A Little Party Never Killed Nobody: Music in F. Scott Fitzgerald's and Baz Luhrmann's The Great Gatsby

Abstract

The focus of this thesis is the role of music and lyrics in F. Scott Fitzgerald's 1925 novel The Great Gatsby, as well as its 2013 film adaptation directed by Baz Luhrmann. The analysis of the novel includes the presentation of Daisy Buchanan's voice and the lyrics of the 1920s songs which appear in the text. Subsequently, Luhrmann's interpretation is examined the same way, firstly discussing the reasons why hip-hop is a fitting substitute for jazz in the film, then taking a look at the lyrics of the 2010s songs included in its soundtrack.