Script
“Head and Shoulders” by F. Scott Fitzgerald is a short story that was originally published in The Saturday Evening Post in 1920. It follows the story of a couple in their youth and the adversities they face. It starts by showing how they met and how Horace was the “head” between the two, going to top universities and being called a “prodigy.” On the other hand, Marcia was the “shoulders,” known for her work on stage as a dancer and chorus girl and, indirectly, her body. They fall in love and get married young and, over the course of their life together, overcome many adversities with money, finding jobs, and comments from the outside world. Later in their lives, Horace starts practicing gymnastics and goes on to become a successful gymnast while Marcia finds a passion for writing and publishes a successful novel. Their positions as “head” and “shoulders” evolve over the course of their relationship and eventually, they switch labels. Fitzgerald uses detailed descriptions and imagery of the characters’ minds and bodies and the body parts “head” and “shoulders” as a vessel to convey the ironic development of Horace, Marcia, and their relationship, as well as explain how deeply the challenges from the outside world can affect people and their relationships.
The “head” portrays the mind in this story. Horace starts as the “head,” as he is known as an incredibly intellectual person but lets that consume his whole self. In the first part of the story, it says, “When [Horace] talked you forgot he had a body at all. It was like hearing a phonograph record by a singer who had been dead a long time” (Fitzgerald 312). Fitzgerald compares Horace to a recording to show how talking to him is like talking to someone without any emotion, reciprocation, or interest. This simile also creates a connection for the reader to Marcia, as she is the one talking to him during this part of the story. Connecting Horace to a “head” also aids in creating the overly-intellectual persona Fitzgerald is trying to build for him. During this part of the story, Marcia comes to return a book and starts to flirt with him, but Horace is completely uninterested and instead worried about how she might be affecting his efficiency. By the end of the story, Marcia becomes the “head.” After facing many issues with finances and having their baby, Marcia is unable to continue her journey as a dancer. While caring for their baby, she writes a novel and eventually publishes it, where it finds success. In the end, Marcia strays away from the youthful performer she once was and becomes an intellectual author of a novel. Marcia’s position as the “head” in the relationship creates a much more mature and well-rounded persona for the label.
The “shoulders” represent the body. In the beginning of the story, Marcia is described through her physical characteristics. The first description of her reads, “Marcia was nineteen. She didn’t have wings, but audiences agreed generally that she didn’t need them. She was a blonde by natural pigment, and she wore no paint on the streets at high noon. Outside of that she was no better than most women” (Fitzgerald 311). Most of the descriptions of her consist of her physical appearance and only briefly mention her actual talent. Later in the story, Horace says, “The people behind me were making remarks about your bosom” (Fitzgerald 318). This is a big contrast to the first description of Horace, as he is described by his accomplishments as an intellect while she is mainly shown through her physical characteristics and looks. Fitzgerald creates a surface level description of Marcia through her body, as she is the “shoulders.” In contrast, Horace’s position later on in the story as “shoulders” is from his success in gymnastics. On page 330, it says, “Then on the succeeding Saturday Horace Tarbox’s torso made its first head and shoulders professional appearance in a gymnastic exhibition at the Coleman Street Gardens. But though the audience numbered nearly five thousand people, Horace felt no nervousness. From his childhood he had read papers to audiences—learned that trick of detaching himself” (Fitzgerald 330). Horace’s lack of nervousness in front of a large audience exemplifies the development he goes through from the shy and nervous “head” he is in the beginning of the story. This earlier persona of him was able to aid him in growing as a person and in maturity level. His position as “shoulders” shows his strength and use of his physical body as a trapezist, something incredibly different from his earlier, mind-consumed self and Marcia’s physical, surface-level position as “shoulders.”
But what was the reason for Horace and Marcia’s flip between “head” and “shoulders” by the end of the story? Was this switch caused by a shift in maturity, a longing to be more like the other person, or purely out of necessity? Well, it’s a combination of all of these reasons. Marcia and Horace were having trouble with their finances so they had to find any means possible to get by. They also developed as individuals as they learned habits and got inspiration from each other. Not only do they mature as people throughout the story, but so do the labels of “head” and “shoulders.” The irony of this relationship is that they start off as polar opposites and, even after growing and developing throughout their lives, still end as opposites.
By the end of the story, Horace comes to a point where he regrets marrying Marcia after reading an article in a paper about the both of them. The article reads, “Marcia Tarbox’s connection with the stage is not only as a spectator but as the wife of a performer. She was married last year to Horace Tarbox, who every evening delights the children at the Hippodrome with his wondrous flying-ring performance. It is said that the young couple have dubbed themselves Head and Shoulders, referring doubtless to the fact that Mrs. Tarbox supplies the literary and mental qualities, while the supple and agile shoulders of her husband contribute their share to the family fortunes. Mrs. Tarbox seems to merit that much-abused title— ‘prodigy’” (Fitzgerald 334). He feels kind of belittled because Marcia is called the “head” and “prodigy” now while his success is reduced down to his gymnastics, forgetting all about his incredibly intellectual status earlier in life. At the very end of the story, Horace says, “About raps. Don’t answer them! Let them alone—have a padded door” (Fitzgerald 334). He alludes to the fact that the first time he met Marcia was when she knocked on his door to return his book. He gives the advice to never open the door when someone knocks because that was the moment his life altered to bring him to this point of unhappiness.
Fitzgerald portrays a larger lesson through this story by showing how far reaching the effects of outside circumstances of life can be, on not only a singular person, but on relationships. Getting married young causes Horace and Marcia to have financial issues later on in their lives, which is the main outside force that leads them to their new pathways of gymnastics and writing, and eventually leading them down a path of unhappiness. This seems to be inspired by some of Fitzgerald’s real life experiences. In 1919, Fitzgerald married a young woman named Zelda Sayre and, together, they experienced many financial troubles. According to LitHub’s article on their life, it says, “In 1932, Zelda, yearning to earn her own way in the world, wrote a novel, Save Me the Waltz. Before showing it to Scott, she rushed it to his agent. Scott was understandably irate. It had taken her only a few months of furious activity to write the book. He had been working on Tender Is the Night for several years, had torn up draft after draft, and had read her various passages from it” (LitHub para. 31). This is similar to how Horace might have felt as Marcia became who he wanted to be.
Through the personification of “head” and “shoulders” and descriptive imagery, Fitzgerald shows the mature development of Horace and Marcia as people as well as their relationship. The story shows this development in maturity as a life lesson of how many outside factors can greatly affect people’s relationships and trajectory of their lives. “Head and Shoulders” by F. Scott Fitzgerald is a beautiful story that explores the adversities in life, growth, and love.
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