This Side of Paradise
by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Eleanor Savage Character Analysis

Eleanor Savage is a woman with whom Amory falls in love during a summer trip to Maryland after the war. Eleanor lives with her grandfather in the countryside. She was born and raised in France was sent back to Baltimore after her mother’s death. After coming out as a debutante, Eleanor’s partying and free-spirited behavior offended her relatives, and they sent her to the countryside. Eleanor and Amory have a whirlwind romance, sharing a love of literature and poetry and frolicking in the countryside together. Eleanor is highly intelligent and critical of the status quo, especially the social construct of marriage and gender norms. During their last night together, Eleanor attempts suicide by riding her horse off a cliff but throws herself off at the last minute, which causes Amory to fall out of love with her. Eleanor’s beliefs, as well as the dissolution of their relationship, reinforce Amory’s skepticism and pessimism about love. Amory considers Eleanor his last “wild” romance, and he credits the end of their relationship with destroying “a further part of him that nothing could restore.”

Eleanor Savage Quotes in This Side of Paradise

The This Side of Paradise quotes below are all either spoken by Eleanor Savage or refer to Eleanor Savage. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Youth, Innocence, and Coming of Age Theme Icon
).

Book 1, Chapter 4: Narcissus Off Duty Quotes

She was immemorial…. Amory wasn’t good enough for Clara, Clara of ripply golden hair, but then no man was. Her goodness was above the prosy morals of the husband-seeker, apart from the dull literature of female virtue.

Related Characters: Eleanor Savage, Isabelle Borgé, Rosalind Connage, Amory Blaine, Clara Page
Page Number and Citation: 126
Explanation and Analysis:
Amory’s relationship with and attitude toward Clara is notably distinct from his other romantic relationships in the novel. Amory sees some of himself in all of his other lovers. In contrast, Amory puts Clara on a pedestal and is drawn to her because he sees her as his moral superior. Clara makes Amory want to be less haughty and self-interested. Unlike with Amory’s other lovers (whom Amory feels confident in his ability to conquer), Amory does not effortlessly charm Clara, instead seeing himself as unworthy of her. While Amory demonstrates his admiration for Clara, this quote still reflects the same Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odi

Book 2, Chapter 2: Experiments in Convalescence Quotes

Amory had loved Rosalind as he would never love another living person. She had taken the first flush of his youth and brought from his unplumbed depths tenderness that had surprised him, gentleness and unselfishness that he had never given to another creature. He had later love-affairs, but of a different sort: in those he went back to that, perhaps, more typical frame of mind, in which the girl became the mirror of a mood in him.

Related Characters: Eleanor Savage, Amory Blaine, Rosalind Connage, Clara Page
Page Number and Citation: 191-2
Explanation and Analysis:
This quote further demonstrates the intensity of Amory’s love for Rosalind, and therefore the degree to which the pain of its dissolution traumatized Amory and made it more difficult for him to have romantic relationships in the future. Despite the fact that both Amory and Rosalind are deeply selfish people, the intensity of their love does make him better and inspires him to be unselfish and tender in a way that even his love for Clara, who is a more moral person, did not. This quote therefore demonstrates the power of love, a power so strong that it scared Amory Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates.

Book 2, Chapter 3: Young Irony Quotes

Eleanor was, say, the last time that evil crept close to Amory under the mask of beauty.

Related Characters: Eleanor Savage, Amory Blaine, Rosalind Connage, Clara Page, Isabelle Borgé
Page Number and Citation: 204
Explanation and Analysis:
The idea expressed in this quote, that the temptations of romantic love are a form of evil, is one of Amory’s major realizations by the end of the novel that leads him to his pessimistic view of love and sexuality. In earlier relationships with Isabelle, Clara, and Rosalind, Amory saw the exciting possibilities of being in love. But after the end of his relationship with Rosalind, Amory comes to see love as fundamentally corrupted and dangerous, leading him away from his quest for individual fulfillment and self-knowledge. Such a belief perhaps reflects the fact that, aside from Clara, Amory is Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo

“Rotten, rotten old world,” broke out Eleanor suddenly, “and the wretchedest thing of all is me—oh, why am I a girl? (…) Here I am with the brains to do everything, yet tied to the sinking ship of future matrimony.”

Related Characters: Eleanor Savage (speaker), Amory Blaine, Dawson Ryder, Rosalind Connage
Page Number and Citation: 218
Explanation and Analysis:
On their last night together, Eleanor points out to Amory the double standards that govern the norms of relationships between men and women. To Eleanor, marriage seems like a dead end or, in her words, a “sinking ship”: that is, something that is destined to ruin her but that she is powerless to stop or avoid. Eleanor implies here that she would rather not get married but that that option is not available to a woman of her class status. In the same way that Rosalind previously revealed to Amory how love can be corrupted by money (showing him this Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum
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Eleanor Savage Character Timeline in This Side of Paradise

The timeline below shows where the character Eleanor Savage appears in This Side of Paradise. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Book 2, Chapter 3: Young Irony
Love and Sexuality Theme Icon
In Maryland, Amory meets Eleanor Savage, who will be another of his strange, intense affairs: neither of them will ever... (full context)
Love and Sexuality Theme Icon
Amory learns that Eleanor grew up in France with a mother like Beatrice and came to the United States... (full context)
Money and Class Theme Icon
Love and Sexuality Theme Icon
On Amory’s last night in Maryland, he and Eleanor go on a horse ride in the woods. Eleanor laments being a woman and despairs... (full context)