Tender is the Night; F. Scott Fitzgerald

Love

F. Scott Fitzgerald's Tender is the Night explores the lives and relationships of its three main characters; Rosemary, Dick and Nicole. It is less a love-triangle than a web of romance - Rosemary is shown to 'love' both Dick and Nicole, a married couple. Dick adores them both, too; Rosemary is a breath of fresh air, but he and Nicole have a long and complicated history, explored in the second part of the novel. 

First published in Scribner's Magazine between January and April of 1934, this was Fitzgerald's final completed novel. The title "Tender is the Night" comes from John Keats' Ode to a Nightingale. There are actually two versions of the novel, the first of which is written using flashbacks, and the second - the one I read - is organised chronologically. The novel certainly has some autobiographical elements - Fitzgerald's wife, Zelda, was schizophrenic just as Nicole is in Tender is the Night. 

The wealthy couple form a sort of pedestal to which Rosemary, the actress, looks up. Dick and Nicole are fascinating to all, and are seemingly faultless in their appearences. It is Rosemary who notes that "when people have so much for outsiders didn't it indicate a lack of inner intensity?" and there proves to be nothing more true. Fitzgerald gives a tongue-in-cheek account of the role of women - Rosemary, who has been brought up by her mother, is bred to work as an actress, not to be married off to a rich man; and Dick points out that "economically you're a boy, not a girl". 

There is a depth of struggle throughout the book - Rosemary struggles and succeeds in gaining the attention of Dick, Nicole struggles with her own schizophrenia, an illness that originates, it is indicated, from her incestuous relations with her father in early age. The greatest struggle is Dick's, though, between Rosemary and Nicole - he adores them almost equally, and it is this that seems to kill him inside - in witnessing Rosemary's sadness, "he wanted to gather her up in his arms, as he so often had Nicole, and cherish even her mistakes, so deeply were they part of her". 

Lastly, it's worth having a look at Dick's amusing derision at other countries, and other countries' people. To him, "England was like a rich man after a disastrous orgy who makes up to the household by chatting with them individually, when it is obvious to them that he is only trying to get back his self-respect in order to usurp his former power". In Italy, he announces: "I like France, where everybody thinks he's Napoleon - down here everybody thinks he's Christ". 

Tender is the Night is rightfully a famous novel - it is a fascinating portrayal of love and foreigness, and a great demonstration of how a writer can create a character that you disagree with at every turn and yet are still in awe of. 

Next I'll be reading Tom Jones by Henry Fielding - good luck!

Please, if you have any comments on my reviews, I welcome them. Consider this a book group, rather than a book review - debate, discuss and shout me down, by all means. Thanks for reading.