In this couple defects were multiplied, as if by a dangerous doubling; weakness fed upon itself without a counterstrength and they were trapped, defaults, mutually committed, left holes everywhere in their lives. When you read their letters to each other it is often necessary to consult the signature in order to be sure which one has done the writing. Their tone about themselves, their mood, is the fatal one of nostalgia--a passive, consuming, repetitive poetry. Sometimes one feels even its most felicitious and melodious moments are fixed, rigid in experession, and that their feelings have gradually merged with their manner, fallen under the domination of style. Even in their suffering, so deep and beyond relief, their tonal memory controls the words, shaping them into the Fitzgerald tune, always so regretful, regressive, and touched with a careful felicity. Elizabeth Hardwick
About This Quote

The phrase "in this couple defects were multiplied, as if by a dangerous doubling; weakness fed upon itself without a counterstrength and they were trapped, defaults, mutually committed, left holes everywhere in their lives" is a quotation from F. Scott Fitzgerald's short story "The Jellyfish" (1940). The story is about two couples who meet at a resort on the Côte d'Azur. The first couple (and the story) is called the "fearful couple." They are both alcoholics and extremely troubled--but they manage to survive because of their devotion to each other.

The second couple is named the "jellyfish couple." They love each other and help each other through their troubles and addictions. But they also have many problems of their own; they live on the brink of disaster and constantly come close to losing everything.

Source: Seduction And Betrayal: Women And Literature

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