The Bridal Party
Encyclopedia
The Bridal Party is a short story
written by F. Scott Fitzgerald
featured in the Saturday Evening Post on August 9, 1930. Based on Ludlow Fowler’s brother’s, Powell Fowler, May 1930 Paris wedding, it is Fitzgerald’s first story dealing with the stock market crash, and celebrates the end of the period when wealthy Americans colonized Paris.1
When he attends one of the parties, he meets Hamilton’s father, and as more people arrive, he feels increasingly inadequate. When he finds Caroline, he is reluctant to tell her about his inheritance. They eventually dance together, and she explains how she is over him and that he should do the same. She says she feels sorry for him, and that she needs someone like Hamilton to make all the decisions. Gathering enough nerve, Michael writes to Hamilton to confront him about his intentions and asks him to meet in the bar of a hotel. Michael arrives and overhears Hamilton talking to another man about how easy it is to control a woman, and that you cannot stand for any nonsense—adding, there are hardly any men who possess their wives anymore and that he is going to be one of them. Michael becomes outraged and questions his out of date attitude. Hamilton strikes back, saying that Michael is too soft. Eventually Hamilton says goodbye and leaves.
Michael rolls up at the next party with spicy, legit clothes. A woman, Marjorie Collins, shows up and demands to speak to Hamilton, threatening to cause a scene. Michael avoids the drama and goes to see Caroline at her hotel. They argue about how Hamilton treats her, and Michael eventually confesses his love for her. He tries to explain to her he has money now and that his love for her is true and how he can't survive without her. Caroline does not seem to care and she notices he has new, expensive clothes. At this point, Michael tells her about his inheritance. "I have the money, my grandfather left me about a quarter of a million dollars." quoted from Micheal. "How perfectly well! I can't tell you how glad i am... you were always a person who ought to have money." quoted from Caroline.
Hamilton returns from the party and explains that the woman who tried to blackmail him gave him a secret code to a telegram stating that she has herpes and that he needs to get checked out by a doctor. As he opens a telegram, he discovers that all of his fortunes are gone, because he had stuck with a mistake for too long. At the point when Caroline could decide to stay with Hamilton, or leave him for a newly rich Michael, she surprisingly chooses Hamilton. Michael attends the ceremony, and he learns from an acquaintance, George Packman, that a man had offered Hamilton a substantial salaried job right before the wedding. As the reception carries on, Michael realizes that he has not thought of Caroline for hours, and that he was cured from his inability to move on. He is no longer bitter, and the story concludes with him wondering which bridesmaid he should have a scrabble match with that night.
represented a break with tradition, due to the feeling of disconnect created by modernity. It was the “decade of prosperity, excess and abandon, which began after the end of World War I
and ended with the 1929 stock market crash
.”2 Fitzgerald was included in the Lost Generation
, a group of U.S. writers who grew up during the war and created their literary reputations in the 1920s. They were “lost” because in the postwar world, the values that were passed on to them seemed irrelevant. They possessed a spiritual alienation from a country that appeared to be “provincial, materialistic and emotionally barren.”3 As James L. West, Penn State
Fitzgerald scholar, said, “He [Fitzgerald] saw with considerable accuracy, the excesses and gaudiness of American society
in the modern era—but he saw the great willingness of the heart that’s also deeply American.”4
It seems writers today could only hope for as much inspiring writing material as Fitzgerald was able to derive from his life. One life event relatable to his work, The Bridal Party, occurred when his then-fiancée, Zelda Sayre, broke off their engagement because of Fitzgerald’s poor economic status.6 After his novel This Side of Paradise
was published, it provided him with almost instant success, and a week later he married Zelda. Around 1930, he was drinking “heavily, when Powell Fowler was married in Paris—there was a round of parties from which he never sobered up.”7 Like his life at that time, The Bridal Party focuses on themes such as the Great Depression
, and whether one should marry for love or money. Although this was one of the earliest examples of biographical correlations found in Fitzgerald’s work, his novels This Side of Paradise, Tender is the night
, and many others contain more similarities to his life—particularly the tumultuous relationship he had with his schizophrenic wife Zelda.
For instance, in Tender is the night, Dick Diver, the main character, and Fitzgerald used their wives’ vulnerabilities for monetary and career purposes (as both women were affluent schizophrenics). Fitzgerald even plagiarized some of his wife’s private letters to him for the story and publicly exposed her sickness, with little concern of how she might have reacted. In a 1936 letter to their fellow expatriate
friends, Gerald and Sara Murphy
, Fitzgerald described Zelda, “She was always my child…I was her great reality, often the only liaison agent who could make the world tangible to her.”8
Like Dick, Fitzgerald increasingly turned to alcohol to escape his problems. Furthermore, Fitzgerald’s father died in 1931, and he returned to America for the funeral.9 Dick experienced a similar situation in the novel as well. Realizing his world was collapsing, Dick got into a fight and was imprisoned; much like Fitzgerald was in 1924 after he fought with a taxi driver and policeman.10 These are only a few examples. While some readers and critics do not appreciate Fitzgerald’s redundant, life-based stories, it cannot be denied that his eventful life has had a profound effect on his subject matter. To some it adds realism and emotional intensity to his fictional characters.
or shocking. Before the roaring twenties
, women, for the most part, were expected to stay home and raise the children. Though one could argue this still occurs today, many women married men for financial stability. Men control many of Fitzgerald’s female characters in a paternal way, reminiscent of Ibsen’s “A Doll’s House.”11
For example, on page 58 of Tender is the night, Fitzgerald described Rosemary, “like most women she liked to be told how she should feel and she liked Dick telling her what is sad or ludicrous.” He demonstrates though, that some women have more control over their own lives than the reader might think. In The Bridal Party, Hamilton says, “I saw what happened to most of my friends, and I decided it wasn’t going to happen to me. It isn’t so difficult; if you take a girl with common sense
, and tell her what’s what, and do your stuff damn well, and play decently square with her, it’s a marriage. If you stand for any nonsense at the beginning, it’s one of these arrangements—within five years the man gets out, or else the girl gobbles him up and you have the usual mess.” Then to Michael he says, “Women aren’t so darn sensitive. It’s fellows like you who are sensitive; it’s fellows like you they exploit—all your devotion and kindness and all that.”12 In previous times, men probably were not worried about such a situation because women were more likely to keep quiet and “obey” their husbands. During this time period though, there is obviously a type of role reversal
taking place, like many people feel there is now. Men are becoming more empathetic and willing to become stay at home dads with verbally abusive wives, and women can practically wear whatever they want, date or marry whomever they want, go to work, drive automobiles, smoke, and whatever else they put their minds to. Though sexism
and discrimination are still present, they are much less of a problem than they were seventy years ago. Ultimately, Caroline chooses Hamilton even though she knows he has no more money, proving that she is not marrying for money like one expected.
