Babylon Revisited

F. Scott Fitzgerald was born in 1896 in St. Paul, Minnesota. His given name, Francis Scott Key
Fitzgerald, was a tribute to his relative Francis Scott Key, who wrote The Star Spangled
Banner. Fitzgerald grew up in Buffalo, New York, and Minnesota. His family, Roman
Catholics of Irish descent, didnt have much money, but Fitzgerald still managed to attend prep
school in New Jersey thanks to financial help from an aunt. He then went to Princeton
University for three years but dropped out and enlisted in the army in 1917 when the United
States entered World War I. He wrote his first novel while training to be an officer and
submitted it to an editor at Scribners, who turned it down. While still in training, Fitzgerald
also met Zelda Sayre, a high-society girl from Alabama whom he would eventually marry in
1920. Fortunately, the war ended before he could be deployed to Europe.
While living at his parents house in St. Paul, Fitzgerald revised the novel he had written in
training camp and changed its title from The Romantic Egoist to This Side of Paradise. Finally
published in 1920, his first novel was a great success and made Fitzgerald famous. To
capitalize on the popularity of This Side of Paradise, Fitzgeralds publishers rushed to publish
Flappers and Philosophers (1920), his first collection of short stories. In 1922, Fitzgerald came
out with a second collection, Tales of the Jazz Age , followed by The Beautiful and Damned
(1922) and The Great Gatsby (1925), which is widely considered Fitzgeralds finest work. Nine
years passed before the publication of Fitzgeralds next novel, Tender Is the Night (1934), the
story of a psychiatrist and his mentally ill wife.
Many of the recurring themes in Fitzgeralds workmoney, class, ambition, alcoholism,
mental illnesshave their roots in his personal life. He had a tumultuous and passionate
relationship with Zelda, with whom he had one daughter, Frances Scott. Despite the success of
his novels, Fitzgerald was often short of the money necessary to pay for his glamorous, fastpaced lifestyle in New York. His agent and editor loaned him funds, and he supplemented his
income by writing for such magazines as Esquire and the Saturday Evening Post. He also
earned money by selling the film rights to his work. Poor health plagued him and his family:
Fitzgerald was an alcoholic, and Zelda was hospitalized for schizophrenia in 1932, a disaster
that likely inspired Tender Is the Night , which Fitzgerald wrote while living in a rented house
near Zeldas hospital.
In the 1930s, Fitzgerald left Zelda and moved to Hollywood. Even though the couple never
filed for divorce, they never lived together again. In Hollywood, Fitzgerald moved in with a
movie columnist named Sheilah Graham and worked on scripts, short stories, and a fifth novel.
Fitzgerald hated his work in Hollywood and believed he was wasting his talent, but he didnt
quit because he needed the money. In 1940, Fitzgerald suffered two heart attacks and died later
that year at age forty-four, leaving his last novel unfinished. Edmund Wilson, a well-known
writer and critic and a friend of Fitzgeralds since their days together at Princeton, edited the
manuscript and notes that Fitzgerald left behind. The result was published in 1940 as The Last
Tycoon.
Fitzgerald is considered the voice of the Lost Generation, the generation that came of age
during World War I. Hes also considered the ultimate explicator of the Jazz Age of the 1920s,

a period characterized by individualism and decadence. Although he is best known for his
novels, he wrote about 160 short stories. The number is difficult to pin down precisely because
many of his pieces blur the lines between story, essay, and article. Babylon Revisited was
written in 1930 and published in 1931 in the Saturday Evening Post. Fitzgeralds editor,
Malcolm Cowley, wrote that in comparison with other stories of Fitzgeralds, Babylon
Revisited evidences less regret for the past and more dignity in the face of real sorrow.

