Zelda Sayre was born on July 24, 1900, in Montgomery, Alabama. She was the very youngest of six children. She was the original “it girl.” Her family was wealthy, like very wealthy. She would frequently rebel and send her strict parents into a frenzy when yet another rumor would circulate about her. She would wear nude swimwear so that people would think she was swimming naked. Zelda’s father was an Alabama politician, and she was surrounded by the culture of the Deep South. Her family were prominent and influential Southern figures. I would like to note that her prejudiced attitude and her family’s involvement in laying the foundation for the Jim Crow era in the American South is inexcusable and not something to be idolized. I am simply giving a full picture of the woman she was and how she became that way.
She loved the attention. So when she meets a heartbroken F. Scott Fitzgerald at the Montgomery Country Club she is pleased with his constant visits and when he writes characters that resemble her. He would talk about how he would soon be a famous novelist, but she dismissed him. She was a writer, and soon she would be the very reason he reached that dream. He would begin quoting her letters in his work almost right away. Scott used a quote from Zelda’s letters for a monologue by the narrator at the end of This Side of Paradise. The letter that he quoted was written about the Civil War. “I’ve spent today in the graveyard… Isn’t it funny how, out of a row of Confederate soldiers, two or three will make you think of dead lovers and dead loves—when they’re exactly like the others, even to the yellowish moss.” When he used that in his work as his own, he only changed one word, Confederate to Union.Â
“She refused to be bored chiefly because she wasn’t boring.”
Zelda Fitzgerald
These two were toxic. Think of a couple that argues and fights one minute, then swooning in love the next. That was Zelda and Scott. He once wrote, “I love her and that’s the beginning and end of everything. You’re still a Catholic, but Zelda’s the only God I have left now.” Like wow… obsessed much? She would constantly talk poorly about him at parties and make fun of him to her friends but they stayed together nonetheless. They got married when she was only 19 and Scott would encourage her wild behavior. She was his muse, of course, and he needed material. She would flirt, gossip, and party. So much so that his scholarly friends began commenting on it. Ernest Hemingway was like her biggest hater. Who knew there was so much drama with all the old white male authors? They both had multiple affairs and spent time estranged but never divorced.Â
He did everything he could to make her seem untalented, domesticated, and not in control of her own life. This is not true. She would keep detailed journals. He would take her journals, read them, and then use them as his writing. After they moved to New York for Fitzgerald to publish The Beautiful and Damned he asked her to write a review of the book. Instead, she wrote this, “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.” You go, girl! But get this, not only would he take her physical writing but he would take the words directly out of her mouth. Just after giving birth to their daughter Frances Scott “Scottie” Fitzgerald, she said, “I hope she’s beautiful and silly, a beautiful little fool.” That should sound familiar to you, but if it doesn’t, let me jog your memory. This is a very famous line from The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald’s most famous novel. She frequently said that he would not have the career he had without her. She was the inspiration for his characters, he would take her words and use them as his own, all while constantly trying to belittle and control her. He once locked her in their house until she agreed to never divorce him. It isn’t like she could even go through with a divorce without his permission anyway.Â
She was trying to make a name for herself by publishing her own writing and beginning a ballet career which she had become obsessed with after they moved to Paris. Fitzgerald, an alcoholic, would disapprove and become very resentful towards her. Their once glamorous party life would now become their downfall. Zelda’s mental health was declining and she would even attempt suicide and later be admitted to a psychiatric hospital in France, where she was diagnosed with schizophrenia. During this time, women going through mental health issues were deemed “insane” and oftentimes the husband would be in charge of making treatment decisions.Â
“Excuse me for being so intellectual. I know you would prefer something nice and feminine and affectionate.”
Zelda Fitzgerald
In 1932, while in the hospital, she wrote a semi-autobiographical novel titled Save Me the Waltz. This would be the only work she ever published during her lifetime. Her book is evidence alone that he stole work from her because it shares similar traits to Fitzgerald’s work. Traits that are missing in his last book Tender is The Night which he wrote without the “assistance” from Zelda. She was killed when a fire broke out in a room she was locked in while awaiting electroshock therapy. Her husband exploited her personality and life for his own gain. When publishers would reach out to Zelda, Fitzgerald would claim that her being published would infringe on his intellectual properties. That shows you how much he thought he controlled her and owned her. But she fought to make a name for herself. “The first flapper.” She is a huge part of his success and deserves recognition. Her story mirrors lots of women from this period, overshadowed by the men in their lives and reliant on them. He knew that if her voice was heard and she spoke about what she went through, his career would be ruined so he did everything he could to silence her, including, allegedly, burning some of her diaries. He wanted a strong, outgoing, powerful woman only when it benefited him. Isn’t that something? So from now on when we teach about him, it better be followed by the name Zelda Fitzgerald.