Because F. Scott Fitzgerald is known for writing novels concerning themes such as wealth and society in the roaring twenties
, parties, and despair, one may not know that he created many less celebrated texts that stray from these themes. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is a great example of one of those stories. A touching yet hilarious tale, it turns fantasy into a reality. It begins in 1860 with the birth of a man who is about eighty years old. It follows his life events as he ages in reverse, from going to war, running a business, having kids, going to college after being teased, then to kindergarten and so on. During this time period, he is able to see remarkable changes take place in society with the automobile and other modern technology created in the 1900s. He falls in love at fifty, with a woman in her thirties because they preferred each other at that age, but things are not the same once he starts to act younger, and she loses her attractiveness with time.13 This age difference provides humor in the story and parallels situations today because at one point she appears to be a gold-digger, and a “cougar” at another. Since it deals with different stages of life, it is relatable to audiences of all ages.
Mark Twain
’s quote in William Phelps’ Autobiography with Letters, is said to have inspired the short story: “Life would be infinitely happier if we could only be born at the age of eighty and gradually approach eighteen.”14 Aging backwards is not as grand as it may seem. This notion is proven in the story by an embarrassed father who forces Benjamin to dye his hair in order to look younger, and having to call his own son “uncle” because he looks so young that his son feels like his dad when guests come over. His wife wants him to control his aging but he obviously cannot. She states with a hint of jealousy on page 175, “If you’ve made up your mind to be different from everybody else, I don’t suppose I can stop you, but I really don’t think it’s very considerate.” To which he says, “But, Hildegarde, I can’t help it.” And she replies, “You can too. You are simply stubborn. You think you don’t want to be like any one else. You always have been that way and you always will be.” On the page before that, one discovers Benjamin “had hoped once he reached a bodily age equivalent to his age in years, that the grotesque phenomenon which had marked his birth would cease to function”—and he shuddered because it had not.15 Many people probably shudder once they realize that they will never stop aging, and one can easily see how these progressive steps towards death could trigger a midlife crisis—complete with hair dye
and a sports car.
The aspect that is slightly ironic about the whole situation is the similarity between being old and very young. For example, unfortunately, some elderly people slowly lose their memory, become bald, and in diapers with no teeth, need to be taken care of just like a child. The story implies that the middle years are when people are able to do most of the enjoyable things in life, because they are not restricted by the social norms
of what is acceptable for a certain age. Fitzgerald reveals such limitations in the story, such as how one cannot smoke until he or she is of a certain age, or how it is unusual when one is mature and trying to obtain a college degree
.
This short, easy read forces the reader to think about their own mortality and to appreciate the time he or she has to experience life. Mr. Button is afraid of getting too young, similar to the way in which aging people do not want to get old and decrepit. They want to be able to see what events lay ahead for their family and society. Even though the story was written in 1922, is still relevant because almost everyone is concerned with aging and with how they feel on the inside versus how he or she looks on the outside.16 All of these stories prove how most of the themes Fitzgerald writes about cross generation gaps, and reveal perpetual cycles in our society.
s, Fitzgerald provides a romantic and economic parallel in The Bridal Party. Michael Curly’s statement, “I don’t want to live—I used to dream about our home, our children,” accurately reflects the mindset of American people during and after the Stock Market crash of 1929
.17 For those who lost their homes, life savings and notions of the American dream
, it was hard to find a way out of their predicament. The turning point for the protagonist in this story can be seen as the sunlit door from which his newlywed ex-girlfriend exits, “forward to the future.”18
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s story, The Bridal Party, is his first that touches on the dramatic effects of such a devastating event as the stock market crash. Though other themes are evident throughout the story, such as the effects of wealth on society, and excessive parties set in the roaring twenties, the relationship between Mr. Curly and his ex, Caroline can easily be compared to the stock market crash. The news of her engagement delivers a sudden grim reality to Michael, much like the Great Depression itself. It is assumed that Michael and his ex-girlfriend had a great relationship before their separation, but the reader finds that he “lost her slowly, tragically, uselessly, because he had no money.”19 This must have been how stock trader
s on Wall Street
felt as they watched the value of stocks decline and tried to sell them in a panic on Black Thursday
, October 24, 1929.20 When he discovers that she is going to marry another, richer, man he pessimistically thought, “I will never be happy at all any more.”21 It is obvious that he is overreacting to horrible news and did not know what to think about the situation. Even Michael’s view of Caroline’s appearance as “strained and tired—shadows under her eyes” is reminiscent of Dorothea Lange
’s documentary photographs from the Great Depression.22 Her subjects, like those seen in Migrant Mother
, are abandoned and desperate with little hope in their faces. Caroline later says that she feels sorry for the way they were, but she was over him, and he should move on as well.23 His depression was intensified by feelings of inadequacy, due to a lack of money. Seeing his ex with another man only made his misery worse. His situation is similar to that of Americans during that time because neither had experienced such widespread economic failure.24
As pompous and misogynistic as her fiancé was, he rightfully says, “your affair was founded on sorrow, it seems to me that a marriage ought to be based on hope.”25 Perhaps the same hope that people needed during the thirties to recover from the Great Depression. Luckily, Franklin D. Roosevelt’s plans for a New Deal
and the economic resurgence provided from World War II
pulled the country out of its rut. After Michael “floats in an abyss of helplessness”, he finally gains the ability to let go. A simple change in his attitude causes the “bitterness to melt out of him,” and he is finally able to move on.26 Though Michael is initially heartbroken, his “New Deal” is finding inner peace by realizing how happy the two are and that he would not be able to have a good future by dwelling on the negative past. While this story possesses significant ties to the stock market crash and Great Depression, it is relevant today because of the current concerns about recession.
