Fitzgerald, a literary genius, a drunkard, and a misogynist, drove the free spirited and boisterous Zelda Fitzgerald to insanity. His controlling nature, placing Zelda beneath him, treating her as a possession rather than his love partner, and his addiction to extravagant parties, lavish luxury, and alcohol, contributed to Zelda falling of the edge. The great Scott Fitzgerald, a master manipulator, manipulated Zelda to his benefit, dragging her across the continent to Europe and back, chasing the story and the inspiration.
To Zelda, Scott was a monster, a despicable creature, a liar, a cheat, a philandering drunk, and most of all, he betrayed her trust. He also never acknowledged her acumen and talent as a writer, dancer, and artist, instead,
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he followed the misogynistic thought of the era, that a women should remain focused in domestic matters, not have a career.
To Scott, these activities were hobbies; Zelda was an amateur and could never make a career out her passions. He followed through on his sentiments by forcing Zelda to publish her stories under his name, with her in the byline, since he had the fame and recognition. In addition, the one opportunity where Zelda could flourish as a writer, when she wrote Save a Waltz in the mental hospital, was crushed by Scott. Time and time again, Zelda was considered beneath him and was treated as an inferior, an amateur rather than a professional (he destroyed her chances of becoming an artist). Even in Scott Fitzgerald’s literary works, where Zelda acted as a co-author, editing, contributing quotations for female characters from her letters and material from her diaries, and discussing themes of the novel, she never received acknowledgement of her contribution. Zelda was his partner in life and in literature, and yet was treated like chattel property. Not only did she submit to Scott's counsel and approval when publishing, but was not allowed to make decisions for herself like when she was offered the …show more content…
opportunity to dance for ballet company in Napoli. Zelda, essentially, became a princess locked in a tower, as the key to the old life, the free thinking, independent, and free spirited flapper girl, was thrown away. She was trapped in a loveless marriage and she lacked the ability to divorce him because she would lose custody of Scotty and had no claim to any of his fortunes. Thus, Zelda wanted to rid herself of Scott Fitzgerald and return to Montgomery, her hometown, yet ironically, Zelda needed Scott, she was nothing without him. Scott Fitzgerald’s continued disregard for Zelda’s desires and well-being led to Zelda’s downfall, her affair, her isolation, and her mental breakdown.
Scott kept on her on a short leash like Hemingway had with Hadley, allowing him to live his life in search of party and alcohol, spend frivolously, and still concentrate on his writing. His wife, neglected and chained to the domestic life, was no burden on his conscience. When she fell ill, he put her in a series of mental hospitals and abandoned her, having the most productive years of his writing career, publishing the most stories and earning many royalties. Scott Fitzgerald became an icon, a literary figure of the generation, by appealing to the innermost desires of each flapper girl and man of the era. He wrote about the frivolity of life, love, social structures, and the American Dream, giving insight and his perspective the fragility of relationships, the socioeconomic ladder, and chasing the elusive American Dream. Scott illustrated America through his eyes and placed his stories in the hands of many Americans, inspiring them to not conform, live life to the fullest, and chase an ideal, an intangible future. However, the master of prose, Scott Fitzgerald, could have not achieved his legendary success as a novelist without his right-hand woman, Zelda, his muse, guide, and source of
inspiration. The idea of the flapper girl was conceived from the personality of Zelda, the quintessential southern belle, who took on the New York lifestyle and became the life of the party. Her free spirited behavior splashed in the tabloids, whether she went swimming in a fountain, stripped herself bare, or drank past her limit. Her free spirited and bold personality combined with Scott’s sexual prowess and infatuation created the couple of the era, the novelist and the novelty, the icons of the 1920s. For a few years, they were high on the joy of the honeymoon, but soon, Zelda was miserable and lonely, crying herself to sleep, while Scott would rush into the night who knows where with whomever, drinking till the brink of dawn, arriving home, drunk out of his mind. His drinking and social habits affected the dynamics between Scott and Zelda, as Scott entered a cycle, drinking himself to sorrow every time a story failed to publish, when sales were not what he expected, or when he couldn’t find the inspiration to write. His failures turned into psychological, emotional, and verbal abuse towards Zelda, launching insults like a killjoy, a bore, worthless, crazy, and unfit to be a mother. He destroys Zelda self-esteem and then builds it back it up with his manipulation, pleading his love to Zelda. The abusive cycle fosters Zelda’s dependence on Scott and contributes to her falling ill because Scott abandons her every night to drink and she worries to death. Thus, Scott manages to both maintain control over Zelda, forcing her to remain a domestic wife, shutting down any opportunity for her to succeed as an artist (painting, writing, ballet), and selecting her treatment, crushing Zelda’s soul and entrapping his muse, the angel by his side guiding him on the path to literary greatness. Scott Fitzgerald, quite frankly, the greatest writer of his generation, manages to pull off the unimaginable, drawing inspiration from his wife, controlling her in every aspect, and still allowing her to fly free as his little flapper girl. She becomes a brainwashed figurehead, a possession for Scott to mount on his wall, condemned to a submissive relationship with an alcoholic and a misogynist. Zelda, an unlucky woman stuck between the social norm and her infatuated, insecure husband, becomes one of the greatest forgotten and underappreciated treasures of American history.
