On the Characterization of Scarlett inGone With the WindByXu XiaoliA 2008 Undergraduate of the School of Foreign Languages of Anqing TeachersCollegeSupervisor: Cheng YaoMay 23rd, 2008On the Characterization of ScarlettinGone With the WindThesis statement: This passage states the four periods of thecharacterization of Scarlett, as a charming,naive, selfish, vain and carefree girl at thebeginning, the war and life urge Scarlettgrow up as a brave, determined, masculine,indomitable and strong-willed woman.OutlineI. IntroductionA. Introduction about Gone With the Wind and Margaret Mitchell.B. The social background of Gone With the Winda. The Civil War in the U.S.A.b. The Reconstruction after the Civil WarⅡ. Analysis of the character of Scarlett in four periodsA. Naive, vain obstinate, vigorous, charming, self-important and egocentric in early life in Tara.B. Brave, selfish, carefree, self-centered and responsible in the first period of living in Atlanta.C. Brave, selfish, greedy, determined, obstinate and self-striving in the second period of living in Tara.D. Selfish, independent, determined, indomitable and self-centered in the second period of living in Atlanta.Ⅲ. ConclusionOn the Characterization of Scarlett in Gone With the WindAuthor: Xu Xiaoli Supervisor: Cheng YaoI. IntroductionA. Introduction about Gone With the Wind and Margaret Mitchell.Margaret Mitchell was born in Antlanta, Georgia, where she lived her entire life. The daughter of Eugene Mitchell, an attorney and president of Antlanta Historical Society. She attended Smith College for one year, but the death of her mother required her to return home to manage the household of her father and her older brother. An unsucessful marriage to Berrien Upshaw in 1922 ended in divorce, and in 1925, shemarried John Robert Marsh. A year after their marriage, she forced to resign her position with the Antlanta Journal as a result of an ankle injury. With the encouragement of John, she begen to write novel. Mitchell spent six months rechecking the historical facts of the novel. On several occasions, she stated that she took greater pride in its accurate dates, places, dialects and architectural details than in its plot or style. The novel did not appear until 30 June, because the Book-of-the-Month Club chose it as the July selection. Most of the reviews ranged from favorable to enthusiastic, with the exception of those in the “left-wing”press, which condemned it as a glorification of racism.In any case, the book broke all publication records: 50,000 copies sold in one day, a million sold in six months, two million in a year. The entire nation seemed entranced with the gigantic novel (1,037 pages and Award in 1937. On 30 July 1936 she signed a contract with David O. Selznick granting her the film rights for $50,000—the highest fee Hollywood had ever paid for a novel at that time. For more than three years, she steadily resisted efforts to involve her in making the motion picture, though she was successful, she was not to be free of the novel. She had to become an international businesswoman, dealing with copyrights, translations, and piracies until she died in a traffic accident in 16 Aug, 1949.B. The social background of Gone with the Winda. The Civil War in the U. S. A.American Civil War (1861–1865) was a sectional conflict in the United States of America between the federal government (the "Union") led by President Abraham Lincoln and the Republican Party. 11 Southern slave States led by President Jefferson Davis, on opposing expansion of slavery and rejecting any right of secession. Fighting began on April 12, 1861 when Confederate forces attacked a Federal fort.In 1861, the Union asserted control of the Border States and established a naval blockade as both sides raised large armies. In 1862, the large, bloody battles began. After the Battle of Antietam in September 1862, Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation made the freeing of the slaves a war goal, despite opposition from Copperheads who supported slavery and secession. In the East, Robert Edward Lee rolled up a series of Confederate victories over the Army of the Potomac. In the West, the Union Navy captured the port of New Orleans in 1862, and Ulysses S. Grant seized control of the Mississippi River by capturing Vicksburg, Mississippi in July 1863, thus splitting the Confederacy. By 1864, long-term Union advantages in geography, manpower, industry, finance, political organization and transportation. Grant fought a number of bloody battleswith Lee in Virginia in the summer of 1864. Lee won in a tactical sense but lost strategically. In 1865, the Confederacy collapsed after Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox Court House and the slaves were freed.The full restoration of the Union was the