Final answer:
In the novel 'The Great Gatsby,' examples of social entertaining are seen in Jay Gatsby's lavish parties that define the decadence of the 1920s 'Roaring Twenties' or 'Jazz Age.' These parties serve as a social critique and highlight themes like the pursuit of pleasure and the hollowness of the upper class, paralleling real historical events from the American Gilded Age.
Step-by-step explanation:
In F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel The Great Gatsby, social entertaining is exemplified primarily through the opulent and extravagant parties thrown by the novel's titular character, Jay Gatsby. These parties, held at Gatsby's grand mansion in West Egg, were the epitome of 1920s luxury and excess, featuring live music, dancing, lavish decor, and an abundance of food and drink. They attracted the era's wealthy elite, as well as the curious, serving not only as entertainment but also as a means for Gatsby to try to reconnect with his past love, Daisy Buchanan.
Fitzgerald vividly captures the decadence and carefree spirit of the "Roaring Twenties", also known as the "Jazz Age", through Gatsby's extravagant soirees which represented the wealth and social stratification of the time. Characters mingle without regard for the moral or societal consequences, a reflection of the era's profligate lifestyle and Fitzgerald's critique of the American dream. Such entertaining not only conveys the characters' lifestyles but also underscores the underlying themes of the novel, including the pursuit of pleasure, the hollowness of the upper class, and the illusion of the American dream.
Moreover, these types of social entertaining events are not unique to the fictional world of Gatsby, but were also a common reality during the American Gilded Age, where the wealthy indulged in extraordinary luxuries, as seen in historical accounts of lavish dinner parties for pets adorned with expensive jewelry.