Zelda
Fitzgerald
Nobody
has ever measured, not even poets, how much the heart can
hold.
~Zelda
Fitzgerald
Zelda
Fitzgerald would be 106 on July 24th had she continued to
live on. She would have continued to dance, paint and write
as she should have. That didn’t happen of course, instead
Zelda died at the age of 48 heartbroken and alone as the
man who promised to be hers for all eternity had died eight
years earlier and in the arms of another woman. Zelda deserved
better than to be left alone to die in a fire in a mental
institution. In the end though, many feel she got her favourite
cake on a silver platter and is eating it.
In
the 1920’s it was in bad taste for any woman to be
more successful than a man or in Zelda’s case her husband.
Even with the Flapper movement this was still frowned upon.
Many felt then as we do now that Zelda was more talented
that her husband could ever be. Not to put a damper on his
talents, he is probably one of the best writers of our times,
but Zelda’s star has always shone brighter. Not even
alcoholism or schizophrenia could dampen her many talents.
When you read the works of F. Scott Fitzgerald you will
often see her as his muse or as one of the books characters.
Known
for her fearless personality and love of life it was no
wonder that someone like F. Scott Fitzgerald was so drawn
to her. Zelda being a woman with high standards wasn’t
taken with the poor artist right away and it wasn’t
until he landed a firm job that she would marry him. Hard
drinking and wild fighting was a regular event in their
short lives together. I am sure her husband’s affairs
didn’t help matters but it was her infatuation with
a french pilot that caused the biggest riff, F. Scott locking
her in the house and telling her that her lover had committed
suicide. This was possibly one the things that eventually
drove her mad, that and being left alone for months at a
time while her husband wrote. Even with her crazed life
style and madness, Zelda was still successful in having
her writing published and one of her finest was ‘Save
Me the Waltz.’
Now,
in 2006 Zelda has become more popular than ever with a vast
array of web sites and monthly meet up groups that celebrate
her. Many other writers have come and gone but Zelda continues
to be part of our literary world. Her work has been republished
time and again and she even has a video game named after
her, it’s a little game called The Legend of Zelda,
I’m sure you have heard of it. We should all continue
to celebrate the amazing woman and keep her star shining.
I
am including below several web site links I found both interesting
and useful. Check them out and learn more about Zelda.
http://www.zeldafitzgerald.com/fitzgeralds/index.asp
http://www.poprocks.com/zelda.htm
http://www.pbs.org/kteh/amstorytellers/bios.html
http://womenshistory.about.com/cs/quotes/a/zelda_fitzg.htmhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zelda_Fitzgerald
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zelda_Fitzgerald
http://zfitzgerald.meetup.com/sitemap/
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