The Analysis of Scarlett’s Character in Gone with the Wind

忻五娜

【Abstract】This thesis mainly discusses Scarletts character. The story Gone with the Wind depicted by Mitchell took place in 1861 to 1873; the womens movement was in prevailing. Scarlett， the heroine of Gone with the Wind， dares to breach the conventions， protects her land—Tara and starts her own business bravely. She showed a new image of woman to us， her rebellious spirit continuously influence and encourage the women to fight against their rights in the twentieth century.

【Key word】 rebellious spirit

Due to her rebellious spirit， Scarlett always does something against the convention. There are many events to show her rebellious spirit.

At the beginning of the story， before taking part in the Wilks ball， there is a conversation between Scarlett and Mammy. This conversation first time shows us Scarletts rebel character” Dont you suppose men get surprised after theyre married to find that their wives so have sense？ ” “Well， it is too late den days already machined sides， gempmums specs deny wives have sense.” “Someday Im going to do and say everything I want to do and say， and if people do not like it I do not care.”① The last sentence appeared a lot of times in the life of Scarlett. Not care others comment best illustrates her rebellious spirit.

Before the Civil War， Scarlett sees Rhett Butler at the Wilks ball. Then from Cathleens word， she knows Rhetts terrible reputation. “Rhett Butler comes from Charleston. One day he took a Charleston girl out by buggy riding. They stayed out nearly all night and smashed the buggy and they had gotten lost in the woods. But to their surprise， he refused to marry her the next day.”② In peoples eyes， this was a bad guy in those days; as Scarlett also thought it like that. But some how， unbidden， she has a feeling of respect for Rhett for refusing to marry a girl who is a fool. She respects Rhett because they have something in common， like Rhett， goes after what she wants and refuse to take “no” for an answer. Both of them have rebellious spirit， but Rhett dares to rise up to against the convention， so she shows her respect to him.

Scarlett expresses her love to Ashley openly at the ball. As a lady， it is inappropriate to ask for love at that time. But Scarlett does， shamelessly; she feels that it is not a big deal to disclose her felling to others， although no girls would express their love frankly to a man. But Scarlett dares to do， and she does so. Her open expression shows her bravery and her rebellious spirit.

Scarlett marries Frank Kennedy in order to save Tara. After seeing her husbands account books， she thought she could handle business matters as well or better than a man. A revolutionary thought to her who has been reared in the tradition that men are omniscient and women none too bright. Of course， she has discovered that this is not altogether true but the pleasant fiction still stuck in her mind. She sits quite still， with the heavy book across her lap， her mouth an open with surprise， thinking that during the lean months at Tara she has done a mans work and done it well. She has been brought up to believe that a woman alone could accomplish nothing; yet she has managed the plantation without men to help her until Will come.

“Why， why” her mind stuttered， “I believe woman could manage everything in the world without mans help.” ③

With the idea that she is as capable as men comes a sudden rush of pride and a violent longing to prove it， to make money for her own. This revolutionary thought indicates her rebellious spirit and independence. Then she starts her own business by borrowing money from Rhett. She even has business with the Yankees which astonishes the conventional southerners. This is another evidence that she is against the convention. For her instinct to rise up to be against the convention there is a penalty for her， she becomes very disliked by the people of the Atlanta， Georgia. She is shunned by many Atlanta families. Anyway she shows us the image of a new woman.

Works Cited

Mitchell， Margaret. 2005.11. Gone with the Wind. 人民日報社西安印务中心：世界图书出版社. ① 61-62， ② 77， ③ 480.

玛格丽特·米切尔 赵文良 主编 （上、下）呼和浩特：内蒙古人民教育出版社.