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Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald


A novel that is as heartbreaking as it is mesmerizing.
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Did Scott's treatment of Zelda while she was in hospital make him any more sympathetic to you?

Created: 03/08/13

Replies: 11

Posted Mar. 08, 2013 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert

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Did Scott's treatment of Zelda while she was in hospital make him any more sympathetic to you?

What did Scott's treatment of Zelda, while she was in the hospital, show you about his character? Did it make him any more sympathetic to you?


Posted Mar. 25, 2013 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
marys

Join Date: 05/24/11

Posts: 59

RE: Did Scott's treatment of Zelda while she was in hospital make him any more sympathetic to you?

I was surprised that I didn't feel more sympathy toward Scott when he was so attentive to Zelda when she was hospitalized. My guess is that I was so frustrated by the "treatment" that I was sympathetic to anyone but Zelda. It still makes me so mad that Zelda wouldn't be considered cured until she admitted she would be happiest if she was only a good wife and mother and wouldn't pursue writing or dancing. What rot.


Posted Mar. 25, 2013 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
cherylk

Join Date: 05/16/11

Posts: 17

RE: Did Scott's treatment of Zelda while she was in hospital make him any more sympathetic to you?

Although I had a small twinge of sympathy toward Scott when he actually showed some emotion toward Zelda in the hospital, overall he was horrid. Again, the thread running through all his actions (or interaction) with his wife was his self-importance and attending to his needs before anyone else.


Posted Mar. 25, 2013 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
alisonf

Join Date: 01/31/13

Posts: 110

RE: Did Scott's treatment of Zelda while she was in hospital make him any more sympathetic to you?

I think Scott needed his high profile wife but needed her to be only in a supportive role. The treatment seemed so inappropriate but it is hard to understand this from modern eyes since such treatment was common. Hard to believe doctors would only do what was best for person paying bill and not the patient


Posted Mar. 25, 2013 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
shirleyl

Join Date: 06/01/11

Posts: 73

RE: Did Scott's treatment of Zelda while she was in hospital make him any more sympathetic to you?

No. He think he enjoyed her "one down" position when she was in the hospital. He could afford to be 'supportive' because she was less threatening to his ego at those times.


Posted Mar. 28, 2013 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
joanp

Join Date: 06/13/11

Posts: 102

RE: Did Scott's treatment of Zelda while she was in hospital make him any more sympathetic to you?

Scott had the best of worlds when Zelda was hospitalized. He could inform the doctors of her condition and give them his side of the story and also control her. He felt that the story of their lives was his to fictionalize. When Zelda wanted to write using the same material ,he controlled the time she could spend writing. He thought she was stealing some of the incidents that he was using in Tender Is the Night for her book Save Me the Waltz. Although they loved one another, their marriage was a competition.


Posted Mar. 29, 2013 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
bonnieclyde

Join Date: 03/07/13

Posts: 16

RE: Did Scott's treatment of Zelda while she was in hospital make him any more sympathetic to you?

You know, it really just left him free to live any way he chose. It didn't take a big time commitment on his part and the benefits were many.


Posted Mar. 30, 2013 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
MarieA

Join Date: 10/12/11

Posts: 256

RE: Did Scott's treatment of Zelda while she was in hospital make him any more sympathetic to you?

I think Scott truly loved Zelda and vice versa; however, their love for one another was toxic. Sadly, I think their life together was tragic with tragic mistakes made by each one of them. My sympathy extends to both Zelda and F. Scott.


Posted Mar. 31, 2013 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
joycew

Join Date: 06/13/11

Posts: 107

RE: Did Scott's treatment of Zelda while she was in hospital make him any more sympathetic to you?

I agree with MarieA; I think Scott loved her as much as he could love anyone with his ego and I did feel some sympathy for both because they needed each other to complete themselves. JoyceW


Posted Mar. 31, 2013 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
alisonf

Join Date: 01/31/13

Posts: 110

RE: Did Scott's treatment of Zelda while she was in hospital make him any more sympathetic to you?

They did truly love each other. I think he also believed he was doing the right thing in getting her treatment. He could write anywhere and he would never want to believe anything but the beat about himself. He really needed Zelda to exist--good or bad.


Posted Apr. 01, 2013 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
Navy Mom

Join Date: 04/12/12

Posts: 294

RE: Did Scott's treatment of Zelda while she was in hospital make him any more sympathetic to you?

I believe that Scott believed he loved Zelda and it was natural for him to take care of her when she was ill. But I think that his own identity was wrapped up in his relationship with Zelda. If she was ill, then he was also ill. I think Scott saw Zelda as something he owned or possessed rather than as a person in her own right. And her illness interfered with his own identity of who he was. So he had to get her better so that he was more successful. Unfortunately, he didn't understand that his control of her every thought and keeping her from feeling successful was poisoning Zelda and himself.


Posted Apr. 02, 2013 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
dianac

Join Date: 04/02/13

Posts: 91

RE: Did Scott's treatment of Zelda while she was in hospital make him any more sympathetic to you?

Nothing in Scott's treatment of Zelda or anyone else would have made him more sympathetic to me. The book portrays him as an arrogant, egocentric, chauvinist who was also a raging alcoholic.


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