Zelda Fitzgerald Biography

Zelda Fitzgerald was the wife of American novelist, Scott Fitzgerald and the couple was counted amongst the celebrated figures of their time. She was glamorous, ambitious and fun-loving and did not want to remain in her husband’s shadow and tried to create a niche for herself first as a writer and later as a dancer. Her husband, Scott, probably felt threatened by this and constantly tried to pull her down. She went too far with her totally fearless and headstrong behavior and some even labeled her crazy. Her husband was not recognized for his writings while he was alive and became very bitter. He would borrow material from her diary entries for his novels which she resented. He thwarted her efforts to write and therefore she turned to ballet dancing and painting. Diagnosed as a schizophrenic, she, like her husband was recognized only after death. Some of the later works and inquiries on her were sympathetic to her and claimed that Scott was a tyrannical and domineering husband. She continues to fascinate and inspire feminists even today. Her struggles to break free from her husband’s control and chart her own course, both as an artist and a woman, has earned her a place among the leading female figures of the 1920s.