GEORGE LING YEONG SHANN 1PISMP TESL 2

Biographical Criticism and Psychoanalytical Criticism in Fitzgeralds Three Hours Between Planes
Fitzgeralds Three Hours Between Planes revolves around a man coming back to his hometown to find his old crush and eventually found out that she didnt share the same feelings towards him. It is about finding reality and come to state of personal completeness through the truth, also the characters of Donald Plant and Nancy Gifford, can be analyzed from Northrop Fryes monomyth psychoanalytic theory and from biographical criticism.

In one of his characters, Donald Plant is portrayed to be a class-conscious person, when he analyzed what he has said in his conversation with Nancy, and was particularly impressed that his words 'at the airport' established that he had retained his position in the upper bourgeoisie. (Fitzgerald, 1939) Based on the setting, during the Great Depression era, to have the luxury to board an aeroplane to travel reflects a persons great wealth. This actually explains Fitzgeralds stand on how wealth and social status can affect ones love life, as Fitzgerald himself has experienced discrimination of the sort. This somewhat can be related to Fitzgeralds low self -esteem as during his younger days, his first love, Ginevra King was from a rich business tycoon family in Chicago and he was from a middle-class family. Their relationship lasted for two years, however ended bitterly. His self-esteem seemed to have dented in August 1916 and never to recover, when Fitzgerald first wrote down the words in his ledger, thought to have been said to him by Charles King, "Poor boys shouldn't think of marrying rich girls. (D. Smith, 2003)

"He always depicted himself as a poor boy who idealized the love of a rich girl who was rather standoffish, perhaps even a little calculating. But judging by the letters and the diary, that's not true. She seems to have responded

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strongly and emotionally to him." (J. West, 2003) (R. Stevens, 2003) The quotation above is given by James West, the Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of English at Pennsylvania State University and the editor of the ongoing series, "The Works of F. Scott Fitzgerald" (Cambridge University Press). This confirms that the idea of Fitzgerald actually moulds Donald Plant from his own personality.

Fitzgerald loves to use people around him to create his character in his literature, this time not excluded. Nancy Gifford can be suggested as an embodiment of the two women that means the most to Fitzgerald, Ginevra King and Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald, though physically, Nancy is more inclined to the image of Ginevra, with his description of a dark-haired little beauty standing against the lighted door, a glass in her hand (Fitzgerald, 1939), which concurs with her biography, with the description of [t]he younger Ginevra -- dark-haired, petite, with large eyes. (Smith, 2003, p.2) and Fitzgeralds own description of her: "the extraordinary 'nice' girl, the beautiful, magnetic girl who was always effortlessly at ease.... (A. Minezer, 1951) (R. Stevens, 2003) and Zelda as Scotts equal in physical attractiveness (R. Prigozy, 2002).

'Ah, now,' she reproached him. 'That isn't fair! I suppose I was a naughty girl.' Nancy, whenever I talked to my wife about the past, I told her you were the girl I loved almost as much as I loved her. But I think I really loved you just as much.

'There isn't any story,' he hesitated. But he thought: So she was a bad little girl. (Fitzgerald, 1939)

Based on these quotes, plus the fact that Donald has known Nancy since they were twelve and didnt meet until then, it tallies with the characteristics and history of both of the two influential women in Fitzgeralds life. Zelda had an active social life when she was in high school and a newspaper article said that she only cared about boys and swimming. (Milford, 1970, p.16), which is against the perception of a Southern American girl at that time. On the other hand, Fitzgerald has known Ginevra
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since they were teenagers and never met until the final years of Fitzgerald and Fitzgerald even confessed that [s]he was the first girl [he has] ever loved and [he has] faithfully avoided seeing her up to this moment to keep that illusion perfect (Smith, 2003, p.4). Northrop Fryes monomyth archetypal theory can also be seen in the story, where Donald can be seen as a hero, undergoing a journey where he achieves understanding and development in character. A monomyth is a cyclical journey or quest undertaken by a hero. Donald can be seen as a mythical hero because he has extraordinary powers which no other people have , travels to fulfill a quest and has developed in character. In the story which is set in the Depression Era, he can afford to board an aeroplane to travel, which indicates that he is wealthy. He travels back to his hometown on a quest to fulfill his dream of meeting his old crush and to revive their old flame and as the plot goes on, we can see that the character evolves and at the end of the story, the character has succumbed but comes back stronger and gained more understanding and maturity, Donald had lost a great deal, too, in those hours between the planes but since the second half of life Is a long process of getting rid of things, that part of experience probably didnt matter. (Fitzgerald, 1939)

According to Northrop Frye, every piece of literature can be fit into a cycle and the peculiar cycles of human experiences can be likened to the yearly seasons. (Bressler, 1994) In the story, the journey of Donald Plant searching for Nancy can be likened to spring, where it started to bloom with hope, with energy and enthusiasm, while the uncertainty is getting more and more resolved until he got to call Nancy. During his meeting with Nancy, it can be likened to summer where their shared passion and longing for each other creates a romantic atmosphere. When Donald found out that Nancy mistook him for Donald Bowers, until the end of their meeting, it can be likened to autumn where it slowly transit from romance to sadness. Autumn, being the season of change, or goes the old and comes the new, is clearly shown when Donald Plant comes face to face with reality that Nancy never shared the same feelings towards him. At the end of the story, Donalds cold and dark environment as
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well as his feelings can be likened to the season of winter, which Frye connotes as the stage of anti-romance. The symbols that exist in the story are plenty, one of them being the title itself. The title itself helps support the connotation that Donald Plant is a mythical hero in this story. The number 3 is significant as it can be related to the Holy Trinity or personal completeness. In the story, Donald Plant travels back physically to his hometown and goes back in time in order to pursue his long lost desire, only to realize the truth, let go of his imagination and gains a higher level of maturity and understanding. This is evident when Donald says: For five blinding minutes he had lived like a madman in two worlds at once. He had been a boy of twelve and a man of thirty-two, indissolubly and helplessly commingled. Donald had lost a good deal, too, in those hours between the planes but since the second half of life is a long process of getting rid of things, that part of the experience probably didnt matter.
(Fitzgerald, 1939)

As a conclusion, Fitzgeralds Three Hours Between Planes can be analysed from a psychological perspective using Northrop Fryes archetypal monomyth theory, and from a biographical perspective.

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GEORGE LING YEONG SHANN 1PISMP TESL 2

References:

Bressler, C. E. (1994). Literary Criticism: An Introduction to Theory and Practice. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall Inc. ISBN 0-13-533001-7

Fitzgerald, F.S. (1941). Three Hours Between Planes. Esquire.

Milford, Nancy (1970). Zelda: A Biography. New York: Harper & Row

Prigozy, Ruth (Ed.) (2002) The Cambridge Companion To F. Scott Fitzgerald.. Cambridge University Press. New York. ISBN 0 521 62447 9 ISBN 0 521 62474 6. assets.cambridge.org/97805216/24473/.../9780521624473ws.pdf

Simon & Schuster (2003). A Brief Life of Fitzgerald. the Board of Trustees of the University of South Carolina. http://www.sc.edu/fitzgerald/biography.html Smith, Dinitia (2003, Sept. 8). Love Notes Drenched In Moonlight; Hints of Future Novels In Letters to Fitzgerald. New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/08/books/love-notes-drenched-inmoonlight-hints-of-future-novels-in-letters-to-fitzgerald.html?src=pm Stevens, Ruth (2003, Sept. 7). Before Zelda, there was Ginevra. Princeton Weekly Bulletin. Vol. 93. No. 1.. http://www.princeton.edu/pr/pwb/03/0907/1c.shtml

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