(1922), The Great Gatsby
(1925), Tender is the night (1934), The Last Tycoon (published posthumously, 1941)
Story Publication: “The Ordeal,” revised as “Benediction” (Nassau Literary Magazine
, 1915), “Babes in the Woods” (The Smart Set
, 1919), “Head and Shoulders” (Saturday Evening Post
, 1919), “The Debutante,” “Porcelian and Pink,” “Dalyrimple Goes Wrong” (The Smart Set, 1919–1920), “Myra Meets His Family,” “The Camel’s Back,” “Bernice Bobs Her Hair
,” “The Ice Palace
” and “The Offshore Pirate” (Saturday Evening Post, 1920), “May Day” (The Smart Set, 1920), “The Diamond as Big as the Ritz
” (The Smart Set, 1922), “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Collier’s, 1922), “Winter Dreams” (Metropolitan Magazine, 1922), “How to Live on $36,000 a Year” (Saturday Evening Post, 1924), “Absolution” (The American Mercury
, 1924), “The Sensible Thing” (Liberty, 1924), “The Rich Boy
” (Redbook Magazine, 1926), “How to Waste Material: A Note on My Generation” (The Bookman, 1926), “The Scandal Detectives” (first of eight-story Basil Duke Lee series: Saturday Evening Post, 1928), “The Freshest Boy” (1928), “The Last of the Belles” (Saturday Evening Post, 1929), “The Bridal Party” (Saturday Evening Post, 1930), “First Blood” (first of five-story Josephine Perry series: Saturday Evening Post, 1930), “One Trip Abroad” (Saturday Evening Post, 1930), “Babylon Revisited” and “Emotional Bankruptcy” (Saturday Evening Post, 1931), “Crazy Sunday
” (The American Mercury, 1932), “Ring” (The New Republic
, 1933), “The Fiend” (1935), “The Crack Up” and “Afternoon of an Author” (Esquire, 1936), “Trouble” (Saturday Evening Post, 1937), and “Pat Hobby’s Christmas Wish” (first of seventeen-story series: Esquire, 1940).
Play Production: The Girl from Lazy J (1911), The Captured Shadow (1912), Coward (1913), Assorted Spirits (1914), The Vegetable (published but failed at New Jersey tryout in 1923).
Collection Publication: Flappers and Philosophers (1920), Tales of The Jazz Age (1922), All the Sad Young Men (1926), Taps at Reveille (1935), The Crack
Up and The Portable F. Scott Fitzgerald (1945)27
, who authored The National Anthem
) was born in St. Paul, Minnesota
.
September 1911-He attended the Newman School
, a Catholic preparatory school
in New Jersey.
September 1913-He enrolls at Princeton as a member of the class of 1917, but was not the most dedicated student.
1917-He joined the army and received commission as infantry 2nd lieutenant
.
1918- He reports to Camp Sheridan in Alabama. It was there that he fell in love with eighteen-year old Zelda Sayre, who was an Alabama Supreme Court
judge’s youngest daughter.
1919-Zelda did not want to live off of his meager salary, so she ended their engagement. 1920-His first novel became a success, the two married and began their life in roaring twenties fashion: drinking, parties, trips around Europe, and so on.
1921-Their daughter Frances Scott (Scottie) Fitzgerald is born October 26. His drinking increased, and he and Zelda frequently fought.
1924-Zelda became involved with a French naval aviator
, and her odd behavior increased. Over the years, the two would return to, and leave, America for Paris, the French Riviera
, Italy, and even northern Africa
.
1930-Zelda has her first breakdown, and she was treated at various Swiss clinics. Fitzgerald was forced to sell short
stories to help pay for her costly bills. She improved, but suffered yet another breakdown in 1932 and basically spent the rest of her life in sanitariums. Their daughter, Frances Scott (Scottie), stayed with a surrogate family and Fitzgerald communicated with her through mail.
July 1937-He eventually went to California to do contract work (for the third time) for Hollywood film companies. Though he occasionally visited his wife, he fell in love with movie columnist Sheilah Graham.
February 1939-Fired for drunkenness. He was hospitalized in New York.
Summer 1939-He began his last novel, The Love of The Last Tycoon
.
December 21, 1940-Fitzgerald died of a heart attack
in Graham’s apartment.
March 1948-His wife Zelda, perished in a fire at Highland Hospital.
November 1975-Fitzgerald and Zelda finally buried together in Rockville, Maryland
.28
Press. 2002.
Milford, Nancy. Zelda: A Biography. New York: Harper and Row
. 1970.
Short story
A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...
written by F. Scott Fitzgerald
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald was an American author of novels and short stories, whose works are the paradigm writings of the Jazz Age, a term he coined himself. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest American writers of the 20th century. Fitzgerald is considered a member of the "Lost...
featured in the Saturday Evening Post on August 9, 1930. Based on Ludlow Fowler’s brother’s, Powell Fowler, May 1930 Paris wedding, it is Fitzgerald’s first story dealing with the stock market crash, and celebrates the end of the period when wealthy Americans colonized Paris.1
Summary
The story begins in Normandy, sometime around May. The main character, Mike Curly, is introduced, along with the news that his ex-girlfriend, Caroline Dandy, whom he dated for two years, is engaged and will be getting married in Paris. It explains that the two broke up because of Michael’s lack of money. He was devastated and could not let go, evident by his insecurity and the fact that he carried around photographs of her. He also stayed away from other girls, that she would do the same with men. One day outside of a shop, he encounters Caroline and her fiancé, Hamilton Rutherford. Rutherford invites Michael to a string of events, including his bachelor dinner, a party and tea. As they talk, his feelings for her resurge. As they parted ways, Michael feels he will never be happy again. At his hotel, the concierge delivers a telegram, which states that his grandfather died, and that he would be inheriting a quarter of a million dollars. Because of his newly found fortune he seemingly out of nowhere inhereted a sum of confidence,so he decides he will try to win Caroline back with a breakdancing contest between himself and Hamilton.When he attends one of the parties, he meets Hamilton’s father, and as more people arrive, he feels increasingly inadequate. When he finds Caroline, he is reluctant to tell her about his inheritance. They eventually dance together, and she explains how she is over him and that he should do the same. She says she feels sorry for him, and that she needs someone like Hamilton to make all the decisions. Gathering enough nerve, Michael writes to Hamilton to confront him about his intentions and asks him to meet in the bar of a hotel. Michael arrives and overhears Hamilton talking to another man about how easy it is to control a woman, and that you cannot stand for any nonsense—adding, there are hardly any men who possess their wives anymore and that he is going to be one of them. Michael becomes outraged and questions his out of date attitude. Hamilton strikes back, saying that Michael is too soft. Eventually Hamilton says goodbye and leaves.
