Marriage in the Midst of Men Without Women

Abstract

Any merely factual account of Hemingway’s marrying Pauline Pfeiffer omits the emotional nuances of the pair’srelationship once Hadley had bowed out. Just as Hemingway had considered suicide before his wedding to Hadley, so he wrote to Pauline in November of 1926 that he was feeling very low, depressed, guilty, and he was not sure that he had the right to marry again. Part of his angst seemed to come from Pauline’s assertion that she was returning to New York (from Arkansas) to resume her work for Vogue: in his mind, the only reason she would leave Arkansas would be to join him.¹