At a country club dance in 1919, Zelda and F. Scott Fitzgerald met; much like two large asteroids crashing into one another. When Zelda met young Lieutenant Scott Fitzgerald, an Irish-descended Yankee from Princeton University, her parents found him unsuitable and advised her not to get involved. Both fiery and hungry for life, they socialized at the dance and went their separate ways- but not without leaving a mark on the other. F. Scott was utterly captivated by her tenacity and flirtatiousness. Some recall his remarks on meeting Zelda: “I love her, and that’s the beginning and end of everything.”
However, F. Scott was low on Zelda’s list due to her high debutante status. So when he proposed marriage to her the first time, she declined. However, her interest in F. Scott as a suitor peaked as his debut book, This Side of Paradise, was picked up by a publisher. She quickly changed her answer to his proposal and they married in 1920. But their marriage would soon become known as a passionate and toxic one. The newlyweds were caught up in the glamour of the age, wallowing in the euphoric principles of the era and created a rocky foundation for their young love.
Now, we know this era as the Jazz Age. Everything about traditional life and expectations was shifting; women kissed men they did not intend to marry, wild music filled nights, revealing dresses and women with cropped hair cuts. These scandalous new trends filled this time – and were led by Zelda and F. Scott.
Less than a year after their vows, Zelda discovered she was pregnant with their first child. On October 26, 1921, the couple welcomed Frances “Scottie” Fitzgerald to their family. Shortly after, they moved to Long Island, New York, amidst their Jazz Age ideals. The move proved to be the first hit on their financial struggle; their extravagant spending and parties hurdled them into financial ruin. The family moved to France in 1924 where F. Scott composed his most famous novel, The Great Gatsby. During this time in France, Zelda discovered one of her true passions: painting. With a great American novel and painting in toe, the family briefly returned to America.
After living in Wilmington, Delaware, for a short time, Zelda yearned for a change of pace. In 1927, she added ballet to her ever-growing talents when the family travelled back to Paris. Zelda was soon invited to dance with the Royal Ballet of Italy in 1928- an offer she declined in lieu of writing short stories. But her love for keeping things fresh and new would suddenly take a turn as her mental state quickly declined.
Some may know that Zelda served as muse to F. Scott for many of his novels, including This Side of Paradise, The Beautiful and the Damned, The Great Gatsby and Tender is the Night. A bone of contention about using Zelda as such a prominent muse was that F. Scott would go as far to steal excerpt’s from her diary in his novels.
While Zelda was known for her socialite ways, her literary works reveal a much deeper character. Her first published work, Save Me the Waltz, was a semi-autobiographical novel with thinly veiled characters living out the events of Zelda’s own life. Despite its relative success, F. Scott criticized this work as being “unoriginal” and frequently brushed her literary success aside. F. Scott was known for accusing Zelda of plagiarising his work to add to her own, however, she reciprocated this accusation by saying he stole from her work. These accusations began to build resentment and dysfunction in their rocky marriage. A marriage fraught with alcoholism, violence and mental health concerns.
It can be said that the Fitzgerald marriage almost perfectly mirrored the age they lived in. In the early 1920s, the couple and economy thrived and lived in an artificial glow. But just like the stock market crash of 1929, their extravagant lifestyle crumpled beneath them and they were once again left in financial ruin.
In addition to the financial strain, Zelda was diagnosed with schizophrenia in 1930. This diagnosis is now hotly debated among psychiatrists; many believe this was a misdiagnosis. Her symptoms were characteristic with that of a bipolar disorder diagnosis. She suffered from periods of manic depression and also experienced moments of extreme energy and happiness. Whatever mental illness Zelda suffered from, she and F. Scott decided to treat her maladies with a popular mental remedy of the age: mental institutions.