Mention the Jazz Age writers and the mind will likely land right away on The Great Gatsby.
The novel, written by F Scott Fitzgerald has a lasting appeal and many readers are fascinated by the beautifully written Daisy Buchanan.
There are some who say that the poignancy in the writing of Daisy is linked to the complex and tragic relationship between Scott and his long time wife, Zelda Fitzgerald. Born on 24th July 1900, Zelda was referred to by her husband as ‘America’s first flapper.’ She was known for her fashion savvy and independent writing. She was also an acclaimed painter and trained as a ballet dancer.
She wrote the novel ‘Save Me the Waltz’ and was a columnist for fashion magazines. Zelda was a prolific socialite, forming friendships with people like Hemmingway and even visiting the Churchills, but the legacy she has left has perhaps largely related to the insight she has given us in to mental health.
Zelda is probably best known for the complex and tragic marriage she shared with F Scott Fitzgerald. Much has been written about the impact of this marriage on Scott Fitzgerald’s writing. Parallels have been drawn between Zelda and the iconic Daisy Buchanan character, with her enigmatic beauty and her fragility, which may have been influenced by Zelda’s enduring struggles with her mental health.
She was diagnosed with schizophrenia in the Jazz Age, a time when understanding and treatment of mental health was limited. What it did mean was spending long periods of time in mental health institutions. Zelda wrote “Save Me the Waltz” whilst being treated at the John Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore.
Whilst this all happened during an era wherein people were naturally reluctant to share their experiences of mental health in public forums, the Fitzgerald estate have published an extensive selection of the letters which passed between Scott and Zelda during their long and complex relationship:
In this compelling collection the reader can see the deep sadness and frustration that Zelda experienced as a writer with mental health problems. She documents how she felt that Scott appropriated her writings in his novels and how she mourned for all that she lost as a consequence of being unwell. She felt that her career as a dancer and a writer had been compromised by her illness and she reflects on the long periods of separation from Scott as his career flourished.
The letters also show the reader something of the tragedy and complexity of life as an artist from Scott’s point of view as well, as he struggles with the depth of Zelda’s suffering and with an obvious concern for her wellbeing. It is reported that from the mid 1930’s, when Zelda was in her prime, she lived in various states of mental distress to the point that Scott placed her in a hospital in Carolina.
Despite the fact that Scott’s novels are recognised as some of the finest writing in the English language, he died believing himself to have been a failure, having taken a job writing for film studios.
F Scott Fitzgerald appears to have also suffered with some form of depression and it is believed that his early death aged just 44 was a result of alcohol abuse. Reading the letters sent to Zelda provided some insight into the pressures he faced as a socialite who was financially challenged as a result of the realities of being a writer.
Whether it is an act of appropriation or not, there is a symbiosis of some kind between Zelda’s letters and Scott’s writing. This relationship has left a lasting legacy on the world and has been dramatised by artists like Tennessee Williams.
Looking at the famous closing lines of The Great Gatsby and comparing them with Zelda’s writing, it is possible to see a connection between the pair. Even if this is just the result of the impact Zelda made on her husband, rather than direct appropriation, although she certainly felt the latter, the lasting sense of intimacy and depth of their painful relationship is evoked in the following:
Scott: So we beat on….
Scott: So we beat on …
Zelda: Forget the past….
Scott: Boats against the current….
Zelda: Turn about and sail back home to me….
Scott: Drawn back….
Zelda:..to your haven forever and ever…
Scott: Ceaselessly…
Zelda: ..It may seem dark at times, and lit by torches of fury; but it is the best place for you…
Scott: Into the past.
Zelda:… turn gently in the waters through which you move, and sail back.
FAQs
Zelda wrote that the ideal flapper had a talent for “dramatizing herself” — and throughout those early years she spent with Scott as the golden couple of New York City and Paris, Zelda constructed an almost mythical persona that was more of a character than a person: a blank page upon which the world could project all ...