Fitzgerald may have based some of Daisy’s characteristics on his own wife. Although she was truly in love with Scott, she refused to commit herself to him because his economic prospects were not promising. Not only this, but Zelda Fitzgerald became infatuated with a young French pilot, which angered Scott and influenced the theme of infidelity in the Great
On Wednesday February 12 of 1890 F. Scott Fitzgerald's parents were married in Washington D.C. Six years later on September 24, 1896 Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald was born at his home 481 Laurel Ave. in St. Paul, Minnesota. His two infant older sisters had died from a violent influenza so that by the time Fitzgerald came along Mollie Fitzgerald had become the proverbial nightmare that known as an overprotective mother. Fitzgerald's mother was no traditional mother though, for she was known for her eccentricities. These eccentricities disturbed young Scott's life, "Fitzgerald later described his mother as 'half insane with pathological nervous worry'" (Bruccoli 15), but nothing worried anyone in the family so much as his father's failure to hold down a job. It was because his father lost his job as a wicker furniture manufacturer and salesman the family was forced to move from St. Paul to Buffalo in April of 1898, where his father began work for Proctor and Gamble. In January of 1901 the family moved from Buffalo to Syracuse where Edward had been transferred by his employer and where, on Sunday July 21, 1901 Scott's younger sister Annabel was born. Just two years later the family was back in Buffalo and just five years after that the family had returned to St. Paul and Grandma McQuillan's money.
On the last page of The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the second to last sentence is left unfinished ending in “And one fine morning --” (180) after alluding to themes used in the beginning of the book. This ending shows three primary characteristics of Gatsby that will eventually lead to his downfall. The first characteristic that Jay, the narrator, mentions is the platonic conception that Gatsby has of himself and, especially, Daisy. Next Jay brings up Gatsby’s longing for Daisy and Gatsby’s need to constantly surround himself with others to combat his loneliness. Finally, Jay mentions Gatsby’s blinding hope for his future adding on to Gatsby’s platonic conception of the world. It is these unfortunate characteristics that lead to Gatsby’s idyllic view of the world. Due to his platonic conception of the world, Gatsby becomes blinded from reason and responsibility to fix his persistent loneliness by taking risks and creating enemies that eventually
F. Scott Fitzgerald and Zelda had only one child, a daughter named Scottie in 1921. Not much is known about Scottie and her relationship with her parents, besides that she traveled with them frequently. This is similar to Daisy’s emotional distance with her daughter. In The Great Gatsby Daisy talks about her experience after giving birth to her
Zelda Fitzgerald, wife of famous author F. Scott Fitzgerald, lived an extravagant life. Her life may not have been well known in the same way that her husbands was, but many people still knew of her nonetheless. Fitzgerald was born on July 24, 1900 in Montgomery, Alabama. Her family was rather well known throughout the government. Fitzgerald’s father, Anthony Dickinson Sayre, served on the Supreme Court of Alabama. Zelda’s great-uncle and grandfather served in the United States Senate. Her mother was Minnie Buckner Machen Sayre. Fitzgerald was the youngest among her five siblings. During her adolescence, she was a dancer. She also challenged the normal things a teenage girl her age would do by drinking, smoking, and socializing with boys. She
The Great Gatsby The Great Gatsby unravels in death and destruction due to one man’s need, for one girl. His admiration and ambition for this girl shows how the American dream can lead to so much havoc. Even though Gatsby has everything he wants, he still has a want for that girl. Fitzgerald does a wonderful job of expressing that through Gatsby and showing how a pursuit of that dream can lead to so much death and destruction. Fitzgerald shows how that American dream demands more than you have and causes harm to Gatsby and the people around him.
Fitzgerald, like Jay Gatsby, while enlisted in the army, fell in love with a girl who was enthralled by his newfound wealth. After he was discharged, he devoted himself to a lifestyle of parties and lies in an attempt to win the girl of his dreams back. Daisy, portrayed as Fitzgerald’s dream girl, did not wait for Jay Gatsby; she was consumed by the wealth the Roaring Twenties Era brought at the end of the war. In the novel, The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald presents the themes of wealth, love, memory/past, and lies/deceit through the characters Gatsby, Daisy, and Tom.