Part I opens in the middle of a conversation between Charlie Wales and Alix, a bartender at the
Ritz. Charlie asks Alix to pass along his brother-in-laws address to Duncan Schaeffer. The
narrator says that Paris and the Ritz bar feel deserted. Charlie says he has been sober for a year
and a half and that he is now a businessman living in Prague. He and Alix gossip about old
acquaintances. Charlie says hes in town to see his daughter.
Charlie gets in a taxi. The Left Bank looks provincial to him, and he wonders whether hes
ruined the city for himself. The narrator tells us that Charlie is a handsome thirty-five-year-old.
Charlie goes to his brother-in-laws house, where his daughter, Honoria, jumps into his arms.
Marion Peters, his sister-in-law, greets him without warmth, although his brother-in-law,
Lincoln Peters, is friendlier. In a calculated remark, Charlie boasts about how good his finances
are these days. Lincoln looks restless, so Charlie changes the subject. Marion says shes glad
there arent many Americans left in Paris, and its clear that she doesnt like Charlie.
After eating dinner with the Peters family, Charlie goes to see a famous dancer named
Josephine Baker, then to Montmartre, where he passes nightclubs that he recognizes. He sees a
few scared tourists go into one club. He thinks about the meaning of dissipation and remembers
the vast sums of money he threw away. After ignoring a womans advances, he goes home.
Part II begins the following morning. Charlie takes Honoria to lunch. He suggests going to a
toy store and then to a vaudeville show. Honoria doesnt want to go to the toy store because
shes worried theyre no longer rich. Charlie playfully introduces himself to her as if they are
strangers. He pretends that her doll is her child, and she goes along with the joke. She says she
prefers Lincoln to Marion and asks why she cant live with Charlie.
Leaving the restaurant, they run into Duncan Schaeffer and Lorraine Quarrles, two of Charlies
friends from the old days. Lorraine says she and her husband are poor now and that she is alone
in Paris. They ask Charlie to join them for dinner, but he brushes them off and refuses to tell
them where hes staying. They see each other again at the vaudeville, and he has a drink with
them. In the cab on the way home, Honoria says she wants to live with him, which thrills
Charlie. She blows him a kiss when she is safely inside the house.
In Part III, Charlie meets with Marion and Lincoln. He says that he wants Honoria to live with
him and that he has changed. He says he drinks one drink per day on purpose so that he doesnt
obsess about it ever again. Marion doesnt understand this, but Lincoln claims that he
understands Charlie. Charlie settles in for a long fight, reminding himself that his objective
isnt to justify his behavior but to win Honoria back. Marion says that Charlie hasnt existed for
her since he locked Helen, her sister and Charlies wife, out of their apartment. Charlie says
Marion can trust him. As it becomes increasingly clear that Marion simply doesnt like Charlie,
he begins to worry that she will turn Honoria against him. He stresses that he will be able to
give Honoria a good life and then realizes that Marion and Lincoln dont want to hear about
how much wealthier he is than they are. He craves a drink.
The narrator says that Marion understands Charlies wish to be with his daughter but needs to
see him as the villain. She implies that Charlie was responsible for Helens death. Lincoln
objects. Charlie says that heart trouble killed Helen, and Marion sarcastically agrees with him.

Suddenly giving up the fight, she leaves the room. Lincoln tells Charlie that he can take
Honoria. Back in his hotel room, Charlie thinks of the way he and Helen destroyed their love
for no good reason. He remembers the night they fought and she kissed another man; he got
home before her and locked her out. There was a snowstorm later, and Helen wandered around
in the cold. The incident marked the beginning of the end. Charlie falls asleep and dreams of
Helen, who says that she wants him and Honoria to be together.
Part IV begins the next morning. Charlie interviews two potential governesses and then eats
lunch with Lincoln. He says Marion resents the fact that Charlie and Helen were spending a
fortune while she and Lincoln were just scraping along. In his hotel room, Charlie gets a
pneumatique (a letter delivered by pneumatic tube) from Lorraine, who reminisces about their
drunken pranks and asks to see him at the Ritz bar. The adventures that Lorraine looks back on
with fondness strike Charlie as nightmarish.
Charlie goes to Marion and Lincolns house in the afternoon. Honoria has been told of the
decision and is delighted. The room feels safe and warm. The doorbell ringsit is Lorraine and
Duncan, who are drunk. Slurring their words, they ask Charlie to dinner. He refuses twice and
they leave angry. Furious, Marion leaves the room. The children eat dinner, and Lincoln goes to
check on Marion. When he comes back, he tells Charlie that the plans have changed.
In Part V, Charlie goes to the Ritz bar. He sees Paul, a bartender he knew in the old days. He
thinks of the fights that he and Helen had, the people out of their minds on alcohol and drugs,
and the way he locked Helen out in the snow. He calls Lincoln, who says that for six months,
they have to drop the question of Honoria living with Charlie. Charlie goes back to the bar. He
realizes that the only thing he can do for Honoria is buy her things, which he knows is
inadequate. He plans to come back and try again.

