Elsie

Elsie is the truly holier-than-thou heroine of Martha Finley’s children’s book series written between 1867 and 1905. When her mother dies soon after Elsie’s birth, the baby is sent to live with her grandfather, while her own father travels in Europe. Upon his return the very Christian, 8 year old Elsie is forced to choose between adherence to her biblical principles and filial obedience to her godless father – not a choice many modern children might find compelling. Children of the last couple of centuries must have done so, however, as there are a full 28 books in the series!

Elsie is the opportunistic, arguably amoral mother of Dick Diver’s extra-marital love interest in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s fourth novel, Tender is the Night, first published in 1934. Her daughter Rosemary is a 17 year old Hollywood starlet who supports herself and her mother at her craft. Emotionally dependent on her mother, she rarely acts without consulting her. Elsie on her part is recognizing the need for Rosemary to wean herself away from the maternal influence, and what better way than by an affair with an older, married man. With almost frightening detachment, she encourages an affair openly to both parties, and does not countenance the possibility of damaging consequences. Although this might sound like a dream mother to some 17 year olds, in actuality, the Elsie Speers of the world, cheerfully self-contained, exert a potentially deadly effect upon the souls of others.