Gone with the Wind
1936 first edition cover of Gone with the Wind Author: Margaret Mitchell Country: United States
Title The title is taken from the first line of the third stanza of the poem Non Sum Qualis eram Bonae Sub Regno Cynarae by Ernest Dowson: "I have forgotten much, Cynara! gone with the wind." The novel"s protagonist Scarlett O"Hara also uses the title phrase in a line of dialogue in the book: when her hometown is overtaken by the Yankees, she wonders if her home, a plantation called Tara, is still standing, or if it was "also gone with the wind which had swept through Georgia".
Plot summary Mitchell"s work relates the story of a rebellious Georgia Southern belle named Scarlett O"Hara and her experiences with friends, family, lovers, and enemies before, during, and after the Civil War. Using Scarlett"s life, Mitchell examined the effect of the War on the old order of the South, and the aftermath of the war on what was left of the southern planter class. The plot of Gone with the Wind contains many details which have triggered spin-off concepts, parodies, and cultural influences over the past decades; however, the plot has
been shortened here for the sake of brevity.
Part One The novel opens at Tara, the O"Hara plantation in Georgia, with Scarlett O"Hara flirting idly with Brent and Stuart Tarleton, twin brothers who live on a nearby plantation. Amidst the chatter, the pair tell Scarlett that Ashley Wilkes, the man Scarlett secretly loves, is to marry his cousin Melanie Hamilton, a plain and gentle lady from Atlanta. Scarlett hurries to find her father, Gerald O"Hara who confirms that Ashley does intend to marry Melanie. He sharply warns Scarlett that she and Ashley would make a terrible match and encourages her to consider the attentions of one of the other local beaux.
Scarlett is miserable until she concludes that Ashley does not know she is in love with him. She plots to make Ashley jealous by surrounding herself with men at the barbecue the next day at the Wilkes plantation of Twelve Oaks, then admit to him that she prefers him above all the others. Among the fawning gentlemen are Melanie"s brother, Charles Hamilton and Frank Kennedy, the beau of her sister, Suellen O"Hara. Things do not go according to plan; Ashley is kind to Scarlett but tells her that he will still marry Melanie. The unreceived Rhett Butler, hidden behind a couch during the emotional scene, sees Scarlett throw a vase across the room in anger after Ashley leaves. Rhett is impressed by her fire, thus cementing the saga that soon will unfold. Later that night, the civil war erupts, crashing the ball, and prompting the smitten Charles Hamilton to propose to Scarlett. Scarlet obliges, in hopes of making Ashley jealous.
Both couples marry within weeks. Scarlett bitterly regrets her decision, but receives a warm welcome from Melanie, who now considers Scarlett to be her sister. Two months later, Charles dies of measles and pneumonia at a military camp, before he has had the opportunity to fight on the battlefield, confirming Scarlett"s opinion of his unheroic weakness. Her only lamentation is the fact that she is forced to dress in all black.
As a widow, Scarlett is relegated to the stringent mourning rituals of the day: years of
wearing unadorned black, living quietly at home, and limited social interaction. She gives birth to a son Wade Hampton Hamilton. (In keeping with tradition, Scarlett names him for Charles" commanding officer). She is more distressed over her boredom and new motherhood than at Charles" death. Her mother, Ellen O"Hara, believing Scarlett to be pining away from a broken heart, sends her to Atlanta to Charles" elderly aunt Aunt Pittypat and Melanie in an attempt to raise her spirits.
Part Two In Atlanta, Scarlett quickly joins the hustle and bustle of the city. Melanie treats Scarlett like a sister and is blind to Scarlett"s contempt and jealousy towards her. At a charity ball, they encounter Rhett Butler. He outrages Atlanta society by asking Scarlett to dance, despite her mourning. Scarlett happily accepts stating she would dance with any one, including Abe Lincoln himself.
Against the background of war, Scarlett stays in Atlanta and enjoys the company of Rhett. He ostensibly calls on Aunty Pittypat, as widows cannot properly receive male callers. His sharp wit and sarcastic charm both infuriate and beguile Scarlett, though she continues to carry a torch for Ashley. When Ashley comes home for Christmas, Scarlett becomes acutely aware of the privileges Melanie holds as his wife. The day Ashley leaves, Scarlett again reveals her feelings to him, hoping Ashley will also break down and allow himself to tell Scarlett that he loves her too.
Ashley has a more important matter to discuss with Scarlett. Sensing the end of the war and the fall of the South, he makes Scarlett promise that she will look after Melanie and see his family through the upcoming crisis in his absence. Scarlett blindly agrees to his promise. As Ashley heads for the door, Scarlett clings to him desperately and they share a passionate, forbidden embrace. Scarlett sobs that she loves him and that she only married Charles to hurt him. Ashley says nothing and wrenches himself from her grasp. He hurries from the house and away from Scarlett.