Charlie Wales - The handsome, thirty-five-year-old protagonist of the story. Once worth a
small fortune, Charlie spent all his money in Paris during the mid-1920s. An alcoholic, he
collapsed along with the stock market in 1929. Since regaining his sobriety and financial
footing as a businessman in Prague, Charlie has become ashamed of his past recklessness. He
adores his daughter, Honoria, and misses his wife, Helen, for whose death he may bear partial
responsibility.
Read an in-depth analysis of Charlie Wales.
Honoria Wales - Charlies daughter. Honoria is a sunny, smart nine-year-old. She loves her
father dearly and, although she is happy enough with Marion and Lincoln, wants to live with
Charlie. A smart girl, she has a rich inner life and thinks about difficult subjects such as money
and love. Honoria claims that she misses her mother, but she doesnt seem to remember her
well.
Marion Peters - Charlies sister-in-law. Marion resents Charlie both because of his former
recklessness and because she believes he mistreated her sister, Helen. Marion fixates on the
night Charlie locked Helen out of the house during a snowstorm and believes hes responsible
for her death. Marion understands why Charlie wants Honoria to live with him, but she worries
that he will lapse back into his old ways.
Read an in-depth analysis of Marion Peters.
Lincoln Peters - Marions husband and Charlies brother-in-law. Lincoln lacks Charlies
knack for business, but he is a solid, responsible father and husband. He is quieter than his wife
and more sympathetic to Charlies desire to live with Honoria. Still, his primary loyalty is to
Marion, whom he truly loves. He takes Marions side whenever he believes that Charlies
actions are hurting her.
Helen - Charlies deceased wife. Helen passed away many years before and appears in the
story only as a figure in Charlies dream. She and Charlie loved each other deeply, and it seems
they destroyed their relationship for no real reason. Even though their marriage ended badly,
they did love each other, which is why Helen appears encouraging and loving in Charlies
dream.
Lorraine Quarrles - A thirty-year-old blonde American woman. Lorraine is a figure from
Charlies debauched past. She too has lost her fortune but hasnt stopped trying to live the way
she did when she had money. Now a sad, almost pathetic figure, she chases after Charlie, whose
newfound sobriety both amuses her and makes her jealous.
Duncan Schaeffer - Lorraines companion and an American who attended college with
Charlie. Duncan, who doesnt say much, amplifies Lorraines recklessness. He accompanies
Lorraine wherever she goes, drinks when she drinks, and unexpectedly arrives at Marion and
Lincolns house with her.
Elsie and Richard Peters - Marion and Lincolns children. Elsie and Richard are about
Honorias age, well behaved, but dont perform as well in school as Honoria.
Paul - A bartender at the Ritz. In the days of great wealth, he drove a fancy car to work.
Alix - A bartender at the Ritz. Alix gives Charlie updates on the Americans who used to live in
Paris.

