The tumultuous marriage of Zelda and F. Scott Fitzgerald

The tumultuous marriage of Zelda and F. Scott Fitzgerald and its influence on their personal works 'Tender is the night' and 'Save me the waltz'

The Fitzgeralds, upon surface level glance, were the epitome of jazz, luxury and the roaring twenties, flourishing within high society's prestigious elite and seemingly bathing in wealth. Much like Ernest Hemingway, the Fitzgeralds too were labelled by Gertrude Stein as "The lost generation" – a congregation of those lost due to new post-war society contradicting the values they still upheld. Dysfunction kept "the lost generation" afloat, hence the capitalisation of mundanity in the nuclear American life. Perhaps the Fitzgeralds aversion to conform is a reason for their downfall or perhaps it was the drastic contrast between them as individuals and the lives they both wanted to lead?

An intrusive personal insight to their marriage as a whole lies within their novels and works of literature, therefore enabling their marriage to become public domain awaiting consumption. 'Tender is the night' is a clear homage to their marriage and F. Scott Fitzgerald's perspective on such, much like 'Save me the waltz' revealing Zelda Fitzgerald's perspective. Zelda though, even after the publication of her first and final novel, remains to be known either only in relation to her husband, a twisted glamorisation of the jazz age or a pitiable figure because of her mental health. Despite the comparable topics they both explored, 'Save me the Waltz' was shunned by critics even gaining the nickname 'The asylum biography' marginalising her literary career because of her misunderstood reputation. Prejudice against Zelda continued throughout the entirety of her life, not only because of her gender but also mental state. Although her mental instability created unpredictability throughout her life (as she spent the last 30 years of her life in and out of mental hospitals), her book follows a coherent story of a liberated women desiring acknowledgement outside of her marriage to a man who greatly overshadows her and begins to bask in his own fame, and in doing so loses sight of his wife and her need to be wanted. In spite of the neglect she faced within her marriage, she does not illustrate her husband as antagonistic, rather she presents an honest but admiring interpretation of him as a writer and man. The female protagonist within this story is allowed agency and the ability to liberate herself through her own means which contrasts 'Tender is the night' in which liberation is only accessible to a woman through the downfall of her male counterpart and an upsetting decline in success. Despite the personal aspects in her novel, the initial draft has never been found as F. Scott Fitzgerald made her change the work and he edited the final draft – allowing him to change which parts he felt inappropriate, devastatingly demonstrating that she was, and always will be, eclipsed by him.

On the other hand, allegedly F. Scott Fitzgerald did not perceive his wife's literary career as an act of liberation, but rather an attempt to discredit the originality within his works. Without F. Scott's approval Zelda continued with publishing her novel, however this act of freedom and reclamation was short-lived when her husband branded her "a third-rate writer" and a "a useless society woman." There is much debate surrounding the root of resentment between them, however 'Tender is the night' encapsulates the disintegration of their marriage as a manifestation of Zelda's mental illness, seemingly blaming her for the commodification of his work despite perceiving her as his muse. F. Scott's novels intertwine with Zelda's mental instability as to pay for her medical bills he reverted to producing cash-grabbing stories to pay for her treatments. Throughout his novels it is arguable that there are elements of his marriage in all and the pressure the jazz age bore down upon him. F. Scott Fitzgerald follows the quote "Write what you know" excellently as he capitalises on his life experiences and memories, disregarding the human need for privacy. This eventually caused the destruction of his personal life, but also in turn his writing life as due to the constant streams of publications his work spiralled into excess resulting in its downfall to commodity. But, without a doubt, F. Scott Fitzgerald has revolutionised American literature with titles such as "The Great Gatsby", however his material can be perceived as tangible due to its unoriginality. In an interview with Zelda she states: "It seems to me that on one page I recognized a portion of an old diary of mine which mysteriously disappeared shortly after my marriage, and, also, scraps of letters which, though considerably edited, sound to me vaguely familiar. In fact, Mr. Fitzgerald (I believe that is how he spells his name) seems to believe that plagiarism begins at home." Ironically, F. Scott Fitzgerald resented his wife as he felt capitalised by her when, in fact, he did not only capitalise on her work but on her internal thoughts and feelings.

To conclude, the dysfunctional relationship they both endured eventually resulted in their downfall making the zenith of their love ultimately more tragic as manifested in brief moments of luxury and happiness, but also bankruptcy and uncertainty. F. Scott Fitzgerald died at 44 due to smoking and alcohol-related problems, while Zelda (who outlived him) died due to a fire in her mental hospital while prescribed tranquilisers meaning she could not wake up or leave. Although they both have devastating deaths, they were also suicidal throughout their lives. Zelda attempted to take her life after a man who she was leaving F. Scott for disappeared and F. Scott due to the accumulation of problems in his life and the perception of himself as a failure. His suicide attempt by overdosing on morphine also proved to be another reminder of his failures as he took too much too quickly and regurgitated it instantaneously. The tragedy of their marriage perhaps was their incompatibility due to the time period they lived in and the expectations that were upheld. F. Scott Fitzgerald idealised money as a saviour but believed capitalism to be evil, whereas Zelda wanted fame and a legacy because of her actions, not her husband. Neither one of them is entirely to blame, however it appears their marriage was always inevitably doomed. This is why their books are so vital in the understanding of their marriage so should be read through the lens of an autobiographical account, a contextual awareness of the time period and dynamic of them as a romantic pairing.

This piece was written by student writer, Poppy

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