by Augustine Bauer

Created on: December 17, 2009   Last Updated: January 15, 2010

F. Scott Fitzgerald, born in Minnesota in 1896 and educated at Princeton, became a renowned writer and a renowned drunk. During his years at Princeton, Fitzgerald wrote musicals for the Princeton Triangle Club. His love for the theatre extended past his college years. However, after that period he wrote primarily novels and short stories. His first full-length book, This Side of Paradise, was published in 1920 after three revisions. Set at Princeton University, this book, like his later works, examines the culture of the 1920s and the theme of bungled love. His second novel, The Beautiful and the Damned, was published in 1922. The Great Gatsby and its follow up novel, All the Sad Young Men, were published consecutively in 1925 and 1926.

 Always a poor student, Fitzgerald left Princeton to join the army in 1917. It was during this period, while stationed in Alabama, that Fitzgerald met and became engaged to Zelda Sayre. Fitzgerald was discharged from the army in 1919, but Zelda broke off the engagement after becoming convinced that he could not adequately support her. After spending a summer in drunken disappointment, Fitzgerald moved back in with his parents and began work on This Side of Paradise. The book was an instant success when it hit the market in 1920. Fitzgerald’s new popularity and riches led Zelda to reconsider and the two were married in April 1920.

 The two Fitzgeralds lived the life of the ‘Roaring 20s’ to the fullest. Zelda embraced the Flapper fashion and alcohol flowed freely at their many parties despite Prohibition laws. They often lived beyond their means, and Fitzgerald was forced to write short stories for magazines to supplement his income. It is thought that Fitzgerald drew greatly on their lifestyle in his books and short stories, borrowing the personality of his wife for many of his female characters. Zelda even accused him of stealing and quoting her diaries.

 However, the couples life was not all ‘fun’. Fitzgerald was jealous of Zelda’s flirtations with other men and turned increasingly to alcohol. Meanwhile, Zelda struggled with depression and mental illness. Hemingway called Zelda insane and claimed that she encouraged Fitzgerald to abuse alcohol in order to keep him from finishing his books. However, this is only one of many claims made by Hemingway after the two once-friends had a series of bitter arguments in 1937.

 Zelda finally succumbed to mental illness in 1930. She was hospitalized after a nervous breakdown and never lived with Fitzgerald again, although he spent large sums of money to keep her in the best institutions. Fitzgerald himself was hospitalized from time to time for alcoholism. He was finally killed by a heart attack in 1940. Zelda lived for another eight years, spending some time in residence at her mother’s house in Alabama. She was killed by a fire at Highlands Hospital, North Carolina in 1948. The two rest side by side at a cemetery in Maryland.

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