Why does Zelda seem to let Scott have affairs without trying to stop him?

Why does Zelda seem to let Scott have affairs without trying to stop him? What would you have done in her place?

Z knows she cannot stop him from having affairs. Her choice is to live with it or leave him. Having been in that situation I know each couple's situation is unique and you have to do what works best for you. Some women can live with that knowledge; others are waiting until they are emotionally and/or financially ready to take action.

I know this isn't a funny topic, but I did burst out laughing. How many of us know women who have "let" their husbands/partners/fiances have affairs without confronting the cheater? Or how many of us have had a woman friend ask if we think the "clues" are pointing to infidelity - - and it's crystal clear that something is seriously wrong. Zelda had such a strong physical attraction to Scott that I think she wanted him at any cost. It was harder for a woman to support herself during Zelda and Scott's generation, and a divorced woman would have been an outsider in most of society, even if she'd had the means to support herself.

Possibly guilt about her own behavior contributed, and the way such behavior was viewed as cosmopolitan and sophisticated instead of rural and provincial.

At that point in their marriage, she was too wound up in their dysfunction to find her way out. Easier to look the other way when you are that helpless.

It could have been the Southern thing about not questioning the husband, and being the loyal and supportive wife. Not unlike today's political spouses who "stand by their man" no matter what. Also, it was risky for Zelda: she might lose him. The stigma of being unable to keep her husband put the blame on her, however unfairly. Does she really "let" him have the affairs, or was she grieving but knowing that was how men are.

I feel pretty much as dianac that by the time it became apparent that Scott was having affairs, Zelda was too tired of life and facing her own mental and physical problems. She had lost the will to fight it would seem. She also had allowed herself to fall into an affair so she may have felt it was not justifiable to confront him any more.

At that point I think she just didn't care anymore, it doesn't seem like there was a lot of fire between them.

I don't think she "let" him have affairs, he just did. I'm not sure how she could have stopped him. I think she might have been too absorbed in her own problems to take on the battle of his transgressions.

I think after what happened with her affair {involving Jozan} on the Riveria, she started to see Scott in a different light, one that grew into fear rather than one of admiration or love. It starts to knit together in the chapters when Ms. Fowler is discussing that whole situation that involves Hemmingway's knowledge of her and Scott's relationsihp -- where you see Hemmingway as a predator, not a friend, and a man with an agenda who wants to hold something over her. It's a controlling tactic that works, because I think in the moment she realised she no longer had the upper hand, that she could no longer fend off or deal with intrusive advances towards her, she no longer had the desire to fight or stand up for herself in other avenues.

She gave in too easily when Scott refused to allow her to go out on the towne, when she wanted to soak up more knowledge about art and ballet. She was slowly losing herself, but she had a lot to deal with ontop of this too, as her health problems were starting to become more severe, especially the physicality of it all. I think in many ways, I agree with the commenters who voiced the opinion that she made the choice to stay with Scott rather than to live alone as a divorcee. Perhaps, she knew that she didn't have the strength to re-define her life or to resolve how to live with the protection of a husband.

I feel like she was entering a stage of confliction,... she was seeing her life change right before her eyes, because the way she wanted to live with Scott was not going to happen. I think it stems from what she knew originally but was determined not to accept. I think on some level she thought she could change Scott, but in the end realised that is is who he is, and nothing is going to stop him. This goes straight to explain why when it came around to him having affairs, she simply threw in the towel. She was exhausted and simply wanted to get through the days,... without confrontation and anguish.