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The Jazz Age left a mark on this world that influenced writers, music, and clothing, to say the least. F. Scott Fitzgerald was a writer of The Jazz Age. He wrote stories based on the events of the time and used personal examples from his life throughout his short stories and novellas. The rise of the female role during the Gilded Age is portrayed throughout these short stories. The marriage of Francis Scott Fitzgerald and his wife Zelda greatly influenced almost everything that he wrote. His memorable male/female relationships are seen throughout his short stories, reflecting on his life and his own marriage.
In the 10s, female roles began to change. In short stories such as "Jemina, the Mountain Girl," "Bernice Bobs Her Hair," "Winter Dreams", and "The Ice Palace," not to mention the "Great Gatsby," we see female roles influence the male characters tremendously as they use their feminine capabilities to seduce and persuade the men they wish to lure. The men are often sad and misguided and these women confuse them and very often change their lives. Most of the men in these stories have little to complain about in the reality of their lives. However, they seem to fear that their lives will take a turn for the worst. Fitzgerald's female characters often influence the men and add a dimension to their already existing problems. Their real fears are that of "love, sex, and marriage; the self versus society; free will versus fate" (Petry 105).
Francis Scott Fitzgerald and his wife Zelda had a marriage that will be remembered for all time. Fitzgerald writes about many female characters, with autobiographical topics that reflect true happenings with him and his wife. Zelda was in an increasingly troubled state throughout her life, but Fitzgerald loved her dearly, putting up with her "unusual level of energy" (Petry100). Many of his works discuss "real couples having real problems," (Petry 105) whether it be an affair, money, or simple lack of interest in one another, these are all real problems.
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Many of the stories that Fitzgerald creates, come from true happenings in his own marriage. The trouble he had with Zelda, his wife, influenced a great deal of his writing. His collections of stories called All the Sad Young Men are stories that represent these "sad" young men, like him, and their relationships with women. In the story "Gretchen's Forty Winks," two men fight for the love of one woman. This fight soon becomes a "sexual tug-of-war" (Petry 110), thus illustrating much of the problem that Fitzgerald had when he began to over-work himself, having no time to be intimate with his wife. His characters represent the typical workaholic, very similar to himself. His biggest problem was that his wife required a great deal of money to please her everyday need, and if he stopped working his income would stop, and he simply could not afford for that to happen. In stories such as "The Offshore Pirate," "Bernice Bobs her Hair," and "Winter Dreams," Fitzgerald discusses woman who demand and the men that chase after them and try to please them. "Bernice Bobs her Hair", like "The Offshore Pirate", discusses courting and behavior of men and women as they mingle with each other and fend for themselves. Bernice even felt the need to change her look just to please the people, specifically men. These "flapper" women are illustrated throughout these collected short stories.
In the story "Benediction," the boy is experiencing trouble with the guilt of having impure thoughts. These thoughts consume him to the point were he cannot function without feeling guilty. This male character is like much of the other characters dealing with transitions in life or trying to change something in their lives. Fitzgerald seems to be a lover of passion, and by writing this, he seems to be condemning the unnatural behavior of suppressing feelings. This story is one of the few that does not actually have a female character, but the influence of a female on a man is still very much present.
Judy Jones, the main female character in "Winter Dreams", represents a Fitzgeraldian "femme fatale." However, she is very much the opposite of anything "fatale;" in fact, she is a fundamentally common woman. Most of these women were reduced to "ineffectual flirts" (Petry) with very limited appeal. These women are lessened yet through marriage, when their lives have even less meaning, leaving them with nothing but their "sad" husbands. His obsession with women of this nature, women who are young, attractive, and touch minded, lead him to his own marriage to Zelda that would create a whole new set of problems for him, somebody that would be the influence of all further relationships in his stories. His illustrations of the men who deal with these "selfish, flighty wives," seem to be stubborn yet kind, and deal with them the only way they know how; giving them what they want. He created a new image of the male self, when having to deal with the demanding nature of a wife similar to his own. The male characters are often sympathized with, as he over dramatizes his female characters to make them seem completely self-indulged, and for the most part unreasonable. However, these female characters seem to bring out the best in the males, while it seldom works the other way around. The institution of marriage often diminishes the importance of the woman, and creates a "self" imposed by society (Petry 15).
