The Identity struggle within Modernist literature is, according to Langbaum, where ‘the identity of the author, and his characters, and the distinction between them, has become a problem. This struggle is present within the work of all three authors, whereby the influence of masses and the environmental surroundings strongly influence the identity of the self, particularly in the poetry of Eliot and Ginsberg. The pressure presented by conformity is a key feature that affects identity, resulting in explicit mental trauma, which is particularly evident within the characters in Fitzgerald's Tender is the Night. Although the idea of the ‘masking’ of identity dates back to the Renaissance spectacles of pageantry, during the 20th century there was a growing awareness of identity and the presentation of the self to others; this concept of differing …show more content…
Influence of Masses and City Living on Identity – ELIOT TITN
The contrasting settings of Tender is The Night work to depict the theme of identity. The novel is set in the French Riviera, which aids the presentation of the ‘Upper Class Elite’ and acts as an integral element of the Divers' identities and is instrumental in the construction of their outward appearances. Fitzgerald himself states that ‘One could get away with more on the summer Riviera’, which strongly reflects the attitudes of the characters in the novel. He presents this development of Modernism and the decadent ‘jazz age’ autobiographically, drawing on his own experiences in the Riviera and charting an era where the morals of the Bright Young Things were loosened; in the case of Dick Diver, resulting in alcoholism, which mirrored Fitzgerald's own struggle with alcohol. The Riviera functions as a surreal societal microcosm where the characters are able to rid themselves of their usual identities to become ‘somebody.’ Dick, for example, has not got complete control over his private life and Nicole's mental