work of a highly contentious postwar era known as Reconstruction. The war produced war, the reasons for its outcome, and even the name of the war itself are subjects of lingering controversy even today. The main results of the war were the restoration and strengthening of the Union, and the end of slavery in the United States.b. The Reconstruction after the Civil WarReconstruction, one of the most turbulent and controversial eras in American history, began during the Civil War and ended in 1877. It witnessed America's first experiment in interracial democracy. Just as the fate of slavery was central to the meaning of the Civil War. Reconstruction remains relevant today, the role of the federal government in protecting citizens' rights, and the possibility of economic and racial justice are still unresolved.Central to Reconstruction was the effort of former slaves to breathe full meaning into their newly acquired freedom, and toclaim their rights as citizens. After rejecting the Reconstruction plan of President Andrew Johnson, the Republican Congress enacted laws and Constitutional amendments that empowered the federal government to enforce the principle of equal rights, and gave black Southerners the right to vote and hold office. The new Southern governments confronted violent opposition from the Ku Klux Klan and similar groups. Meantime, the North abandoned its commitment to protect the rights of the former slaves. Reconstruction ended, and white supremacy was restored throughout the South.For much of this century, Reconstruction was widely viewed as an era of corruption and misgovernment, supposedly caused by allowing blacks to take part in politics. This interpretation helped to justify the South's system of racial segregation and deny the vote to blacks. Today, because of extensive new research and profound changes in American race relations, historians view Reconstruction far more favorably, as a time of genuine progress for former slaves and the South as a whole.For all Americans, Reconstruction was a time of fundamental social, economic, and political change. The overthrow of Reconstruction left to future generations the troublesome problem of racial justice.Ⅱ. Analysis of the character of Scarlett in four periods Scarlett is complicated. On one hand, she is vain, rebel, selfish, egocentric, self-centered and self-indulgent, on the other hand, she is imbued with wise, inherited brave, determined, independent, responsible, obstinate and self-striving gleams. All these characters have a deep and determinative influence on her life and love.Scarlett’s characterization shows up in four periods in Gone With the Wind. At the beginning of the novel living in Tara, Scarlett is a wild and strong-willed lady. She is not only charming and attractive, but also vain, willful, naive and selfish. When Scarlett first lives in Atlanta, the disappointment of love and the suffering of the war make her become brave and responsible, and she is selfish and carefree. Coming back to her home Tara, in order to keep her home around, Scarlett becomes brave, determined, obstinate, self-striving and greedy. Then when Scarlett goes back to Atlanta, she is independent, determined, indomitable and self-centered.A.Vain, naive, obstinate, vigorous, charming, self-importantand egocentric in early in Tara.In this period of life, Scarlett is a vain, charming, selfish, willful, carefree, egotistic and self-impotant girl.Living in Tara, Scarlett is a young lady. At the beginning of this novel, Scarlett is only 16 years old. She is naive, charming, vigorous and carefree. At the same time, the only thing for Scarlett is to dress up beautifully and looks for an ideal husband.She could never long endure any conversation of which she is not the chief subject, and she hopes that every man should pay attention only to her. Because of her father Gerald’s spoiling, Scarlett possesses manly characters. She rides horse and climbs trees. Scarlett disobeys her mother Ellen and Mummy Jincy’s orders and words. Whatever she wants to do, she does. In the early life in Tara, Scarlett’s characters develop freely. Her egotistic, stubborn and vain characters come into being.Scarlett thinks that she is the center of the world and all the boys must fall in love with her. Scarlett falls in love with Ashley at the first sight. When twin brothers tell her that Ashley and his cousin Melanie, a plain and gentle girl from Atlanta, are going to be married. Shocked, Scarlett sits in silence until the two leave, without inviting them to dinner. Ignoring her mammy’s cautions against the cold, she goes to meet her father to confirm the news. Scarlett thinks that Ashley should love her without dispute, so she cannot understand the engagement of Melanie and Ashley. She wants to marry Ashley, and