Fitzgerald's idea of the perfect home and the perfect marriage was almost completely shattered after his marriage to Zelda. He continued to try to create the perfect atmosphere in his stories, but the characters would have their emotional flaws and drawbacks. In his next collection of stories, Taps at Reveille, Fitzgerald began to understand that these difficult elements can co-exist in his previous idea of the "normal" home and family life. He distanced himself tremendously from his wife so as not to make him crazy, and tried to keep as much normalcy as could be maintained. His stories focus mainly on single people in relationships or newly wed. Parents and entire families rarely exist in his stories.
All of Fitzgerald's characters maintain this sort of ambivalence toward his female characters. In the story the "Offshore Pirate," the idea of courtship is portrayed. Their whole relationship is based on a lie. Ardita, the main character in the story "Offshore Pirate," embodies the single, independent female character that strives to live fully before she can't anymore. Fitzgerald tells a story of this independent female. Curtis Carlyle tells her lies as long as she seems interested in hearing them. He does what many men do; he feeds off of what he thinks will win a woman's heart. Ardita argued with Carlyle constantly, as would any independent, hard headed woman of the time. They represent the typical Fitzgeraldian couple, as they bicker back and forth, or could be better explained as flirting. This is a key example of how male and female characters interact in many of his short stories.
Most of Fitzgerald's stories consist of women of the elite society. They seem as if they were molded from the same ideal female character. The character of Judy Jones in "Winter Dreams" is a woman who "simply made men conscious to the highest degree of her physical loveliness" (Fitzgerald 540). Fitzgerald states that "her casual whim gave a new direction to his life" (Fitzgerald 57). Her young, fresh attitude gave Dexter a new outlook on life. She was beautiful and mesmerizing to all of the men, and it is said that the "color and mobility of her mouth gave a continual impression of flux, of intense life, of passionate vitality-- balanced only partially by the sad luxury of her eyes" (Fitzgerald 54). Dexter's love for her is such that even when she lies to him, "he was glad that she had taken the trouble to lie to him." She has him so infatuated that he feels lucky just to know her.
In the Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald writes about men and women, their marriages and their affairs. The people of West Egg, represent the lying, deceit and shady business of the 10s. Tom has no guilt for his immoral behavior and does not hesitate to act out violently to maintain his authority and social power over George Wilson as he has an affair with his wife. George Wilson does not win because he lacks the social necessities that Tom has. The idea that money and popularity win the girl, is played out throughout the story. Daisy, Tom's wife, tried hard to be the shallow wife that he wants her to be. She goes as far as to say that she wants her daughter to be a fool because women live best as beautiful fools (The Great Gatsby). Gatsby's obsession with Daisy is that of a typical Fitgeraldian man. He, like Carlyle in the "Offshore Pirate" is willing to tell lies to win Daisy's heart. Most of what she knows about him is a lie. He had to lie about his background to make her believe that he is worthy of her. She had promised to wait for him after the war, but then she married Tom, whose social position was solid and who had the approval of her parents. Gatsby is not as secure as Tom because his past is virtually unknown. Gatsby loves Daisy because of her "youth and vitality, and idolized her social position, wealth and popularity" (The Great Gatsby). His obsession with her is very similar to the other male characters in Fitzgerald's other stories. Her qualities are similar to that of Ardita in the "Offshore Pirate", and various other characters.
F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote many short stories that described the male/female relationships of the time. Because of the female role and how women were treated they were treated, it affected the idea of marriage and how it was portrayed by Fitzgerald. Not only did the time period change their role, but his perception was changed by experiences with his own wife. He wrote from his own experiences and created characters that represented his own marriage. Fitzgerald wrote for an age of romance, lust and secrecy. His characters represent all of this and more. His stories represented The Jazz Age, but his writing is for all time.
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