Michael rolls up at the next party with spicy, legit clothes. A woman, Marjorie Collins, shows up and demands to speak to Hamilton, threatening to cause a scene. Michael avoids the drama and goes to see Caroline at her hotel. They argue about how Hamilton treats her, and Michael eventually confesses his love for her. He tries to explain to her he has money now and that his love for her is true and how he can't survive without her. Caroline does not seem to care and she notices he has new, expensive clothes. At this point, Michael tells her about his inheritance. "I have the money, my grandfather left me about a quarter of a million dollars." quoted from Micheal. "How perfectly well! I can't tell you how glad i am... you were always a person who ought to have money." quoted from Caroline.
Hamilton returns from the party and explains that the woman who tried to blackmail him gave him a secret code to a telegram stating that she has herpes and that he needs to get checked out by a doctor. As he opens a telegram, he discovers that all of his fortunes are gone, because he had stuck with a mistake for too long. At the point when Caroline could decide to stay with Hamilton, or leave him for a newly rich Michael, she surprisingly chooses Hamilton. Michael attends the ceremony, and he learns from an acquaintance, George Packman, that a man had offered Hamilton a substantial salaried job right before the wedding. As the reception carries on, Michael realizes that he has not thought of Caroline for hours, and that he was cured from his inability to move on. He is no longer bitter, and the story concludes with him wondering which bridesmaid he should have a scrabble match with that night.
Historical Parts
The Jazz AgeJazz Age
The Jazz Age was a movement that took place during the 1920s or the Roaring Twenties from which jazz music and dance emerged. The movement came about with the introduction of mainstream radio and the end of the war. This era ended in the 1930s with the beginning of The Great Depression but has...
represented a break with tradition, due to the feeling of disconnect created by modernity. It was the “decade of prosperity, excess and abandon, which began after the end of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
and ended with the 1929 stock market crash
Stock market crash
A stock market crash is a sudden dramatic decline of stock prices across a significant cross-section of a stock market, resulting in a significant loss of paper wealth. Crashes are driven by panic as much as by underlying economic factors...
.”2 Fitzgerald was included in the Lost Generation
Lost Generation
The "Lost Generation" is a term used to refer to the generation, actually a cohort, that came of age during World War I. The term was popularized by Ernest Hemingway who used it as one of two contrasting epigraphs for his novel, The Sun Also Rises. In that volume Hemingway credits the phrase to...
, a group of U.S. writers who grew up during the war and created their literary reputations in the 1920s. They were “lost” because in the postwar world, the values that were passed on to them seemed irrelevant. They possessed a spiritual alienation from a country that appeared to be “provincial, materialistic and emotionally barren.”3 As James L. West, Penn State
Pennsylvania State University
The Pennsylvania State University, commonly referred to as Penn State or PSU, is a public research university with campuses and facilities throughout the state of Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1855, the university has a threefold mission of teaching, research, and public service...
Fitzgerald scholar, said, “He [Fitzgerald] saw with considerable accuracy, the excesses and gaudiness of American society
Culture of the United States
The Culture of the United States is a Western culture originally influenced by European cultures. It has been developing since long before the United States became a country with its own unique social and cultural characteristics such as dialect, music, arts, social habits, cuisine, and folklore...
in the modern era—but he saw the great willingness of the heart that’s also deeply American.”4
Biographical Criticism
If readers understand an author’s face, it can help them better comprehend the work. More often than not, an author’s experience influences what he or she creates. This is no different for F. Scott Fitzgerald. Though highly acclaimed, he has been criticized for being too “unimaginative” because his fictional stories were written from real-life characters and events. In The Novels of F. Scott Fitzgerald, John B. willington argued that previous Fitzgerald criticism had almost unanimously regarded the young Fitzgerald as an “emotional rather than a conceptual thinker” who “could write movingly of experiences…without possessing an intellectual understanding of them.” Chambers believed that consistent ideas were apparent in all of Fitzgerald’s novels, and that the ideas could only be appreciated if we cast aside false biographical explanations and make an “objective study” of the content and technique in the novels themselves.5 While one could agree, one cannot disregard the impact Fitzgerald’s life has had on his novels.It seems writers today could only hope for as much inspiring writing material as Fitzgerald was able to derive from his life. One life event relatable to his work, The Bridal Party, occurred when his then-fiancée, Zelda Sayre, broke off their engagement because of Fitzgerald’s poor economic status.6 After his novel This Side of Paradise
This Side of Paradise
This Side of Paradise is the debut novel of F. Scott Fitzgerald. Published in 1920, and taking its title from a line of the Rupert Brooke poem Tiare Tahiti, the book examines the lives and morality of post-World War I youth. Its protagonist, Amory Blaine, is an attractive Princeton University...
was published, it provided him with almost instant success, and a week later he married Zelda. Around 1930, he was drinking “heavily, when Powell Fowler was married in Paris—there was a round of parties from which he never sobered up.”7 Like his life at that time, The Bridal Party focuses on themes such as the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
, and whether one should marry for love or money. Although this was one of the earliest examples of biographical correlations found in Fitzgerald’s work, his novels This Side of Paradise, Tender is the night
Tender is the Night
Tender Is the Night is a novel by American writer F. Scott Fitzgerald. It was his fourth and final completed novel, and was first published in Scribner's Magazine between January-April, 1934 in four issues...