tri es her best. In this period, Scarlett’s important parts of her complex characters are her selfishness and contravention to the conventional manner. For example, she plans to have a big eat at the barbecue at the Twelve Oaks, ignoring of her status and her Mammy’s warnings. She dances with all boys. After discovering the truth of the engagement, Scarlett is miserable. She determines to get Ashley back from Melanie. She plans to make Ashley jealous by surrounding herself with boys in love with herat the barbecue at the Wilkes plantation of Twelve Oaks, then admits to him that she prefers him above all others. Things do not go according to plan, when she finds Ashley later, he tells her that though he loves her he will still marry Melanie.Charles Hamilton, Me lanie’s brother, himself in love with Scarlett, proposes later in the evening, and to hurt Ashley she accepts, then gets married in the head of Melanie and Ashley’s wedding. Scarlett marries Charles impulsively simply because Ashley rejects her love. The self-centered girl cannot receive the humility. Capriciously she marries Charles just because“he has a lot of money , and he hasn’t any parents to bother me and he lives in Atlanta. And if I married him right away, it would show Ashley that I did not care a rap that I was only flirting with him. And it would just kill Honey. She had never, never catch another beau and everybody’s laugh fit to die at her, and it would hurt Melanie, because she loves Charles so much, and it would hurt Stu and Brent.”1What a self –important girl, she never considers others’feelings. All her words and deeds show that Scarlett’s these characters.B. Brave, selfish, carefree, self-centered and responsible in the first period of living in Atlanta.In this period, Scarlett’s self ish character develops, so does her favor to free and happiness. Scarlett’s contravention also grows. Meanwhile, the changing of her circumstance also gives her a lot. She knows how to live in hard times. Scarlett’sresponsible character also can be found in this period of living in Atlanta.Two months later, going away from war, Charles, Scarlett’s husband dies of the measles. Scarlett becomes a widow. With complicated feelings, Scarlett goes to Atlanta. Atlanta is the very city that provides a place to de velop Scarlett’s characters.Scarlett’s ego reveals in a charity ball in the city to raise funds for the war. She is asked to sell things for the Confederate Cause, which she does not care about at all. ―Scarlett’s first thought was one of deep thankfu lness that mourning forbade her wearing her precious earbobs and the heavy gold and black enameled bracelets and the garnet brooch‖.2When a donation basket goes around for jewelry to sell for the Confederacy, Scarlett throws in her wedding ring, seizing upon a way to be rid of it without invoking public censure. She does not like to talk about the war. She dislikes the war. In fact, she does not care about the war. She just cares about herself. She is indifferent with Charles’ death. It is true that she is very sad, but what she is sad about is not because her husband is dead, but because now she is a widow, she can no longer wear the beautiful dresses and she can not dance any more, even a greet to young men is forbidden. She only cares for herself! As a young widow, her thoughts and activities are the same as before, but her status of a widow prevents her from dancing, which she always loves to do. Careless of the disapproval of her friends and other people, she behaves as she behaved before her marriage —goes to the parties, dances, goes riding with soldiers and flirts, does everything she has done as a girl, except stops wearing mourning. She is as charming as a girl is. When Rhett Butler bids 150 dollars in gold at the charity ball, and against popular outrage, Scarlett accepts. She gleefully dances all night with Rhett.Scarlett also works as a seller and a nurse. To be a seller or a nurse, does not mean that she wants to help others or serve her motherland. “Certainly, there was nothing romantic about nursing. To her, it meant groans, delirium, death and smells.”3 She just wants to make herself be busy and release her depression of being a widow.At the same time, Scarlett still loves Ashley, and her love to him does not reduce. Ashley visits for Christmas, and Scarlett jealously watches Melanie give him a beautiful coat of precious grey wool, while all she has for him is a scarf. The day Ashley leaves, Scarlett again reveals her true feelings to him, hoping Ashley tell her that on the inside he loves her too. However, Ashley does not. Scarlett promises Ashley that she will look after Melanie and see his family. Scarlett keeps her promise to Ashley in the whole novel.Atlanta is falling. Scarlett wants to turn back to Tara