Mitchell, Margaret.
Gone with the Wind. Macmillan: New York,1936.
Scarlett O’Hara is tenacious southern belle whose
family owns the Tara Plantation. She is sixteen when the war begins, and is
deeply in love with a man she cannot have Ashley Wilkes. Scarlett is unable to
be with Ashley because he is soon to be married to his cousin, Melanie
Hamilton.
Scarlett meets the bronze,
unscrupulous Rhett Butler who admires her willful spirit though she is
disgusted with him. Out of spite Scarlett marries Melanie’s cousin, Charles
Hamilton whom impregnates her immediately after being wedded. Charles dies soon
after the Civil War begins and young, pregnant Scarlett moves to Atlanta to
live with Aunt Pittypat and Melanie, her sister-in-law who she despises. As the
war progresses the South is experiencing more and more loses, but Scarlett does
what she can to help the Confederate cause. Meanwhile Scarlett is still
secretly in love with Ashley, and she and Rhett continue their peculiar
love-hate relationship. They both have similar viewpoints but Rhett is more
vocal on his views compared to Scarlett, but this is only natural since she
still is a southern woman. After Atlanta is overran by the Union army with the
help of Rhett they escape from Atlanta and head back to Tara, but Rhett leaves
them during the middle of the trip to go fight for the Southern cause. Scarlett
takes the reigns and safely arrives to Tara with her servant, Prissy, Wade, her
first born, and Melanie’s new baby boy, Beau. The plantation has changed
drastically and Scarlett must work hard in the fields. She is adapting to the
new life after the war, but needs help to keep Tara. Due to the heavy taxes she
calls on Rhett for help once again, but finds out he is in jail. Shortly after
finding this out she marries Frank Kennedy in order to help pay the taxes on
the plantation, and the couple soon welcome their child, Ella Lorena. Scarlett
also buys a sawmill in Atlanta with the help of Rhett whom always seems to come
around when she needs him most. Frank dies after being shot in attempt of
getting revenge on men who attacked Scarlett. In an emotional fret Scarlett
agrees to marry Rhett which she later regrets horrifically. Though he is the
one who understands her the most, the relationship is confusing for her. The
two have a baby girl, Eugenie Victoria, who Rhett spoils immensely. Scarlett
feelings for Ashley are stirred up again when she has to detain him from his
surprise party, as he compliments her her mind reminisces of when she was
young. The two are caught embracing, and when Rhett hears of this he is
furiously jealous. In a combination of anger and passion the two make love, but
the morning after Rhett leaves town with Eugenie. They are gone for a long
while and Scarlett misses him and yearns for him. Scarlett is three months
pregnant when they come back, but has a miscarriage after falling down the
stairs in an altercation with Rhett. Rhett is deeply depressed after this and
clings to his daughter even more so. In a tragic horse accident Eugenie dies,
and in deep despair Rhett leaves leaving Scarlett once more to fend for
herself. As always Scarlett survives through the trying times, but yearns for
Rhett’s love.
Rhett and Scarlett are an unlikely pair, but because they
are both survivors they are attracted to each other. The struggles of the war
have taken Scarlett through many changes just as the South itself did. She goes
from a spoiled southern belle to a hard working woman, but her willful spirit
never dies. The love she and Rhett shared was atypical but they understood each
other on a different level than most. The war and post-war trials they faced
could not break their unique bond and the passionate love they had could not be
extinguished.