, and many others contain more similarities to his life—particularly the tumultuous relationship he had with his schizophrenic wife Zelda.
For instance, in Tender is the night, Dick Diver, the main character, and Fitzgerald used their wives’ vulnerabilities for monetary and career purposes (as both women were affluent schizophrenics). Fitzgerald even plagiarized some of his wife’s private letters to him for the story and publicly exposed her sickness, with little concern of how she might have reacted. In a 1936 letter to their fellow expatriate
Expatriate
An expatriate is a person temporarily or permanently residing in a country and culture other than that of the person's upbringing...
friends, Gerald and Sara Murphy
Gerald and Sara Murphy
Gerald Clery Murphy and Sara Sherman Wiborg were wealthy, expatriate Americans who moved to the French Riviera in the early 20th century and who, with their generous hospitality and flair for parties, created a vibrant social circle, particularly in the 1920s, that included a great number of...
, Fitzgerald described Zelda, “She was always my child…I was her great reality, often the only liaison agent who could make the world tangible to her.”8
Like Dick, Fitzgerald increasingly turned to alcohol to escape his problems. Furthermore, Fitzgerald’s father died in 1931, and he returned to America for the funeral.9 Dick experienced a similar situation in the novel as well. Realizing his world was collapsing, Dick got into a fight and was imprisoned; much like Fitzgerald was in 1924 after he fought with a taxi driver and policeman.10 These are only a few examples. While some readers and critics do not appreciate Fitzgerald’s redundant, life-based stories, it cannot be denied that his eventful life has had a profound effect on his subject matter. To some it adds realism and emotional intensity to his fictional characters.
Gender and Sociological Criticism
Like biographical critics, it is not difficult for sexist and racist to find passages to analyze in The Bridal Party either. In fact, many of the stories that Fitzgerald has written emasculate women, and cause them to look weak and dependent or crazy, even if they triumph such obstacles in the end. This story presents a range of issues, from the attitudes and reasons for marriage, to the relationship between men and women in general. The Bridal Party may have been more relevant to people of Fitzgerald’s time, the Jazz Age, because women were becoming increasingly independent and “masculine” by cutting their hair, drinking during Prohibition, and wearing short skirts whereas now, it is not so avant-gardeAvant-garde
Avant-garde means "advance guard" or "vanguard". The adjective form is used in English to refer to people or works that are experimental or innovative, particularly with respect to art, culture, and politics....
or shocking. Before the roaring twenties
Roaring Twenties
The Roaring Twenties is a phrase used to describe the 1920s, principally in North America, but also in London, Berlin and Paris for a period of sustained economic prosperity. The phrase was meant to emphasize the period's social, artistic, and cultural dynamism...
, women, for the most part, were expected to stay home and raise the children. Though one could argue this still occurs today, many women married men for financial stability. Men control many of Fitzgerald’s female characters in a paternal way, reminiscent of Ibsen’s “A Doll’s House.”11
For example, on page 58 of Tender is the night, Fitzgerald described Rosemary, “like most women she liked to be told how she should feel and she liked Dick telling her what is sad or ludicrous.” He demonstrates though, that some women have more control over their own lives than the reader might think. In The Bridal Party, Hamilton says, “I saw what happened to most of my friends, and I decided it wasn’t going to happen to me. It isn’t so difficult; if you take a girl with common sense
Common sense
Common sense is defined by Merriam-Webster as, "sound and prudent judgment based on a simple perception of the situation or facts." Thus, "common sense" equates to the knowledge and experience which most people already have, or which the person using the term believes that they do or should have...
, and tell her what’s what, and do your stuff damn well, and play decently square with her, it’s a marriage. If you stand for any nonsense at the beginning, it’s one of these arrangements—within five years the man gets out, or else the girl gobbles him up and you have the usual mess.” Then to Michael he says, “Women aren’t so darn sensitive. It’s fellows like you who are sensitive; it’s fellows like you they exploit—all your devotion and kindness and all that.”12 In previous times, men probably were not worried about such a situation because women were more likely to keep quiet and “obey” their husbands. During this time period though, there is obviously a type of role reversal
Role reversal
In psychodrama, role reversal is a technique where the protagonist is asked, by the psychodrama director, to exchange roles with another person on the psychodrama stage. The former assumes as many of the roles of the other as possible and vice versa...
taking place, like many people feel there is now. Men are becoming more empathetic and willing to become stay at home dads with verbally abusive wives, and women can practically wear whatever they want, date or marry whomever they want, go to work, drive automobiles, smoke, and whatever else they put their minds to. Though sexism
Sexism
Sexism, also known as gender discrimination or sex discrimination, is the application of the belief or attitude that there are characteristics implicit to one's gender that indirectly affect one's abilities in unrelated areas...
and discrimination are still present, they are much less of a problem than they were seventy years ago. Ultimately, Caroline chooses Hamilton even though she knows he has no more money, proving that she is not marrying for money like one expected.
Because F. Scott Fitzgerald is known for writing novels concerning themes such as wealth and society in the roaring twenties
The Roaring Twenties
The Roaring Twenties is a 1939 crime thriller starring James Cagney, Priscilla Lane, Humphrey Bogart and Gladys George. The movie was directed by Raoul Walsh, and written by Jerry Wald, Richard Macaulay and Robert Rossen based on the story "The World Moves On" by Mark Hellinger...
, parties, and despair, one may not know that he created many less celebrated texts that stray from these themes. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is a great example of one of those stories. A touching yet hilarious tale, it turns fantasy into a reality. It begins in 1860 with the birth of a man who is about eighty years old. It follows his life events as he ages in reverse, from going to war, running a business, having kids, going to college after being teased, then to kindergarten and so on. During this time period, he is able to see remarkable changes take place in society with the automobile and other modern technology created in the 1900s. He falls in love at fifty, with a woman in her thirties because they preferred each other at that age, but things are not the same once he starts to act younger, and she loses her attractiveness with time.13 This age difference provides humor in the story and parallels situations today because at one point she appears to be a gold-digger, and a “cougar” at another. Since it deals with different stages of life, it is relatable to audiences of all ages.