for help. However, Melanie is going to give birth. Without the doctor’s help, Scarlett becomes a midwife and delivers her child. What a brave girl! She does not leave Melanie alone. She keeps her promise. When the Yankees begin their march on Atlanta,with the help of Rhett, Scarlett takes weakened Melanie, her baby, Wade and Prissy back to Tara. This period of life takes Scarlett’s feelings of sympathy and responsibility back.C. Brave, selfish, greedy, determined, obstinate and self-striving in the second period of living in Tara.This period of living is a turning point of Scarlett’s characters and life. She is no longer a willful and vain widow, but a brave, determined, obstinate, self-striving and greedy proprietor. She shows her incredible willpower and determination .The people who live in Tara are shocked by her change. Readers are also moved by her braveness and determination.Arriving home at Tara, Scarlett finds the house in ruins, the food gone, the crops burned, most of the slaves run off, her mother Ellen dead, her father Gerald with dementia, and her two sisters sick with typhoid. She has to look after Melanie for she just gives birth to a child…In a word, the war throws her into a homeless and starved state. However, Scarlett does not give up. Scarlett has to become strong. She tries every means to save Tara. She grasps the reins of authority and tries to turn the place around. She forces her family and the slaves to tend fields and pick cotton. When a Yankee soldier intrudes, she even kills him and takes away his treasure. Scarlett works hard everyday to keep her family around. She works on the fields. She does not forget her promise to Ashley; she takes care of Melanie and herbaby. At the Reconstruction, she rebuilds her family and manages her family.Her brave words and deeds shock Ashley, Tara and readers. She is no longer a willful and vain widow, just as the novel goes: ―Somewhere on the long road that would through those four years, the girl with her sachet and dancing slippers had slipped away and there was left a woman with a sharp green eyes, who counted pennies and turns her hands to many menial tasks, a woman to whom nothing was left grim the wreckage except the indestructible red earth on which she stood.‖4 Scarlett suffers the Civil War; she is in hungriness and poverty. All these sufferings make her realize that the power of money and land is great. She must grasp money and land. For money, she even can throw away her morals and becomes greedy and deceptive. When she cannot offer the tax money, she goes to Rhett. She knows that Rhett loves her, and more important he is rich. Scarlett plans to take the advantage of Rhett’s love to her and her charming to borrow some money. But Scarlett fails to borrow money. The second period of living in Tara urges Scarlett to grow up a lot. A greedy, determined, obstinate and self-striving Scarlett can be found in this period.D. Selfish, independent, determined, indomitable and self-centered in the second period of living in Atlanta.This period is the summit of the development of Scarlett’s characters. Scarlett’s philosophy makes a big change, because of thedisappointment of love and the sufferings of war and life. She thinks that if she wants to survive in an unstable society and live a good life, money and es tate are indispensable. Scarlett’s selfness and greediness grow. She becomes more and more selfish and greedy. At the same time, her successful management of mill shows that she has the character of a prosperous bourgeois. In this period, we can see a selfish, independent, determined, indomitable and self-centered Scarlett.Scarlett fails to borrow money from Rhett Butler. Desperate, she sees Frank Kennedy, her sister Suellen’s beau, a new stone-owner. Scarlett is going to lose everying she had. But Suellen can get a rich husband. Scarlett thinks:“Suellen should not have Ftank and his mill! Sullen didn’t deserve them.”5 She wants to save Tara. She lies to Frank(Sullen’s fiance)that Sullen is going to marry someone else. Frank, saddened by Sullen’s defectio n, and likes all men, unable to resist Scarlett’s charms, marries her and gives her the tax money. Scarlett does not love Frank, but she gets him. She thinks coldly : “Certainly, he’s no beauty ,and he’s got bad teeth and his breath smells bad and he’s old enough t o be my father. Moreover, he’s nervous and timid and well meaning, and I don’t know of any more damning qualities a man can have. But at least, he’s a gentleman and I believe I could stand living with him better than with Rhett. Certainly I could manage him easier. At any rate, beggars can’tbe choosers.”6 She does not care of others including her sister Suellen.After the complete moral collapse which has sent Scarlett to Atlanta to Rhett, the appropriation