Part Three The tide of war has turned against the South. Atlanta is under siege; when the Yankees finally begin their siege of Atlanta, the city evacuates. Melanie and Scarlett cannot leave, as Melanie is about to give birth. Scarlett must deliver Melanie"s baby alone, as everyone has fled or is too busy caring for wounded soldiers to spare time for a birth. Scarlett begs Rhett to assist them but the best he can provide is a broken-down horse and carriage stolen from the Army. He carts the weakened Melanie, her infant son Beau, Prissy, and Scarlett out of Atlanta. In a fit of conscience, he abandons them on the road back to Tara to turn back and fight for the South. Before he leaves, he kisses Scarlett and tells her he loves her, but she angrily pushes him away.
Arriving at Tara, Scarlett finds the house in ruins, the crops burned, most of the slaves run off, her mother dead, her father demented, and her two sisters sick with typhoid. The reins of authority had been unfairly thrusted into her hands. Forced to take up "slave work" and bouts of near starvation, Scarlett realizes her compassion and complete loyalty to the land of Tara. When a lone Yankee soldier arrives looking to loot and assault Scarlett, she shoots him. The still-weak Melanie comes running with Charles" sword, but it is too heavy for her to lift. Nonetheless, Scarlett feels the beginnings of comradeship with her sister-in-law. The two loot the dead soldier"s pockets and knapsack before swearing each other to secrecy about his death.
Months later, news finally reaches Tara that the war is over and the Confederacy dissolved. Soldiers begin straggling home. On their way, some seek the refuge of Tara for food and hospitality. Comrades bring a wounded soldier named Will Benteen, whom Carreen nurses back to health. Benteen remains at Tara after he recovers, and takes on more responsibility and shifts Scarlett"s heavy load onto his own shoulders. Suellen"s beau Frank Kennedy asks Scarlett for her sister’s hand in marriage, and she gives her consent.
The only word of Ashley is that he was in a Yankee prison for the last year of the war. One
day he finally appears coming up the long road towards Tara. Melanie and Scarlett both rush to greet him, but Will stops Scarlett by saying, "He"s her husband, ain"t he?" Scarlett reluctantly hangs back, but is nonetheless euphoric over Ashley"s return.
Part Four Tara"s former overseer, Yankee Jonas Wilkerson raises the taxes on Tara to force the O"Haras out so that he and his wife, Emmie Slattery, can live there. Frantic to save Tara and anxious to keep Jonas and Emmie out, Scarlett goes to Atlanta to beg Rhett for money. By asking Mammy to sew Scarlet a dress out of her deceased mother"s curtains, she is able to feign wealth in front of Rhett, and also feigns an interest in him. He momentarily buys it, until he takes notice of her ragged hands, which suggest the back-breaking work she"s been doing. He announces that he wouldn"t give her the money if he could, to which she declares she hopes he gets hanged, and storms out in the rain. Upon leaving the jail, she runs into Frank Kennedy, now a successful store owner, and in desperation, manipulates Frank to believe that an impatient Suellen is to marry someone else. Frank, saddened by Suellen"s supposed defection and unable to resist Scarlett"s charms, marries her and gives her the tax money. After Rhett gets out of jail, he lends her more so that she can buy a sawmill, with the promise that she will not use the money to help Ashley Wilkes.
To her dismay, Scarlett becomes pregnant with Frank’s child. She earns the wrath of the "Old Guard" of Atlanta society when she continues showing herself in public when pregnant and succeeding in the man"s world of business.
Scarlett receives word from Tara her father Gerald has died. When she returns to Tara for the funeral, Will tells her about the circumstances of his death. Suellen had tried to persuade a disoriented Gerald to sign the Ironclad Oath (to the Yankee government) for money. Briefly lucid, Gerald realizes her intentions, flies into a rage and disowns Suellen. In an attempt to jump a fence with his horse, he falls and breaks his neck. The community despises Suellen for her part in Gerald’s death. Scarlett, struggling with her family’s
poverty, quietly agrees with her. Despite his love for Carreen, Will announces his intention to marry Suellen to assuage the community’s animosity toward her. Carreen, unable to recover from the death of Brent Tarleton at Gettysburg, enters the convent. After Gerald"s funeral, Scarlett manipulates Ashley into returning to Atlanta to run her sawmill, wanting to stop him from leaving for the North to find work. Being dependent on Scarlett and having to work for her breaks Ashley"s spirit and independence.
Scarlett regularly drives alone to and from the sawmill, despite being warned against...
