The First Flapper - Sex~Kitten.net

Zelda…her name itself is exotic enough to draw attention. She became the epitome of the ‘20’s flapper – free, independent, wild, reckless. Pictures of her and Scott playing the fountains of New York, fully clothed, graced gossip pages during the decade. She was the “rock star” of the decade who every young woman wanted to emulate.

I often wonder what would have happened to her if she had not met the young soldier F. Scott Fitzgerald in Alabama. Would her life have been so glamorous…and tragic?

Zelda was the wild child of Montgomery even before she met Scott. The last child born to the Sayres, who were in their forties, she was spoiled and pampered. Once she called the local police and reported a child on a roof…then she crawled onto the roof of her family home and waited for the police to arrive. Another time, before she could hardly reach the pedals of her father’s car, she took it for a spin around town. She was enrolled in first grade in 1906 and attended for one day: she didn’t like it. A year later she was enrolled again and this time stayed.

Voted the “prettiest and most attractive” girl in her class in 1918, Zelda nightly held court over a bevy of young military suitors who graced the family’s veranda. She was the southern flame around which they all gathered. Her antics were risqué for 1918. No gentleman caller knew what a night out with Zelda might bring. He could always be assured of surprise and mystery. She was known for moonlight swims in the local quarry where she was known to wear her flesh-colored bathing suit.

Had she remained in Montgomery, would she have settled into a respectable marriage and become one of the matrons holding court over weekly tea, had her stories published in local magazines and become a patron of the arts? But with her marriage to F. Scott Fitzgerald this daughter of an Alabama Supreme Court Justice rode a roller coaster life of incredible highs and depressive lows. The two of them both named and lived “The Jazz Age.”

When Scott sold his first book, Zelda finally agreed to marry him. The first years were a never-ending party. Scott was feted as the young, successful author. He even went so far as to light cigars with $5 notes and wore $500 notes in his breast pocket. Life was a series of parties and antics that made headlines in gossip columns. They were the “beautiful people” of the decade. And Zelda did all she could to live the image of the “flapper.” Living along the east coast and in Europe life declined quickly. Scott and Zelda seemed to feed off each other, daring each other to ever more outrageous and reckless feats. They dived from cliffs too high into the Mediterranean Sea and drove too fast along the winding roads of the Rivera and drank too much every night.

Scott was first drawn to Hollywood to write for the movies and he became enamored of a starlet. Zelda’s jealousy boiled over. During one of their parties she collected the jewelry of all who were there and threw it into a pot of boiling water…to make soup. She burned all the clothes she had designed for herself for the trip to the West Coast in a bath tub. It was at this time that Scott goaded her to “do something with yourself.”

Once the couple returned to the East, Zelda threw herself into doing something for herself. In 1927 she threw herself into ballet, determined to become a prima ballerina. For the next three years she flung herself into ballet practice, often practicing at her bar for 10 hours a day or more, stopping only to take water. It is also during this time that Zelda’s writing became more prolific. During the winter of 1928-9 Zelda wrote five stories that appeared in several magazines. But Scott’s name also appeared on them. His name alone would quadruple the price paid to them for the story.

Finances for the Fitzgerald’s was always precarious. Though Scott was making a good living, they were living an expensive life. In order to save on living expenses, they moved to France, where Scott met Hemingway. The dislike between Zelda and Hemingway was mutual. But at the beginning when Scott was helping the newer author, the men were close. They were close enough that Zelda even accused Scott of a homosexual attraction to Hemingway.

As the world entered its Depression, Zelda also entered her own. In April, 1930 she had her first breakdown. It is ironic that the years of Zelda’s tenuous hold on mental stability were also her most creative years. Her paintings are amazing. These are ones that I personally would like to have in my home. Many public showings of her art were given in New York, Baltimore, and Montgomery.

She kept up a steady stream of short stories that appeared in many popular magazines. She even wrote Save Me the Waltz, a rather engaging book that Scott insisted on editing. His publisher even wrote into the contract for her book that profits from the book would be held until Scott’s debts to the publisher in the way of advances were paid off.

From her first breakdown in 1930 until her death in 1948 Zelda was in and out of psychiatric hospitals. In reality, her marriage to Scott was over and the two of them rarely shared a roof from 1934 until his death in 1940. Zelda lived another eight years after his death. She and eight other women were trapped on the top floor of a mental hospital when fire broke out while she was waiting to receive shock therapy. The only way the most famous flapper was able to be identified was by the slipper she had been wearing that was found under her charred body.

Had Zelda not been the wife of the most successful and popular writer of the 1920’s she would have been an artist in her own right. She was talented. Her writing and paintings show it. But she was always in Scott’s shadow. Even though he goaded her to “make something of yourself” there was little growth that could take place in that shadow.

It is ironic that the woman who came to the party with a joy of living, became the idol of most young women of her age, should be so frustrated in her life and die so tragically alone.

If you are interested in reading more about Scott and Zelda, I strongly recommend Scott’s Tender is the Night. The novel explores their relationship during the years of decline. Scott, much to Zelda’s chagrin, even went so far as to piece together snippets of her letters to him during her first hospitalizations in Europe. And Zelda’s Save Me the Waltz is still available, as are collections of short stories containing the writings of both husband and wife.

Nancy Milford’s Zelda: A Biography is one of the most engaging biographies of this fascinating woman. Zelda is neither deified nor vilified in the book, which makes it one of my favorites.