# Paula Legendre — Short Fiction character guide

> Paula Legendre in Short Fiction by F. Scott Fitzgerald.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Paula, Deliberately Paula, Hagerty, Paula Legendre Hagerty

**First appearance:** 0168-i

## Snapshot

A beautiful, deliberate woman who listens in silence while her mother negotiates her future and later marries for the status Anson cannot give.

## Who they are

Paula Legendre sits wordless during the long talk between Anson and Mrs. Legendre, her unhappiness and her mother's cool bargaining leaving Anson with moral superiority but no advantage. She is the great love Anson never quite secures, and her eventual marriage to a Bostonian becomes the measure of what he has lost. Her divorce and remarriage years later leave him talking about her all one afternoon, insisting he no longer cares.

## Relationships

### [Anson Hunter](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_16_se/characters/anson_hunter)

_romantic_

Anson and Paula share a long-term romantic relationship that ultimately fails due to Anson's inability to commit and his restless nature.

### [Anson Hunter](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_16_se/characters/anson_hunter)

_romantic_

Anson and Paula share a long-term romantic relationship that ultimately fails due to Anson's inability to commit and his restless nature.

### [Anson Hunter](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_16_se/characters/anson_hunter)

_romantic_

Anson and Paula share a long-term romantic relationship that ultimately fails due to Anson's inability to commit and his restless nature.

## In the story

### [The Rich Boy](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_16_se/chapters/the-rich-boy)

Anson's first serious love, whose engagement to another man marks a turning point in Anson's emotional life.

### [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_16_se/chapters/ii)

A conservative, serious beauty from California with a personal fortune; she and Anson fall in love and agree to marry.

### [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_16_se/chapters/iii)

Paula is impressed by Anson's family but is dismayed by his drunken behavior; she defends him to her mother but later questions their compatibility.

### [IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_16_se/chapters/iv)

Grows to think of Anson as two alternating personalities. She considers a last-minute marriage but decides against it due to his drinking. After the breakup, her letters become tender, but she eventually becomes engaged to Lowell Thayer.

### [V](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_16_se/chapters/v)

Though married, Paula's memory haunts Anson. Her portrait in his room serves as a constant reminder of his lost love, influencing his decisions with Dolly.

### [VI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_16_se/chapters/vi)

Paula's earlier marriage is compared to Dolly's; Anson reflects on his past love for her.

### [VII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_16_se/chapters/vii)

Now Mrs. Peter Hagerty and pregnant, Paula encounters Anson at the Plaza Hotel, showing that the memory of their past relationship has lost its emotional weight for her.

### [VIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_16_se/chapters/viii)

Paula Legendre Hagerty dies in childbirth three days before Anson sails. Her death is mentioned but Anson shows no visible emotion.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_16_se/characters/paula_legendre
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_16_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_16_se/characters