An Analysis of Scarlett’s Love and Marriage in Gone with the Wind

李京霖

【Abstract】Scarlett，a nontraditional woman with three marriages，is beautiful，strong，confident，smart and independent.She always has a clear objective about her life and is willing to take the responsibility of life and keeps moving forward.Different people may have different opinions on her，but no one will ignore her charm and influence.The formation of this character is so successful especially on that special background.Her wit and smartness makes her to stay calm and seek the hope to defeat the difficulties，her strong and independent makes her to support the whole family with unusual perseverance.However，she is so calculation that her three marriages are filled with many factors besides love.Her love and marriage make her different from others no matter what time it is.Through this thesis，the author is trying to analyze her characters from her love and marriage.

【Key words】Scarlett； Ashley； Rhett； love； marriage

【摘要】斯嘉丽，一个有着三次婚姻的传奇女人。她美丽，坚强，自信，聪明，独立，对自己的生活有明确的目标，在关键时刻承担生活的重任，勇往直前。人们可能会对她褒贬不一，但都不会忽视她在自己以及他人的生活中产生的巨大影响。在书中的特定背景下，作者对斯嘉丽这个人物的塑造无疑是充满争议却又及其成功的。她的机智聪明使她在遇到困难时能够保持沉着冷静，不慌张，不退缩，于绝望处寻找希望；她的坚强独立使她在战火纷飞的年代仍能以罕见的毅力支撑起已经支离破碎的家庭；然而，她又是如此的攻于心计，不择手段，以至于她的三次婚姻都充斥着除了爱情之外的其它因素。她的爱情和婚姻观使她在当时乃至现在的环境中都显得如此与众不同。笔者意图通过这篇论文从婚姻和爱情这两个角度来分析斯嘉丽的人生态度，从而探索出她的魅力所在。

【关键词】斯嘉丽 艾希里 瑞德 爱情 婚姻

1.Introduction

Margaret Mitchell wrote Gone with the Wind over the course of ten years.It published in 1936 and won the Pulitzer Prize in 1937.It is a detailed，painstakingly researched account of the American Civil War，and a collection of beautifully drawn and convincing character studies，and a famous love story.To some extent，the story of Gone with the Wind is the story of Scarlett.She stands out because she is strong and saves her family but is incredibly selfish and petty at the same time.She challenges nineteenth-century societys gender roles repeatedly.Scarlett OHara is not beautiful in a conventional sense，as indicated by Margaret Mitchells opening line.Born in a peaceful and wealthy family but living in a period with fight，violence and war，she has to complete her conversion from a naive girl who doesnt care anything except playing，to a strong woman who has to support the whole family.Being a woman like her，beautiful，clever，strong and independent，she always has a great determination to confront with all kinds of difficulties.

2.General Description of Scarletts Love and Marriage

2.1 Ashley- A Dreaming Lover

If we want to sum up Scarletts love，Ashley is definitely a man who cannot be missed.As a pretty young lady，Scarletts charm has made her as a beautiful flower which is always chased by many butterflies.However，Scarlett believes she is in love with Ashley Wilkes，who is elegant，conservative but shares little similarity with her.She is so confident that she believes every man loves her and this confidence makes her confess her love to Ashley even his engagement to meek and mild-mannered Melanie Hamilton is announced.Actually，she doesnt realize that they are totally different kinds of people and man like Ashley has no courage to marry her.Sadly for her，she couldnt realize that this isnt suitable for Ashley.The whole love between them ends in Melanies death and she finally knows that Ashley is not her Mr.Right.

2.2 Two Marriages without Love

After Ashley refuses her，she marries Melanies brother，Charles Hamilton for revenge.For Charles，Scarlett is the most beautiful and proud page in his life，but for Scarlett，Charles is just a stupid game.She tells Charles that their marriage should be the sooner the better，but after that，she feels regret about this marriage.However，her willfulness and stubborn help her makes this decision and this marriage is so short that she even has no time to think about it.Her new husband dies within two months of measles and she becomes a young widow.