Charlie Wales
Despite his many flaws, Charlie is a man whom almost everyone cant help but like. Its
surprising that Charlies so likeable considering his wild past of uncontrollable alcoholism, his
possible complicity in his wifes death, and the fact that he essentially abandoned his child.
Charlie is hard to dislike in part because he seems so earnest in his efforts to turn over a new
leaf. If were wary of him in the beginning of the story, we increasingly trust him as he rebuffs
his former friends and sticks to just one drink a day. Fitzgerald also conveys Charlies great
personal charm. Charlie is a physically attractive man, a quality that clearly affects Lorraine
and possibly even Marion. He is also a winning, persuasive speaker, able to manipulate
listeners without seeming to try.
If we cant help but like Charlie, however, neither can we help feeling slightly suspicious of
him. His justification for taking one drink per day makes sense when he explains ithe implies
that he doesnt want to give alcohol undue power over him by avoiding it altogetherbut
seems nonsensical later. We wonder if he has hoodwinked us and worry that hell slip back into
drinking heavily. When Charlie disavows his former friends, we think back to the beginning of
the story when he gives Lincoln and Marions address to Alix, knowing that itll land in
Duncan Schaeffers hands. As a result, we wonder whether some part of him actually wants to
return to the old days. Although were naturally inclined to take Charlies side because of his
good intentions, Fitzgerald doesnt allow us to root for him unrestrainedly.
Marion Peters
Marion acts both as a stand-in and a foil for the reader. On the one hand, we likely share all her
reservations about Charlie. On the other hand, her off-putting personal qualities set us against
her. We want to dismiss her reservations, even if we know we shouldnt, which puts us even
more firmly in Charlies camp. Marion is the mirror image of Charlie: although logic demands
that we approve of her actions, her prickly personality masks her essential goodness and makes
her difficult to like. Marion is unhappy with her own life and focuses her frustrations on
Charlie, but theres no doubt that she is a good woman. She has taken Honoria in, treated her as
her own child, and brought her up to be a happy, self-sufficient girl. She also loves her husband.
Her marriage to him is the most successful romantic adult relationship in the story, a stark
contrast to Charlies disastrous marriage, which ended in senseless destruction. Still, Marions
judgmental tone and slight air of irrationality make her an unsympathetic character. Because
we see Marion from Charlies perspective, we focus only on her frustrations rather than her
good motivations.

Themes
The Inescapability of the Past

Even though Charlies wilder days have long since passed, hell never be able to truly escape
them. Although he actively tries to avoid reminders of the Paris he used to know, they
nevertheless follow him everywhere. When he goes to lunch with Honoria, for example, he can
find only one restaurant that doesnt remind him of drunken meals that lasted for hours. When
he walks through Montmartre, old haunts surround him. Even the things that have changed
remind him of his past, simply because the newness of them strikes him as odd. The scared
tourists heading into cafs are pale imitations of the partiers he and his friends once were, and
the once-bustling places that these tourists frequent are now nearly empty. Charlie would like
to put his failed marriage behind him, but he cannot. Marion constantly reminds him of his
mistakes, which she clings to almost obsessively. The past informs the present: because of what
Charlie did to Helen, he is prevented from living with Honoria. Perhaps the most ominous
figures from the past are Duncan and Lorraine, living reminders of the bad old days, who still
try to follow him wherever he goes.
If Charlie wants to shake off the past, however, some part of him simultaneously cant let it go.
He asks his cabbie to drive to the Avenue de lOpera, he goes to Montmartre and visits the
places he used to frequent, and he begins and ends the story in the familiar Ritz bar. While
these incidents suggest that the past still haunts Charlie, we cant help thinking that Charlie is
actually looking to be haunted. He must know, consciously or subconsciously, that visiting the
scenes of his former life will fill him with regret and possibly even longing. Perhaps most
damning of all is the fact that Charlie gives Lincoln and Marions address to Alix, asking him
to pass it along to Duncan. He later ignores Lorraine and refuses to give his hotel address to
them, but his protestations mean nothing because hes already told them where they can find
him. We know that some part of him must want the debauchery of the old days back in his life,
thereby planting the seeds of his own failure.
The Purity of Paternal Love

Fitzgerald characterizes the love that fathers and daughters feel for each other as the only pure,
unadulterated kind of love in the world. Other types of love, however passionate or intense they
may be, are always complicated by dislike or mistrust. Charlie and Helen loved each other, for
example, but they tormented and abused each other: Helen kissed other men, they fought, and
Charlie locked her out in a snowstorm. Lincoln and Marion demonstrate another type of marital
love, one thats genuine but strained by financial and familial difficulties. To some degree,
Charlie loves Lincoln and Marion, whom he still considers family. At the same time, however,
he thinks of them as adversaries, and their mutual distrust of each other makes their love less
than pure. Only Honoria and Charlie love each other in an unadulterated way. They often speak
of their love for each other, and she asks him whether he loves her more than anyone in the
world. Marital and familial love may fall apart with regularity, but the love between children
and parents is the most pure.
Motifs

