Did Zelda Fitzgerald make history as unbalanced or crazy? From the great writer F. Scott Fitzgerald, one of the first delicate people of the 1920s in the United States, these women led a real revolution by adopting new aesthetic styles and new lifestyles.
They left the corsets, cut their hair and shortened their skirts, smoked and drank in public, frequented jazz halls and drove their own vehicles, it was a very important time for women who began to claim different roles in society.
- They were a generation of women who wanted to develop their own careers and had broader concerns than starting a family and taking on traditionally female roles.
Zelda Fitzgerald was a reference of that time and her life is a reflection of what these women wanted to achieve, it is also an example of the consequences of trying to do that in a society that probably tolerated only appearances.
Zelda Fitzgerald was born in the US state of Alabama in 1900. The daughter of a rigid and traditional southern father, Zelda was a playful and outgoing young woman.
She was rebellious and behaved very differently from the traditional female roles of the small town in which she lived. At a party, he met an influential young man, promised him letters, adventurer and drank a lot.
This young man would become one of America’s best-known writers: Francis Scott Fitzgerald. At the time, Scott was writing his first novel, the main character of which was inspired by Zelda.
When it was released, it became a resounding success, that’s when Zelda went to New York, at 18, to marry her.
The couple became a celebrity. She was the fashion partner, rich, famous and willing to conquer the world. Scott continued to write, always inspired by his muse.
Zelda’s experiences, phrases, conversations, diaries, and private letters were the sources Scott drank from to compose his stories.
Zelda Fitzgerald received offers to write her own books and articles. He wrote autobiographical stories, but the publishers began rejecting them because, in his opinion, they appeared to be plagiarism of Zelda’s husband’s work.
Her husband did not welcome the fact that his wife was beginning to become more than his muse and in no way allowed Zelda to use her own experiences to write, as it was precisely Scott’s source of inspiration.
This was the reason for several violent discussions. By then, Scott had already become an alcoholic, his infidelities were commonplace and he spent more than he earned.
They decided to settle in France, where they continued their busy social life and kept in touch with many intellectuals of the so-called lost generation. Zelda tried to keep writing. She also began painting and graduating as a professional dancer.
She fell in love with a French pilot and filed for divorce from Scott, however, Scott decided to keep her confined to the house until she finally renounced her request, Zelda made her first suicide attempt at the time.
Zelda’s personality has become erratic. Scott did not miss the opportunity to publicly ridicule her and make her life hell, she put her lovers on the table with his wife and daughter.
Moreover, his strange and very special friendship with Ernest Hemingway made things even more difficult.
After her failure as a dancer, Zelda fell into depression, managed to publish her book Save Me The Waltz (This Waltz Is Mine, Brazil) and infuriated Scott, who accused her of using biographical material she had reserved for her own book.
After publishing the book, Scott placed Zelda in an expensive psychiatric facility, where she was diagnosed with schizophrenia and treated several times with the innovative electroshock technique. Zelda could never find his life again.
Scott refused for years to allow him to be released. Zelda spent the rest of her life entering and leaving psychiatric institutions until the day of her death.
Many doctors and biographers claim that she did not suffer from schizophrenia, some have talked about bipolar disorder, others about border-limiting personality disorder.
The truth is that Zelda’s life with her alcoholic husband and womanizer, the constant pressures as celebrities, and the professional incapacity Scott led her to were reason enough to leave anyone on a real emotional roller coaster. .
Interestingly, Zelda’s history and diagnoses of mental illness were repeated during the 20th century with many other female artists. The list of suicides and diagnoses of mental disorders among 20th-century artists is very numerous, especially among women.
It seems that this aura of genius and eccentricity characteristic of male artists is considered a mental illness that could be treated if geniuses were women. Electroshock diagnostics and therapy, such as those received by Zelda Fitzgerald, have been repeated in figures of artistic expression.
For example, artists as brilliant as writer Sylvia Plath, surrealist artists Dora Maar and Leonora Carrington or sculptor Niki de Saint-Phalle also suffered the same treatments.
And the funny thing is that it didn’t just happen to the artists, this happened to many women who were imprisoned for showing minimal signs of emotional instability, thousands of educated and intelligent American housewives have fallen under the influence of depression.
They were not allowed to come to fruition or be part of the labour market: in a way, they were doomed to live this life.
After a simple nervous breakdown or the slightest act of rebellion, they were diagnosed with neurosis, psychosis or schizophrenia still recurrent, and then subjected to electroshocks.
If they were lucky, after a while they would return home meek, sumissive, unable to remember who they were or recognize their own children, today this type of treatment (TEC) continues to have defenders and movements in favor of their extinction.