sport",^[8] claimed to be educated at Oxford University,^[9] and fostered myths about himself, including that he was a relation of the German Kaiser.^[10]

The character of Jay Gatsby has been analyzed by scholars for many decades and has given rise to a number of critical interpretations. Scholars posit that Gatsby functions as a cipher because of his obscure origins, his unclear religio-ethnic identity and his indeterminate class status.^[11] Accordingly, Gatsby's socio-economic ascent is deemed a threat by other characters in the novel not only due to his status as nouveau riche, but because he is perceived as a societal outsider.^[12] The character's biographical details indicate his family are recent immigrants which precludes Gatsby from the status of an Old Stock American.^[13] As the embodiment of "latest America",^[14] Gatsby's rise triggers status anxieties typical of the 1920s era, involving xenophobia and anti-immigrant sentiment.^[14]

A century after the novel's publication in April 1925, Gatsby has become a touchstone in American culture and is often evoked in popular media in the context of the American dream—the belief that every individual, regardless of their origins, may seek and achieve their desired goals, "be they political, monetary, or social. It is the literary expression of the concept of America: The land of opportunity".^[15] Gatsby has been described by scholars as a false prophet of the American dream as pursuing the dream often results in dissatisfaction for those who chase it, owing to its unattainability.^[16]

The character has appeared in various media adaptations of the novel, including stage plays, radio shows, video games, and feature films. Canadian-American actor James Rennie originated the role of Gatsby on the stage when he headlined the 1926 Broadway adaptation of Fitzgerald's novel at the Ambassador Theatre in New York City.^[17] He repeated the role for 112 performances.^[17] That same year, screen actor Warner Baxter played the role in the lost 1926 silent film adaptation.^[18] During the subsequent decades, the role has been played by many actors including Alan Ladd, Kirk Douglas, Robert Ryan, Robert Redford, Leonardo DiCaprio, and others.

Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).