The Outdoors

Many scenes in Babylon Revisited take place on the streets of Paris, where people go when
theyre lonely or angry. Charlie forces Lorraine and Duncan out onto the street, for example,
when they surprise him at Marion and Lincolns house, and they leave in a fit of anger. When
Charlie wanders through Montmartre, the nervous tourists and overeager nightclub employees
only make him feel more solitary. Most obviously abandoned to the dangerous streets is Helen,
whom Charlie had locked out after fighting with her. The fact that Charlie locked her outside
during a snowstorm is a particularly cruel gesture in this story, which characterizes the
outdoors as a place of sadness and danger. Fitzgerald emphasizes the melancholy quality of the
outdoors by contrasting it with the indoors, which he portrays as warm, cozy, and safe. All the
scenes that take place in Marion and Lincolns house, for example, connote a happy family
atmosphere created by responsible adults. When Charlie finally leaves their house toward the
end of the story, he is appropriately cast back into the lonely streets.
Symbols
The Ritz Bar

The bar at the Ritz Hotel symbolizes Charlies spiritual home. Charlie is a wanderer: he no
longer lives in America, his birthplace, and we never see him in Prague, his new home. He
visits Marion and Lincolns house as an interloper, more of a resented outsider than a member
of the family. The place that closest resembles his home, however, is the bar at the Ritz, and the
story begins and ends there, emphasizing its importance to Charlie. Like a real home, the walls
of the Ritz bar have witnessed the changes that have happened to him. Whereas he once spent
many late, drunken nights at the bar in his wilder days, he now sits there to consume his one
customary drink every day. Charlie and Alix, the bartender, gossip about the people they both
once knew, drinkers and ex-drinkers who have fallen on hard times, just as two family
members might gossip about wayward relatives. One the other hand, the bar could never be a
fulfilling substitute for a real home. As Charlie sits with Alix at the end of the story, he thinks
about how terribly alone he is. The bar may be the closest thing Charlie has to a home, but its
comforts are inferior in every way to those of an actual household.

Dialogue
Babylon Revisited conveys strong and painful feelings, principally through the use of
dialogue. Some of the most fraught exchanges in the story occur between Charlie and Marion.
Charlies words make it clear that he is desperate to get Honoria back, enough to plan almost
every phrase he utters and pause he takes. He stresses his healthy income to prove that he can
provide for his daughter, but he drops the topic the moment he senses that Lincoln is growing
annoyed with it. He coaches himself through the emotional conversation about Honorias
future, silently reminding himself that he has to control his temper in front of Marion if he
wants Honoria. The care with which he chooses his words and his self-control demonstrate how
desperately he wants to be with his daughter. These conversations are not one-sided, however.
Through Marions curt and cutting responses, we know that she loved her sister, Helen, very
much, strongly dislikes Charlie, but only wants the best for Honoria.
Charlies conversations with Honoria are equally emotional, albeit much happier. Honoria
repeats the word dad when saying hello or goodbye to Charlie, a kind of incantation that
conveys how much she loves him. Their conversations can be serious at times, such as when
Honoria says that she doesnt want to go to the toy store because shes worried about the
familys finances. Their conversations can also be comical, and a few moments later, Charlie
asks her whether shes married or single, to which she playfully replies that shes single. Their
dialogue is realistic and entertaining, but it also reveals the characteristics of their relationship.
They dont know each other well, but they like and respect each other and enjoy spending time
together. Fitzgeralds portrayal of this father-daughter relationship is extremely memorable,
vivid, and true to life, and it is accomplished largely through the use of dialogue.