Mark Twain
Mark Twain
Samuel Langhorne Clemens , better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist...
’s quote in William Phelps’ Autobiography with Letters, is said to have inspired the short story: “Life would be infinitely happier if we could only be born at the age of eighty and gradually approach eighteen.”14 Aging backwards is not as grand as it may seem. This notion is proven in the story by an embarrassed father who forces Benjamin to dye his hair in order to look younger, and having to call his own son “uncle” because he looks so young that his son feels like his dad when guests come over. His wife wants him to control his aging but he obviously cannot. She states with a hint of jealousy on page 175, “If you’ve made up your mind to be different from everybody else, I don’t suppose I can stop you, but I really don’t think it’s very considerate.” To which he says, “But, Hildegarde, I can’t help it.” And she replies, “You can too. You are simply stubborn. You think you don’t want to be like any one else. You always have been that way and you always will be.” On the page before that, one discovers Benjamin “had hoped once he reached a bodily age equivalent to his age in years, that the grotesque phenomenon which had marked his birth would cease to function”—and he shuddered because it had not.15 Many people probably shudder once they realize that they will never stop aging, and one can easily see how these progressive steps towards death could trigger a midlife crisis—complete with hair dye
Hair coloring
Hair coloring is the practice of changing the color of hair. Common reasons are to cover gray hair, to change to a color regarded as more fashionable or desirable, and to restore the original hair color after it has been discolored by hairdressing processes or sun bleaching...
and a sports car.
The aspect that is slightly ironic about the whole situation is the similarity between being old and very young. For example, unfortunately, some elderly people slowly lose their memory, become bald, and in diapers with no teeth, need to be taken care of just like a child. The story implies that the middle years are when people are able to do most of the enjoyable things in life, because they are not restricted by the social norms
Norm (sociology)
Social norms are the accepted behaviors within a society or group. This sociological and social psychological term has been defined as "the rules that a group uses for appropriate and inappropriate values, beliefs, attitudes and behaviors. These rules may be explicit or implicit...
of what is acceptable for a certain age. Fitzgerald reveals such limitations in the story, such as how one cannot smoke until he or she is of a certain age, or how it is unusual when one is mature and trying to obtain a college degree
Academic degree
An academic degree is a position and title within a college or university that is usually awarded in recognition of the recipient having either satisfactorily completed a prescribed course of study or having conducted a scholarly endeavour deemed worthy of his or her admission to the degree...
.
This short, easy read forces the reader to think about their own mortality and to appreciate the time he or she has to experience life. Mr. Button is afraid of getting too young, similar to the way in which aging people do not want to get old and decrepit. They want to be able to see what events lay ahead for their family and society. Even though the story was written in 1922, is still relevant because almost everyone is concerned with aging and with how they feel on the inside versus how he or she looks on the outside.16 All of these stories prove how most of the themes Fitzgerald writes about cross generation gaps, and reveal perpetual cycles in our society.
Historical Criticism
Growing up during the Great Depression and between world warWorld war
A world war is a war affecting the majority of the world's most powerful and populous nations. World wars span multiple countries on multiple continents, with battles fought in multiple theaters....
s, Fitzgerald provides a romantic and economic parallel in The Bridal Party. Michael Curly’s statement, “I don’t want to live—I used to dream about our home, our children,” accurately reflects the mindset of American people during and after the Stock Market crash of 1929
Wall Street Crash of 1929
The Wall Street Crash of 1929 , also known as the Great Crash, and the Stock Market Crash of 1929, was the most devastating stock market crash in the history of the United States, taking into consideration the full extent and duration of its fallout...
.17 For those who lost their homes, life savings and notions of the American dream
American Dream
The American Dream is a national ethos of the United States in which freedom includes a promise of the possibility of prosperity and success. In the definition of the American Dream by James Truslow Adams in 1931, "life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each...
, it was hard to find a way out of their predicament. The turning point for the protagonist in this story can be seen as the sunlit door from which his newlywed ex-girlfriend exits, “forward to the future.”18
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s story, The Bridal Party, is his first that touches on the dramatic effects of such a devastating event as the stock market crash. Though other themes are evident throughout the story, such as the effects of wealth on society, and excessive parties set in the roaring twenties, the relationship between Mr. Curly and his ex, Caroline can easily be compared to the stock market crash. The news of her engagement delivers a sudden grim reality to Michael, much like the Great Depression itself. It is assumed that Michael and his ex-girlfriend had a great relationship before their separation, but the reader finds that he “lost her slowly, tragically, uselessly, because he had no money.”19 This must have been how stock trader
Stock trader
A stock trader or a stock investor is an individual or firm who buys and sells stocks in the financial markets. Many stock traders will trade bonds as well...
s on Wall Street
Wall Street
Wall Street refers to the financial district of New York City, named after and centered on the eight-block-long street running from Broadway to South Street on the East River in Lower Manhattan. Over time, the term has become a metonym for the financial markets of the United States as a whole, or...
felt as they watched the value of stocks decline and tried to sell them in a panic on Black Thursday
Black Thursday
Black Thursday is a term used to refer to events which occurred on a Thursday. It has been used in the following cases:* February 6, 1851, Black Thursday, a day of devastating bushfires in Victoria, Australia...
, October 24, 1929.20 When he discovers that she is going to marry another, richer, man he pessimistically thought, “I will never be happy at all any more.”21 It is obvious that he is overreacting to horrible news and did not know what to think about the situation. Even Michael’s view of Caroline’s appearance as “strained and tired—shadows under her eyes” is reminiscent of Dorothea Lange
Dorothea Lange
Dorothea Lange was an influential American documentary photographer and photojournalist, best known for her Depression-era work for the Farm Security Administration...
’s documentary photographs from the Great Depression.22 Her subjects, like those seen in Migrant Mother
Florence Owens Thompson
Florence Owens Thompson , born Florence Leona Christie, was the subject of Dorothea Lange's photo Migrant Mother , an iconic image of the Great Depression. The Library of Congress entitled the Migrant Mother image, "Destitute pea pickers in California. Mother of seven children. Age thirty-two...