Dead people have gone but the life still goes on.For Scarlett，life has became harder and harder.She returns to Tara but finds out that everything has changed.The cotton crop is burned and the house is looted.Opening a door to a lamp-lit room，she sees her mother fully clothed and laid out on a table，dead of typhoid fever.Her poor father is half-mad.This hard situation becomes the background for her to get married.Scarlett encounters her sistes fiancé，Frank Kennedy，a successful merchant.Learning that he has a prospering store and a lumber sawmill as a sideline，she manipulatively and ruthlessly tricks him by lying to him and becomes Scarlett OHara Kennedy.

2.3 A Complicated Marriage

Rhett Butler，a mysterious man with wild oats，great wisdom and humor，owns a lot of wealth but is still undivided.The relationship between Scarlett and Rhett is complicated and this long story is the main line through this whole book.They are a couple who share little difference.It is obvious that they are meant for each other and Rhett is the only man of her acquaintance who could love her after knowing her as she really is.For years she has had her back against the stone wall of Rhetts love and has taken it for granted.Rhett has stood silent in the background，loving her，understanding her，ready to help.At last，Scarlett has realized the heaven she has sought in dreams and the place of warm safety which has always been hidden from her in the mist.

3.Different Aspects of Her Attitudes toward Love and Marriage

3.1 Positive Aspects

Just like her famous words，“After all，tomorrow is another day.” She always has hope for everything.No matter how difficult the life is，she believes that there is always a method to solve the problem.Rhetts love is the most beautiful page in this book.Although he always hides his true feelings，he is willing to do anything for his lover.Sadly for Scarlett，she doesnt realize this true love until the last moment.She regrets and wants to cherish this lost love.Scarlett doesnt lose her strong determination and she also has the chance to win back her love.She decides to go back to Tara and finds a better way to save her marriage.

Maybe perseverance is the most suitable word to describe Scarletts love to Ashley.From the moment she knows that Ashley would marry Melanie，she begins to think about how to get Ashley back.Scarlett doesnt want to give up Ashley partly because she shows more interests to the things she cannot get.She doesnt want to become a loser and what she has to do is to win Ashley back.This love is so persistence that lasts the whole war times.

3.2 Negative Aspects

Scarlett is no doubt a shrewd and changeable woman during her marriages.We can simply get this from the times of her marriages.Different from the ordinary woman，she doesnt treat marriage as a serious and holly thing.To some extent，marriage just likes a useful tool，which can help her to get rid of difficulties and achieve next goal.All of these marriages have shown her different characters.Shocking and unexpected，she gets married to Charles.This marriage can totally shows her selfish.She doesnt like this man at all.Just because she is angry with Ashley，she wants to use this marriage to prove that she is not a loser.She uses Charles to hide her true feelings deep in heart.

In that period，a woman who gets married three times cannot be seen as conservative.Whats more，her marriages are all for some purposes.Firstly，she wants to prove her charm and take revenge.For this ridiculous reason，she gets married to a man she doesnt love.Secondly，she marries a man because of his money.Maybe in her opinion，she has done something right to save her family，but this marriage is in fact against the moral rules.The marriage between Rhett and her also can be seen as a way to get rid of being a widow to some extent.

4.Conclusion

The classical image of Scarlett has inspired and encouraged thousands of women all over the world，this controversial heroine has shocked us with her steely optimism.This nontraditional womans whole life witnesses her great love and three marriages.She has ever experienced a hopeless love every bit as a religion and two jerky and dull marriages.Her character plays an important role in her life，especially when she is making a choice.Scarletts love and marriage，just as a main line，gets along with this whole book.To Charles and Frank，there is no real love，but only the hurt； to Ashley，her love just like the religion，she devotes her life to love him； to Rhett，her love is a bottle of wine，much sweeter as the time goes.Love is the indispensable part in her life，because she can get passion and power from love.Because of her beauty and charm，no matter how many times she gets married，she is always the creator of love.

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