Structure
Fitzgerald structures Babylon Revisited in a way that allows him to emphasize different
events by altering the pace of the story. The story is divided into five sections, each consisting
of a different set of events and period of time. Section I is wide-ranging and introduces us to
Paris, Charlie, and the basic details of Charlies life. In one line, Alix, the bartender, asks him
about his daughter, but a few lines later, Charlie is abruptly back on the street, having left the
bar. By leaping from place to place without mentioning the passage of time, Fitzgerald gives us
the background information we need and suggests that were getting to know Charlie just as
Charlie is getting to know Paris once again. Section II slows down considerably, focusing
entirely on Charlies lunch with Honoria to highlight their relationship. Fitzgeralds placement
of the scene just after the opening section emphasizes how dearly Charlie loves Honoria.
Section III also focuses solely on just one scene, namely Charlies conversation with Marion
and Lincoln about Honorias future. Even though less time passes in this section than in the
first, Fitzgerald devotes roughly the same number of pages to each to emphasize how important
this conversation is to Charlie. The placement of the conversation is important too; section III
ends happily, with Charlie securing a promise from Lincoln that Honoria will return to him.
But because we know the story isnt over, we begin to worry about a reversal, an effect that
Fitzgerald uses intentionally to heighten the tension. Section IV puts that reversal in motion. Its
sped-up pace, which rushes us from interviews with nannies to Lorraines pneumatique to the
disastrous evening at Marion and Lincolns house, mirrors the increasing desperation Charlie
feels as events spiral out of control. Section V is an embittered conclusion, and its brevity
suggests that Charlie can hardly bear to dwell on the loss of his daughter once again.

Historical Context
The melancholy mood of Babylon Revisited comes partly from the historical period in which
it is set. Fitzgerald is often identified as the voice of the Jazz Age, but in this story he portrays
the postJazz Age world, which is sober and full of regret. Charlie returns to a Paris that has
changed dramatically. In the old days, before the storys action takes place, Americans like
Charlie and Helen were a sort of royalty, almost infallible because they had money to burn.
Like drunken children, rich Americans ran wild all over the city in the 1920s. Then the
American stock market crashed in 1929, an event mentioned only briefly in the story but one
that casts a pall over its characters. Charlies personal history runs parallel to the course of
history itself. During the Jazz Age, he lived lavishly, giving hundreds of francs to doormen and
thousands of francs to orchestras. He was blindingly drunk most of the time and pulled childish
pranks. He lived a dissipated, crazed life that epitomized the hedonism of wealthy Americans
living in the mid-1920s. Then, just as the stock market crashed, Charlies alcoholism landed
him in a sanitarium. By drawing parallels between history and Charlies life, Fitzgerald makes
Charlie representative of an entire age.

1. Again the memory of those days swept over him like a nightmare . . . The men who
locked their wives out in the snow, because the snow of twenty-nine wasnt real snow. If
you didnt want it to be snow, you just paid some money.
These sentences, which come near the end of the story, complicate our understanding of
Helens death. Marion strongly implies that Charlie was responsible for his wifes demise, and
she scoffs at his explanation that Helen died of heart trouble. Her scornful reaction affects
Charlie strongly, but it isnt clear whether the accusation fills him with anger or guilt. This
passage gives the impression that Charlie blames himself, at least to some degree. At the zenith
of those wild days in 1929, men like Charlie felt like gods. They imagined that they controlled
the entire world, even the weather itself. Thoughtless actions didnt seem to have real
consequences, and it was inconceivable that someone could be hurt by the cold. You could pay
for everything else, Charlie thinks sarcastically, so of course you could pay to make real snow
imaginary. The bitter tone of this passage, with its angry repetition of the word snow, suggests
that only now does Charlie realize that such ideas were dangerous.

How to Cite This SparkNote

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2007.

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MLA
Their conversation is awkward, especially when she mentions Wickham, a subject Darcy
clearly wishes to avoid (SparkNotes Editors).
APA
Their conversation is awkward, especially when she mentions Wickham, a subject Darcy
clearly wishes to avoid (SparkNotes Editors, 2007).
Footnote

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Table of Contents
in-depth analysis of Charlie Wales.
in-depth analysis of Marion Peters.