The Beautiful and Damned is the story of socialites Anthony and Gloria Patch, heirs presumptive to a fortune and fixtures of 1920s New York Café Society. Anthony and Gloria's future is disrupted by Anthony's service in the army, her alcoholism, and the loss of their inheritance and subsequent legal suit to regain the wealth that they believe should be theirs. First published in 1922, The Beautiful and Damned was F. Scott Fitzgerald's second novel, and is widely believed to be based on his relationship and marriage to Zelda Sayre. The themes of the novel are heavily influenced by Fitzgerald's own opinions on the decadence and entitlement of the Jazz Age and the question of what someone does when he is required to do nothing.