of her sister’s betrothed seems a minor affair and she can not to be bothered with at this time. In such kind of society, as her aim, Scarlett pays much more attention to achieve her goal. Her own desire is much more important than that of the responsibity to the traditional society. Scarlett does not love Frank, but in order to save Tara, she sacrifices herself and marries him. Because she needs money to pay for the taxes on Tara, and Frank happens to be the only person except for Rhett who has the amount of money. In other words, if other people have the amount of money, she will also choose him. In addition, she has no feeling towards Frank, worse still, she used to despise him.She is independent when she marries Frank. Taking the advantage of her husband’s illness, she is in charge of the business. And she no longer respects her husband, but manages everything by herself. She cares nothing of her husband tells her.She is also a successful businesswoman. She uses convicts at the sawmill for labor to save money, a shocking decision. She even runs business with Yankees. When she is pregnant, she is also doing well in business. At last, she earns a lot of money. Shebecomes a successful businesswoman and cares nothing what other people criticize on her. In other words, she is just self-centered.Scarlett is determined and indomitable. We can see, all misery and pain does not make her becomes a loser but a fighter of life. After the war she knows that she can not keep up her former lifestyles. Not as Ashley cries for the old days, Scarlett goes forward bravely.Without caring of others’ criticism, she only thinks for herself. And she is quite rebellious because she accepts Rhett’s proposal of marriage just when she becomes a widow. However, her marriage with Rhett is a tragedy, although she chooses the marriage by herself. Before she realizes that she love Rhett, she takes advantages of him very much without considering Rhett’s feeling. Finally she finds that Rhett is the man who she loves heartily, however, it is too late — Rhett already loses heart and leaves her. But Scarlett is strong and confident. Through her persistent trying, Rhett comes back to her in the end. She says:“I’ll think of it all tomorrow, at Tara. I can stand it then. Tomorrow, I’ll think of some way to get him back. Af ter all, tomorrow is another day.”7Ⅲ. ConclusionScarlett O’Hara lives in the Confederacy and everyone there is for fighting for his or her noble cause.The young belle Scarlett is forced to dothings she never thinks as a girl of her class. Throughout the novel, she is faced with serious problems. Scarlett plainly states, she will not think of problems today, she will think of it tomorrow, for tomorrow is another day, which of course she never does. However, such idea makes her character stay strong, although sometimes makes her live in a daydream. Without telling herself tomorrow is another day, Scarlett would have broken down in the very beginning after the war had started.Scarlett’s character is complicated. She is brave, determined, obstinate, independent and self-striving. All these characters have a deep influence on her life and love. She claims to strive and compete to gain success, even deceive and speculate others. She is a successful self-fighter and pragmatist. At the beginning of the novel living in Tara, Scarlett is a wild and strong-willed lady. She is not only charming and attractive, but also vain, willful, naive and selfish. When Scarlett first lives in Atlanta, the disappointment of love and the suffering of the war make her become brave and responsible, and she is selfish and carefree. Coming back to her home Tara, in order to keep her home around, Scarlett becomes brave, determined, obstinate, self-striving and greedy. Then when Scarlett goes back to Atlanta, she is independent, determined, indomitable and self-centered. So in my viewpoint, the whole novel shows the four periods of the characterization of Scarlett. From a young charming, vain and self-centered girl, Scarlett gradually grows up as a brave, determined, hard working, independent and self-striving woman, urged by the war and life.Endnotes1. Margaret Mitchell. Chapter 6. Gone With the Wind. Yilin Press, 1996, pp. 1282. Mitchell. 1853. Mitchell. 1584. Mitchell. 4825. 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Courage Bks., 2007董金伟《飘》的魅力、价值与特色西安外国语学院报第7卷第2期，1999邓华论郝思嘉的性格特征邵阳学院报第6期，2003郭艳玲黑色的坚毅—小说《飘》主人公的性格分析辽宁师范大学学报〈社会科学版〉第5期，2007郭元中论《飘》的思想倾向河南师范大学报，2002马格丽特·米切尔飘戴倪，李野光，庄绎传，译人民教育出版社，1990栗玖玲存在的虚无与成长的孤独—《飘》的解构之一河南师范大学学报〈哲学社会科学版〉第4期，2007孙宇郝思嘉的现实主义性格特征透析哈尔滨学院学报第24卷第10期，2003施经碧简析《飘》的主题南京理工大学学报第17卷第2期，2004谈小兰从历史的角度解读《飘》西北民族大学学报第2期，2004汪文忠寻找自我—论《飘》之主人公郝思嘉的生存状态安徽教育学院学报第2期，2007郑可鲁主编外国文学史〈修订版〉浙江人民出版社，2006致谢时间飞逝，大学的学习生活很快就要过去，在这四年的学习生活中，收获了很多，而这些成绩的取得是和一直关心帮助我的人分不开的。
