Sara, in Living Well is the Best Revenge, is described as a delicate beauty with golden hair. She was “not interested in clothes and made no effort to appear chic; she was a natural beauty” (110); and “she was not in the slightest degree impressed by fashionable society” (10). Sara was “frank, direct even brusque at times, she said what she thought” (110). Sara Murphy, as described in Living Well is the Best Revenge, is similar to Nicole Driver. In, Tender is the Night, Fitzgerald describes Nicole’s face as being “hard and lovely and pitiful” (Fitzgerald 13); (which is a way that Fitzgerald often described Sara (129).) laying on the beach with her pearls slung over her back; which Sara often did because she said that it is good for them to get some sun ( 33). Nicole then goes on to describe herself saying: “I’m a mean, hard woman” (Fitzgerald 28). Nicole has a “lovely grassless garden” (Fitzgerald 33) and Sara has a beautiful “fragrant garden” (109). Sara has “three beautiful children” (109) and Nicole has two children who sing for their guests at parties (Fitzgerald 37). Finally, both of the women have an “unshakeable” (110) marriage where their husbands adore them completely.
There are a couple of differences such as how the women approach money; Nicole spent money recklessly and “everything that she liked that she couldn’t possibly use herself, she bought as a present for a friend” (Fitzgerald 65). Sara on the other hand was smart with their money and made what they had last: “the Murphys lived extremely well on considerably less” (122). Over all the women have the same beauty and the same personality as well as their mutual dislike for “sheer society” (123).
Gerald Murphy in Living Well is the Best Revenge is described as: “tall and handsome, with reddish hair, perfectly assured manners, and a quick intelligence” (13). He wore “beautiful clothes, which would have seemed a trifle too elegant if anyone else had worn them” (111): “he could be utterly captivating when he wanted to, which was most of the time” (111); however, “at times a chill would descend […] and when the black mood came over him, he was absolutely unreachable” (111). He had a “uniform” which he wore during the summer which consisted of a white cap, a red striped shirt and white pants. During the summer he practice his mid morning ritual of “dry sherry and sweet biscuits” (119) on the beach. Dick Driver is a “fine man in a jockey cap and red stripped tights” (Fitzgerald 13) who is “very handsome. With reddish hair” (Fitzgerald 19). He goes from “umbrella to umbrella carrying a bottle and little glasses” (Fitzgerald 17) on the beach and gives “little performances” (Fitzgerald 13) to make people laugh.
Both couples love their friends and love to have get togethers with people. The Drivers are a bit more eclectic than the Murphys but I am sure that is to make the story interesting. If you read the two books Living Well is the Best Revenge and Tender is the Night it is obvious where the characters Nicole and Dick Driver come from.
Works Cited
Fitzgerald, F. Scott. Tender is the Night. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1961.
Tomkins, Calvin. Living Well is the Best Revenge. New York: Random House, 1998.