Who was Zelda the first flapper? ›
Zelda Fitzgerald was born Zelda Sayre on July 24, 1900, in Montgomery, Alabama. She was known for her beauty and personality and made a name for herself as a socialite, novelist, and painter, and the 'first American flapper' – far more than merely the wife of writer F. Scott Fitzgerald.
Who did F. Scott Fitzgerald call the first American flapper? ›
Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald was born on July 24, 1900 in Montgomery, Alabama. She married F. Scott Fitzgerald in April, 1920, and when he called her, The First American Flapper, it stuck.
Why did Zelda refuse to marry Fitzgerald? ›
Scribners rejected his novel for a second time, and so Fitzgerald turned to advertising as a steady source of income. Unfortunately, his paltry salary was not enough to convince Zelda to marry him, and tired of waiting for him to make his fortune, she broke their engagement in 1919.
What is the poem the flapper about? ›
The Flapper, a satirical poem, was written by Dorothy Parker in 1922. It is a humorous look at Flappers and the rapidly evolving culture of the 1920s. The poem is written by Dorothy Parker almost as if she is observing a new type of object or animal in the zoo.
What is the significance of the flapper? ›
The flapper was an extreme manifestation of changes in the lifestyles of American women made visible through dress. Changes in fashion were interpreted as signs of deeper changes in the American feminine ideal. The short skirt and bobbed hair were likely to be used as a symbol of emancipation.
Did Zelda and Scott divorce? ›
They never divorced. Following Zelda's affair in 1924, Zelda asked F. Scott for a divorce, but he locked her in the house until she dropped the request. When she finally dropped her request in early 1925, the couple left the French Riviera and her lover for Paris, France.
Did Scott Fitzgerald love Zelda? ›
“Scott and Zelda stayed in love until the day they died,” Eleanor Lanahan, their granddaughter, writes in a moving introduction to their exceptional letters. “Perhaps it became an impossible and impractical love . . . but it was a bond that united them forever.”
What caused Zelda Fitzgerald's death? ›
In March 1948, while sedated and locked in a room on the fifth floor of Highland Hospital in Asheville, North Carolina, she died in a fire. Her body was identified by her dental records and one of her slippers.
What is the name of the girl who Fitzgerald fell in love with and why wouldn't she marry him at first? ›
Fitzgerald's wife, Zelda Sayre, made the list, of course, and so did Ginevra King, the celebrated Chicago debutante who was Fitzgerald's first love and Zelda's only real rival as a major influence on his writing.
Visiting all of the Geoglyphs to view the memories will also unlock one final memory, making clear exactly what happened to Zelda: the Secret Stone she found at the start of the story sent her back in time to the founding of Hyrule, stranding her there with no way back.
How long was F. Scott Fitzgerald married to Zelda? ›
Answer and Explanation: Technically speaking, the Fitzgerald marriage lasted a little over twenty years. While stationed in Alabama, F.
What did F. Scott Fitzgerald say about flappers? ›
I would not be interested in any other woman.” He went on to say that he liked the young flapper woman of 1920, “…a flirting, kissing … sort of mental baby vamp.” Fitzgerald thought a woman to be in her prime at the age of nineteen.
What is a flapper best described as? ›
Flappers of the 1920s were young women known for their energetic freedom, embracing a lifestyle viewed by many at the time as outrageous, immoral or downright dangerous. Now considered the first generation of independent American women, flappers pushed barriers to economic, political and sexual freedom for women.
What is the description of a flapper girl? ›
flapper, young woman known for wearing short dresses and bobbed hair and for embracing freedom from traditional societal constraints. Flappers are predominantly associated with the late 1910s and the '20s in the United States.
How would you describe the flapper image? ›
Thinking about women in America in the early 20s, we tend to immediately identify them with the iconic character of the flapper. Flapper brings up the image of slender women in short, straight dresses, long beaded necklaces, and bobbed hair, drinking gin and dancing the Charleston 20s.
