" I want to love first and live incidentally." Zelda Fitzgerald

I am thinking of researching Zelda Fitzgerald for our paper. I read her biography a few years ago, and thought her life was very interestin.g. She was the wife of F. Scott Fitzgerald; their life is described as "beautiful and damned." (There is a musical about them called "The Beautiful and Damned.") She met F. Scott Fitzgerald in 1918, but refused to marry him until he became successful. She was officially engaged to him one week after the release of his first novel, This Side of Paradise. She was by all means a modern woman- she was a postergirl for the flappers, and wrote about her lifestyle in women's magazines. Her life with F. Scott resembled Paris Hilton's- they partied continously, and were both heavy drinkers. Friends of theirs included: Picasso, Ernest Hemingway, and Cole Porter.

Although Zelda never wrote an autobiography, she wrote a novel, 11 short stories, and 12 articles. Her novel is entitled "Save me the Waltz." The novel is based on a relationship Zelda had with a French aviator named Edouard Jozan while F.Scott and her were in France. Although it is unclear if they had an affair, F. Scott was quite upset by the relationship. He also wrote about their relationship in The Great Gatsby and Tender is the Night, which both have strong themes of betrayal. I think it would be interesting to compare how F. Scott portrayed her in his work (Daisy from The Great Gatsby is loosely based on Zelda) to how Zelda portrays herself in her own work. Furthermore, Zelda was a painter, so it may be interesting to examine her art to reveal more about her self expression.

When Zelda was 28, she decided she wanted to become a professional ballerina. She danced 10 hours a day, 7 days a week. She eventually danced herself to exhaustion, and was admitted into a mental health clinic in 1930. She spent the rest of her life in and out of mental hospitals, and was diagnosed with schizophrenia. F. Scott wrote about her breakdown and his descent into alcoholism in Tender is the Night. The last time F. Scott saw Zelda, he took her on a trip outside the hospital, and proceeded to get drunk and start a bar fight. F. Scott died in 1940 of a heart attack, and Zelda died 7 years later, when a fire broke out on the floor of the hospital she was staying in.

I think Zelda is a fascinating woman- she was independent, modern, and ruthless. She never equaled the artistic success of F. Scott, but was an artist in her own right.

*Information taken from zeldafitzgerald. com, and what I remember from reading her biography.