F. Scott Fitzgerald was born September 24th, 1896, in St. Paul, Minnesota. His first novel's achievement made him well-known and allowed him to marry Zelda, but he later derived into drinking while his wife had developed many mental problems. Right after the “failed” Tender is the Night, Fitzgerald moved to Hollywood to become a scriptwriter. He died at the age of 44 of a heart attack in 1940, his final novel only half way completed.
Fitzgerald's view of Zelda’s failings as a parent was bound up in his idea of what a woman's role should be. In the first chapter of The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald instills traits of Zelda in Daisy. Like Zelda, Daisy is portrayed as having little interest in the upbringing of her children. When Nick first asks about her daughter, Daisy answers with an unrelated observation on her relationship with Nick. In her tangent, Daisy says, “I’ve had a terrible time, Nick, and I’m pretty cynical about everything” (16). Unsure how to reply, Nick mentions her daughter again, saying, “I suppose she talks, and—eats, and everything” (16). Daisy then asks Nick if he would like to hear her initial reaction to her daughter’s birth, which, it becomes clear, is
In October, 1931 Hemingway and Fitzgerald met but scholars are unclear as to the circumstances surrounding this meeting. Around this time however, the two authors began using Maxwell Perkins, their editor, as a courier for their messages to one another. This seems to show that Hemingway's and Fitzgerald's friendship was drifting apart. Perkins must have sensed this because he began to include news about each of them in his letters to them. It's thought that perhaps the lack of correspondence between Hemingway and Fitzgerald during this period fell more on the shoulders of Fitzgerald who was beginning to feel guilty about his writing and lack of success. In 1932, Zelda Fitzgerald suffered a relapse of her mental condition and had to be hospitalized again. During her hospitalization she wrote Save Me the Waltz which would be published by Scribner's in October, 1932. Fitzgerald became uneasy after learning that his wife's book would be published within months of Hemingway's Death in the Afternoon. Fitzgerald worried that Hemingway would resent the fact that Death in the Afternoon would be competing with Zelda's book.
Dubbed the ‘roaring 20s’, because of the massive rise in America’s economy, this social and historical context is widely remembered for its impressive parties and sensationalist attitude. However, Fitzgerald also conveys a more sinister side to this culture through numerous affairs, poverty and a rampage of organised crime. By exposing this moral downfall, Fitzgerald reveals to the responder his value of the American dream and his belief of its decline. As a writer, Fitzgerald was always very much concerned with the present times, consequently, his writing style and plot reflects his own experiences of this era. So similar were the lives of Fitzgerald’s characters to his own that he once commented, “sometimes I don't know whether Zelda (his wife) and I are real or whether we are characters in one of my novels”. In 1924, Fitzgerald was affected by Zelda’s brief affair with a young French pilot, provoking him to lock her in their house. A construction of this experience can be seen in the way Fitzgerald depicts the 1290s context. For example in ‘The Great Gatsby’, there are numerous affairs and at one point, Mr Wilson locks up his wife to pre...
There are significant people in Amory’s life that have impacted his actions, and there are influential people in Fitzgerald’s life that have impacted his life. Fitzgerald’s desire to be with Zelda Sayer is significant in his writing, so it makes sense that the character that represents Zelda, Rosalind, has control over Amory’s character. Fitzgerald’s desire to live the American dream is illustrated through Amory, and it is this social pursuit that molds Amory’s character at the beginning of the novel. Amory and Fitzgerald are products of their social environment and they change with the different social environments at times in their life.... ...
Between 1935 and 1936, F. Scott Fitzgerald suffered a mental breakdown, which would be referred to as the “Crack-Up.” Many things precipitated this meltdown including tuberculosis, alcoholism, Zelda’s deteriorating condition, and “his [troubled] sense of himself as a man” (Donaldson 189). During this period, Fitzgerald had been advised by his doctors to take time off work for the sake of his health. Heeding their advice, he decided to relocate to western North Carolina, most notably, Hendersonville, for some fresh mountain air.
F. Scott Fitzgerald is a well known and an amazing American short story writer. Fitzgerald is notorious for writing about the American Dream and all the conditions that must be met, along with all the obstacles the main character must face, before reaching their end goal. Not only does Fitzgerald follow an important theme and concept that is held dear to most American hearts, but he also writes in such a simplistic and sophisticated style. He is known for using symbolism, era appropriate diction, and has used characterization to create controversial realistic characters. Along with using many different literary devices to keep his stories interesting and to convey his messages in a mysterious way, he includes jaw dropping subjects such as sexuality,
Scott Fitzgerald Biography"). Scott dropped out of school and was put on academic probation, in 1917. During World War 1, he was terrified he might die and not get to fulfill his dreams of writing. Scott wrote the novel “The Romantic Egotist” in a very short amount of time but, Charles Scribner’s Son’s rejected it. Scott Fitzgerald was assigned to Camp Sheridan in Montgomery, Alabama, as a second lieutenant. There he met Zelda Sayre, a beautiful 18 year old girl.