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BOOK TWO

Summary: BOOK TWO, Chapter I

The Radiant Hour 

Anthony and Gloria are completely wrapped up in each other. They have bitter quarrels and then enjoy kissing and making up. They talk about their former romances. Gloria admits that Bloeckman has proposed marriage and that she’d broken his heart by agreeing to marry Anthony.

Heyday 

Gloria and Anthony ride around on the top level of a bus, enjoying the sun and imagining their future when they have more money. When the hope of more money in the future is mentioned, they are careful not to mention Anthony’s grandfather Adam J. Patch’s future death, which would mean a large inheritance for Anthony.

Three Digressions 

Anthony visits his grandfather, Adam J. Patch, to tell him of his engagement. To Anthony’s surprise, Patch invites them to have the wedding at the Tarrytown mansion. Meanwhile, Richard’s book becomes so successful that Anthony and Gloria resent the attention Richard is getting. Gloria feels delighted as wedding presents pour in. Adam J. Patch sends Anthony and Gloria a large check.

The Diary 

The night before the wedding, Gloria reads through her diary. She reviews the names of the men she’s fallen in love with and kissed. Then she writes “FINIS” on the last page and puts the book away.

Breath of the Cave 

After the bridal party dinner, Anthony spends the night alone in his apartment. He hears a woman making coarse jokes and laughing loudly. Her laughter fills him with horror.

Morning 

Anthony gets up at five o’clock and spends the morning making sure he has everything for the wedding and wedding trip. He hopes he’ll have enough money to cover their expenses.

The Ushers 

Six young men, including Richard and Maury, assemble in the Patch mansion’s library. Alcohol fuels their juvenile conversation.

Anthony 

During the ceremony, Anthony feels five hundred pairs of eyes on him, but he can’t take his own eyes off the clergyman’s gold teeth. He feels a wave of contentment when he takes Gloria into his arms.

Gloria 

Gloria experiences a flood of mixed emotions, including excitement and a prayerful hope that she will be secure and safe forever.

“Con Amore” 

Anthony and Gloria travel for the summer along the California coast. They continue to discover each other. Anthony begins to realize how completely selfish Gloria is. Gloria realizes that Anthony has many inner fears. Gloria refuses to do any work, even sending out the laundry. Anthony ends up completing the task to avoid a scene.

Gloria and General Lee 

Anthony and Gloria tour General Lee’s mansion outside Washington. Gloria feels outraged at the crowd of tourists. She angrily asserts that beautiful things should not be spoiled.

Sentiment 

On the last morning of their honeymoon, Gloria cries when they leave their room because everything always has to keep changing.

The Gray House 

Gloria and Anthony feel stifled living in Anthony’s apartment, so Maury and Richard encourage them to look for a country house. They buy a car, which Gloria insists on driving. One day, Gloria has an accident. While they wait for repairs, a real estate agent shows them an old gray house. Anthony and Gloria rent the house and begin their country life.

The Soul of Gloria 

In the country, Gloria and Anthony still argue constantly. However, they also achieve happiness. Gloria shares more stories about past romances. She expects Anthony to wait on her, and he’s glad to do so. They speculate about their future children.

The End of a Chapter 

Anthony and Gloria go to events at the local country club, but the wives there become jealous of Gloria’s attentions to their husbands. Muriel Kane and Richard Caramel come out for visits. In November, Gloria and Anthony move back to Anthony’s city apartment. In mid-December, Mrs. Gilbert dies, and Anthony takes Gloria to Kansas City for her mother’s funeral.

Analysis: BOOK TWO, Chapter I

The Book structure in The Beautiful and Damned carries thematic significance. Book I covers the introductions of Anthony and Gloria and their budding romance and explores their obsession with beauty and extreme leisure. Book II moves the plot into their engagement and early marriage and explores the rising climax of the novel. It also illustrates the fissures that arise from living without regard for consequences or other people. Book III will center on the couple’s decline as World War I affects their lives and the two experience a financial comeuppance of sorts. In this way, each Book is more pessimistic than the last. The structure of the book parallels the rise and fall of the Jazz Age in which it is set, and some critics see it as an attack on high society. However, critics have also wondered if Fitzgerald more cynically adhered to the outlooks of Anthony and Gloria.

This chapter further examines Anthony’s wasteful use of his wealth in opposition to Adam Patch’s values. Anthony’s visit to Adam Patch in Tarrytown reveals his minor excitement over the idea that Patch will one day die. In incorrectly recalling the details of Anthony’s father’s marriage, Patch reveals that he may be losing his faculties. The slip signals to Anthony that Adam is in decline, and Anthony can’t help but feel both excited and sorry for the old man. Anthony has been patiently waiting for Adam Patch to finish out his days so that he may inherit both the estate and the millions he has built up over his lifetime. Anthony’s elation is ironic, though. He celebrates his grandfather’s mortality, but he fails to recognize his own. Anthony is running out of money as he ages. Once again, the two characters serve as direct foils who demonstrate the wasteful nature of wealth. 

Fitzgerald explores societal roles again as Anthony and Gloria finally assume their roles of husband and wife. Through the marriage, Fitzgerald reveals that Anthony and Gloria’s relationship is imperfect. The cracks begin to show after their wedding. On their wedding trip, formally adopting their roles, the couple begins to see each other’s more annoying traits. For example, the couple’s conflict over the laundry piling up in the closet causes the first rift, and rather than coming up with a rational solution to the problem, Anthony takes the task upon himself to avoid further conflict. Another notable crack is Anthony’s reluctance to allow a reckless Gloria behind the wheel once they buy a car. He is nothing short of terrified by her driving skills but trying to take the wheel from Gloria only further divides them. The couple views their inevitable car crash as lucky happenstance, but in reality, it only foreshadows the wreckage that their relationship will become in the coming years.

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