Page 3 - ZELDA: An American Muse

A great storm follows the North Wind, and Isolde is guided by the lights of the Will
O’ the Wisps to a nearby cave. She is given a lantern by Artemis, but the caves
hold many mysterious secrets from the ancestors before. The drawings on the
wall come alive to dance in the shadows. Isolde is frightened as the Banshees

appear, and with their screaming, the North Wind. She becomes overpowered by
Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald was born in Montgomery, Alabama on July 24, 1900. The daughter of a prominent judge,
Anthony Dickinson Sayre (1858–1931), who served on the Supreme Court of Alabama, and Minnie Buckner Machen their screams. As they seek to make her one of them, a light shines and the great
Sayre, she was the youngest of five children and lived a youthful life of privilege. As a teenager, Zelda was a talented Queen Elphame appears. She banishes the Banshees and parts mists. A great new
dancer and socialite who challenged the gender norms of her time world appears before her as she is whisked into the world of her childhood
fairytales, the Otherworld, home to the fairy folk.
In 1918, she graduated from Sidney Lanier High School and soon after she met F. Scott Fitzgerald at a country club Act II
dance in Montgomery. He was captivated by Zelda’s audacious spirit and brash risqué demeanor, but due to his inferior
social standing, the debutante declined his initial marriage proposal in 1919. Later that same year, Zelda accepted F. The creatures of the Otherworld are curious of the newest human child to make
Scott’s marriage proposal after Scribner’s agreed to publish his book, This Side of Paradise. The couple married on April her way through the mists. Isolde is greeted by Elphame’s fairy maidens and by
3, 1920 in New York City—just one week after his first book hit the market. Due to the instant success of This Side of the queens of the realms. They dance a symphony for the new world, and Isolde is
Paradise, the duo became overnight celebrities and indulged in the exuberance of the Roaring Twenties. surrounded by a world of beauty and light.

On Valentine's Day in 1921, Zelda learned she was pregnant. On October 26, 1921 in St. Paul, Minnesota, the couple Out of sheer curiosity, the water creatures leave their homes to pay a visit
welcomed Frances "Scottie" Fitzgerald to their family. Soon after, the family moved to Long Island, New York, but faced to Queen Elphame and the new visitor. The Mari Morgans, kelpies, selkies, and
with financial ruin due to their excessive spending habits, the family moved to France in 1924 where F. Scott waterleapers take turns trying to impress Isolde. The summer eve grows late and
composed The Great Gatsby and Zelda learned to paint. The family briefly returned to America and spent time in Melusine, the selkie queen, takes her turn to dance. She leads Isolde to the small
Wilmington, Delaware, but ever-eager for a change of pace, in 1927, Zelda added ballet to her list of talents and when pool of water in the center of the Otherworld. It is there in the water, that Isolde
they traveled back to Paris, she was invited to dance with the Royal Ballet of Italy in 1928—an offer she declined in lieu looks into her reflection to face her life’s destiny. She finds the bravery she needs
of writing short stories. to ride home and take her rightful place on the throne of Scotland.

Zelda was a muse to F. Scott and her characteristics are prominently featured in some of his most notable works The mists are parted for her as she finds herself back in the familiar
including This Side of Paradise, The Beautiful and the Damned, The Great Gatsby and Tender Is the Night. F. Scott forests of her childhood. She takes the high road back to her people.
even went so far as to steal verbatim excerpts from Zelda’s personal diary and incorporate them into his novels—a tactic
that began a downward spiral in their dysfunctional marriage. Queen Isolde I is coronated beneath the Stone of Destiny in 1547. She
reigns over Scotland during a time of peace and prosperity for the remainder of
her life.
When the stock market crashed in 1929, their over-the-top lifestyle of travel and indulgence collapsed and they were left
in financial ruin. In 1930, Zelda was diagnosed with schizophrenia and spent her remaining years in and out of various
mental health clinics. The family was hit hard by The Great Depression and left penniless. In the end, Zelda’s marriage
to F. Scott was nothing more than a façade. F. Scott died from a heart attack at the age of 44 on December 21, 1940.

Final Years

Due to Zelda’s failing health, she was unable to attend her daughter’s wedding in 1943, but after the birth of her
grandson, Zelda was reinvigorated and began to paint again in the last years of her life in Montgomery at her family’s
homestead. Ultimately, however, her mental health began to fail and, on March 10, 1948, she died tragically in a fire at
Highland Hospital in Asheville, North Carolina. She is buried with her husband in Old Saint Mary's Catholic Church
Cemetery in Rockville, Maryland. She was working on her second unfinished novel, Caesar's Things, at the time of her
death.

Legacy

Despite her tumultuous marriage and difficulties with mental health issues, Zelda’s creativity was inspirational. Her
artistic endeavors include a semi-autobiographical novel, Save Me the Waltz, based on her troubled marriage, a play
entitled Scandalabra, as well as numerous magazine articles and short stories. A talented painter, her oil paintings are
now prominently featured in the F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald Museum in Montgomery, Alabama. In 1992, Zelda was
inducted into the Alabama Women's Hall of Fame. Although she served as a muse to her husband, it is clear that she
was also a creative force to be remembered.