Some thoughts on This Side of Paradise and realist plays
Apparently one of the better things Zelda did in their relationship was to compel Scott to write this first novel, which was very successful. I read it when young and got a new edition recently. As I recall, it is basically a fictionalized version of number of dating experiences FSF had when young. Here is from the text:
“Next day they rode up through Jersey country, had luncheon in New York, and in the afternoon went to see a problem play at which Isabelle wept all through the second act, rather to Amory’s embarrassment — though it filled him with tenderness to watch her…”
The paragraph goes on, but this part brings to mind an essay about two “problem plays” I wrote a few years back and published in my latest book Natural Light on page 36. It is the longest entry (still less than ten pages) in this book of usually brief journal entries.
The thesis is about the problem play A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen and how it may have affected the rise of no-fault divorce law around the world. The second play it deals with is a sequel to Ibsen’s late 19th-century play written much more recently by a U.S. author. I may want to write on an August Strindberg play or two now because male-female tensions and realism fascinate me now.
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