"Ernest Changed."

Pictured left to right: Hadley Richardson, Bumby, and Ernest Hemingway.

While the wrenching love story between the two is one of the most touching in American literary history, there is much more to Hemingway and Hadley’s relationship than their son, pictured on the left, the dedications he made to her, and eventually, his perspective on their relationship as told in “A Moveable Feast,” published in 1964. 

Hemingway and Hadley’s relationship was public, however, it seems as if Hemingway began to lose touch with himself during the time he was with Hadley and living in Paris, making it harder and harder for Hemingway to maintain his relationship with Hadley, and for Hadley to uphold her role as a wife to Hemingway. 

Pictured left to right: Ernest Hemingway and Robert McAlmon.

At first, Hemingway kept a distance from the rich, wordily crowd of authors such as F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ezra Pound. After Hemingway's stories and poems began to appear in prestigious literary magazines, he fell in with this crowd of rich expatriates, spending more of his time drinking than ever before. Hadley was said to have spent time with the crowd when she could, however always seemed to feel uncomfortable. Pictured on the left is Hemingway alongside his friend, Robert McAlmon, at the bullfights in Spain.

Hemingway’s personal instability and struggles with alcoholism and depression become more prevalent the more famous he became, and the more time he spent time with the rich. Gioia Diliberto’s biography titled “Hadley” looks back on the words of Hadley: “Ernest changed.” 

These two words create a powerful statement coming from Hemingway’s first wife. Hemingway’s self-instability and true uncomfortably caused by living in Paris not only changed him, but also the course of his life. Would his marriage with Hadley have lasted if they stayed in Canada after their son’s birth? Would Hemingway have killed himself? 

The messiness and the complexity of marriage are evident here, and in every relationship whether we are made known of it or not. However, this messiness and all of the complexities that come with it seem to stem from one or both individuals in a relationship, who seem to have a hard time with something in their own lives, that soon effects the relationship, and both individuals in it as a whole. Can a relationship only be successful if both individuals are satisfied with themselves first?