, are abandoned and desperate with little hope in their faces. Caroline later says that she feels sorry for the way they were, but she was over him, and he should move on as well.23 His depression was intensified by feelings of inadequacy, due to a lack of money. Seeing his ex with another man only made his misery worse. His situation is similar to that of Americans during that time because neither had experienced such widespread economic failure.24
As pompous and misogynistic as her fiancé was, he rightfully says, “your affair was founded on sorrow, it seems to me that a marriage ought to be based on hope.”25 Perhaps the same hope that people needed during the thirties to recover from the Great Depression. Luckily, Franklin D. Roosevelt’s plans for a New Deal
New Deal
The New Deal was a series of economic programs implemented in the United States between 1933 and 1936. They were passed by the U.S. Congress during the first term of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The programs were Roosevelt's responses to the Great Depression, and focused on what historians call...
and the economic resurgence provided from World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
pulled the country out of its rut. After Michael “floats in an abyss of helplessness”, he finally gains the ability to let go. A simple change in his attitude causes the “bitterness to melt out of him,” and he is finally able to move on.26 Though Michael is initially heartbroken, his “New Deal” is finding inner peace by realizing how happy the two are and that he would not be able to have a good future by dwelling on the negative past. While this story possesses significant ties to the stock market crash and Great Depression, it is relevant today because of the current concerns about recession.
Other works
Novel Publication: The Romantic Egotist, re-titled as This Side of Paradise (1920), The Beautiful and DamnedThe Beautiful and Damned
The Beautiful and Damned, first published by Scribner's in 1922, is F. Scott Fitzgerald's second novel. The novel provides a portrait of the Eastern elite during the Jazz Age, exploring New York Café Society. As with his other novels, Fitzgerald's characters are complex, especially in their...
(1922), The Great Gatsby
The Great Gatsby
The Great Gatsby is a novel by the American author F. Scott Fitzgerald. First published in1925, it is set on Long Island's North Shore and in New York City from spring to autumn of 1922....
(1925), Tender is the night (1934), The Last Tycoon (published posthumously, 1941)
Story Publication: “The Ordeal,” revised as “Benediction” (Nassau Literary Magazine
Literary magazine
A literary magazine is a periodical devoted to literature in a broad sense. Literary magazines usually publish short stories, poetry and essays along with literary criticism, book reviews, biographical profiles of authors, interviews and letters...
, 1915), “Babes in the Woods” (The Smart Set
The Smart Set
The Smart Set was a literary magazine founded in America in March 1900 by Colonel William d'Alton Mann.-History:Mann had previously published Town Topics, a gossip rag which he used for political and social gain among New York City's infamous elite known as "The Four Hundred." With The Smart Set,...
, 1919), “Head and Shoulders” (Saturday Evening Post
Evening Post
Evening Post may refer to:Newspapers:* Bristol Evening Post* Evening Post, Charleston; now The Post and Courier* New Evening Post * Jersey Evening Post* Lancashire Evening Post* London Evening Post...
, 1919), “The Debutante,” “Porcelian and Pink,” “Dalyrimple Goes Wrong” (The Smart Set, 1919–1920), “Myra Meets His Family,” “The Camel’s Back,” “Bernice Bobs Her Hair
Bernice Bobs Her Hair
Bernice Bobs Her Hair is a short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald, written in 1920 and first published in the Saturday Evening Post in May of that year. It appeared shortly thereafter in the collection Flappers and Philosophers.- Background :...
,” “The Ice Palace
The Ice Palace
The Ice Palace is a modernist short story written by F. Scott Fitzgerald and published in The Saturday Evening Post, 22 May 1920. It is one of eight short stories originally published in Fitzgerald's first collection, Flappers and Philosophers , and is also included in the collection Babylon...
” and “The Offshore Pirate” (Saturday Evening Post, 1920), “May Day” (The Smart Set, 1920), “The Diamond as Big as the Ritz
The Diamond as Big as the Ritz
The Diamond as Big as the Ritz is a novella by novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald. It was first published in the June 1922 issue of The Smart Set magazine, and was included in Fitzgerald's 1922 short story collection Tales of the Jazz Age...
” (The Smart Set, 1922), “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Collier’s, 1922), “Winter Dreams” (Metropolitan Magazine, 1922), “How to Live on $36,000 a Year” (Saturday Evening Post, 1924), “Absolution” (The American Mercury
The American Mercury
The American Mercury was an American magazine published from 1924 to 1981. It was founded as the brainchild of H. L. Mencken and drama critic George Jean Nathan. The magazine featured writing by some of the most important writers in the United States through the 1920s and 1930s...
, 1924), “The Sensible Thing” (Liberty, 1924), “The Rich Boy
The Rich Boy
The Rich Boy is a short story by American writer F. Scott Fitzgerald. It was included in his 1926 collection All the Sad Young Men.-Original publication:"The Rich Boy" originally appeared in two parts, in the January and February 1926 issues of Redbook....
” (Redbook Magazine, 1926), “How to Waste Material: A Note on My Generation” (The Bookman, 1926), “The Scandal Detectives” (first of eight-story Basil Duke Lee series: Saturday Evening Post, 1928), “The Freshest Boy” (1928), “The Last of the Belles” (Saturday Evening Post, 1929), “The Bridal Party” (Saturday Evening Post, 1930), “First Blood” (first of five-story Josephine Perry series: Saturday Evening Post, 1930), “One Trip Abroad” (Saturday Evening Post, 1930), “Babylon Revisited” and “Emotional Bankruptcy” (Saturday Evening Post, 1931), “Crazy Sunday
Crazy Sunday
Crazy Sunday is a short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald originally published in American Mercury on October 1932.-Plot:The story centers on a young screenwriter, Joel Coles, as he comes to terms with his personal and professional failures. Coles is already 28 and has not yet distinguished himself....
” (The American Mercury, 1932), “Ring” (The New Republic
The New Republic
The magazine has also published two articles concerning income inequality, largely criticizing conservative economists for their attempts to deny the existence or negative effect increasing income inequality is having on the United States...
, 1933), “The Fiend” (1935), “The Crack Up” and “Afternoon of an Author” (Esquire, 1936), “Trouble” (Saturday Evening Post, 1937), and “Pat Hobby’s Christmas Wish” (first of seventeen-story series: Esquire, 1940).
