Agnus' role in "A Farewell to Arms"

Ernest Hemingway's first love was a women named Agnus von Kurowsky. The two met during World War 1 at a hospital in Milan. Hemingway was a medic in the army but was wounded, his nurse was Agnus. Once Hemingway was healed, him and Agnus explored Milan and were extremely in love. They saw opera together, and spent a lot of time together. A source states that, "Agnes also noticed a growing confidence in Ernest, a confidence that often showed itself in a self important and often cynical attitude toward others that made him sound less caring, less generous than she knew him to be. It was something Agnes didn’t like very much" (Newman). This source explains how Hemingway was around others, very confident. This was one of the reasons why Agnus decided marriage was not fit for them, it was also their difference in age. Once the two split up, Hemingway never heard from Agnus until he received a letter from her congratulating him on his marriage with his wife Hadley. This relationship was an influence on Hemingway's "A Farewell to Arms". "A Farewell to Arms" is about a soldier named Fredrick Henry and how he falls in love with a nurse named Catherine Barkley. The two characters are almost primarily based on Hemingway and Agnus, although their endings are quite different, Hemingway did emphasize his love for the female character in the novel. In the novel when Fredrick goes back to war, Hemingway begins to change the story from his personal experience to fiction. Hemingway and Agnus decided to separate because of many personal reasons. Henry and Barkley split because he has to go back to war but they do later find each other, the first time Agnus and Hemingway speak after their breakup, it is Agnus congratulating Hemingway on his marriage.  As a result of this relationship Hemingway as a writer had come up with this tragedy in "A Farewell to Arms" based off of his love for Agnus.