Play Production: The Girl from Lazy J (1911), The Captured Shadow (1912), Coward (1913), Assorted Spirits (1914), The Vegetable (published but failed at New Jersey tryout in 1923).
Collection Publication: Flappers and Philosophers (1920), Tales of The Jazz Age (1922), All the Sad Young Men (1926), Taps at Reveille (1935), The Crack
The Crack
The Crack is The Ruts first album, released in 1979 and containing the UK hit singles: "Babylon's Burning" and "Something That I Said"...
Up and The Portable F. Scott Fitzgerald (1945)27
About the author: timeline
September 24, 1896- Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald (named after distant relative Francis Scott KeyFrancis Scott Key
Francis Scott Key was an American lawyer, author, and amateur poet, from Georgetown, who wrote the lyrics to the United States' national anthem, "The Star-Spangled Banner".-Life:...
, who authored The National Anthem
The National Anthem
"The National Anthem" is the third track from the rock band Radiohead's 2000 album Kid A. The song is moored to a repetitive bassline, has a processed electronic production, and develops in a direction influenced by jazz...
) was born in St. Paul, Minnesota
Saint Paul, Minnesota
Saint Paul is the capital and second-most populous city of the U.S. state of Minnesota. The city lies mostly on the east bank of the Mississippi River in the area surrounding its point of confluence with the Minnesota River, and adjoins Minneapolis, the state's largest city...
.
September 1911-He attended the Newman School
Newman School
The Newman School, founded in 1991, is located in Cajica, Colombia. Its first graduating class was in 2003. It is a catholic school.The Bilingual and private School was founded in 1991 by former Anglocolombiano School headmaster Augusto Franco Arbeláez...
, a Catholic preparatory school
University-preparatory school
A university-preparatory school or college-preparatory school is a secondary school, usually private, designed to prepare students for a college or university education...
in New Jersey.
September 1913-He enrolls at Princeton as a member of the class of 1917, but was not the most dedicated student.
1917-He joined the army and received commission as infantry 2nd lieutenant
Second Lieutenant
Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces.- United Kingdom and Commonwealth :The rank second lieutenant was introduced throughout the British Army in 1871 to replace the rank of ensign , although it had long been used in the Royal Artillery, Royal...
.
1918- He reports to Camp Sheridan in Alabama. It was there that he fell in love with eighteen-year old Zelda Sayre, who was an Alabama Supreme Court
Alabama Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of Alabama is the highest court in the state of Alabama. The court consists of an elected Chief Justice and eight elected Associate Justices. Each justice is elected in partisan elections for staggered six year terms. The Governor of Alabama may fill vacancies when they occur...
judge’s youngest daughter.
1919-Zelda did not want to live off of his meager salary, so she ended their engagement. 1920-His first novel became a success, the two married and began their life in roaring twenties fashion: drinking, parties, trips around Europe, and so on.
1921-Their daughter Frances Scott (Scottie) Fitzgerald is born October 26. His drinking increased, and he and Zelda frequently fought.
1924-Zelda became involved with a French naval aviator
Naval Aviator
A United States Naval Aviator is a qualified pilot in the United States Navy, Marine Corps or Coast Guard.-Naming Conventions:Most Naval Aviators are Unrestricted Line Officers; however, a small number of Limited Duty Officers and Chief Warrant Officers are also trained as Naval Aviators.Until 1981...
, and her odd behavior increased. Over the years, the two would return to, and leave, America for Paris, the French Riviera
French Riviera
The Côte d'Azur, pronounced , often known in English as the French Riviera , is the Mediterranean coastline of the southeast corner of France, also including the sovereign state of Monaco...
, Italy, and even northern Africa
North Africa
North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa. Geopolitically, the United Nations definition of Northern Africa includes eight countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, South Sudan, Sudan, Tunisia, and...
.
1930-Zelda has her first breakdown, and she was treated at various Swiss clinics. Fitzgerald was forced to sell short
Short selling
In finance, short selling is the practice of selling assets, usually securities, that have been borrowed from a third party with the intention of buying identical assets back at a later date to return to that third party...
stories to help pay for her costly bills. She improved, but suffered yet another breakdown in 1932 and basically spent the rest of her life in sanitariums. Their daughter, Frances Scott (Scottie), stayed with a surrogate family and Fitzgerald communicated with her through mail.
July 1937-He eventually went to California to do contract work (for the third time) for Hollywood film companies. Though he occasionally visited his wife, he fell in love with movie columnist Sheilah Graham.
February 1939-Fired for drunkenness. He was hospitalized in New York.
Summer 1939-He began his last novel, The Love of The Last Tycoon
The Love of the Last Tycoon
The Love of The Last Tycoon: A Western is an unfinished novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald, compiled and published posthumously.-Publication history:The novel was unfinished and in rough form at the time of Fitzgerald's death at age 44...
.
December 21, 1940-Fitzgerald died of a heart attack
Myocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
in Graham’s apartment.
March 1948-His wife Zelda, perished in a fire at Highland Hospital.
November 1975-Fitzgerald and Zelda finally buried together in Rockville, Maryland
Rockville, Maryland
Rockville is the county seat of Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. It is a major incorporated city in the central part of Montgomery County and forms part of the Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area. The 2010 U.S...
.28
Additional References
Bruccoli, Matthew Joseph. Some Sort of Epic Grandeur: The Life of F. Scott Fitzgerald. 2nd Rev. Ed. South Carolina: University of South CarolinaUniversity of South Carolina
The University of South Carolina is a public, co-educational research university located in Columbia, South Carolina, United States, with 7 surrounding satellite campuses. Its historic campus covers over in downtown Columbia not far from the South Carolina State House...
Press. 2002.
Milford, Nancy. Zelda: A Biography. New York: Harper and Row
HarperCollins
HarperCollins is a publishing company owned by News Corporation. It is the combination of the publishers William Collins, Sons and Co Ltd, a British company, and Harper & Row, an American company, itself the result of an earlier merger of Harper & Brothers and Row, Peterson & Company. The worldwide...
. 1970.