Analysis Of Gone With The Wind

‘Gone with the Wind’ is an American epic historical romance film produced in 1939. It was based on the 1936 Pulitzer – winning novel of Margaret Mitchell. The story is set in Clayton County, Georgia and Atlanta during the American Civil War in the 1860s. This period is also known as Reconstruction Era. Originally, the name of the novel is ‘Tomorrow is Another Day’, according to the sentence ending story. However, the author chose the term ‘gone with the wind’ from a poem of Ernest Dowson, ‘Non Sum Qualis Eram Bonae sub Regno Cynarae’, to title her work.
Whereas Dowson used that term to indicate the loss of love, in Mitchell’s novel, “A Civilization has gone with the wind”. The wind here is not the physical one but the Civil War in the 1860s.

There were parties every week. They had dozens of slaves doing the hardiest tasks. The only thing they, the Southerners, had to do is maintaining their own code of honor. Gentlemen should be good at hunting and riding horse. A lady ought to eat like a bird and be silly to catch a husband. These people were so polite that “Whut gempmums says an’ whut dey thinks is two diffunt things”. Moreover, they were obsessed with the idea of cause and looked down on the Yankees – the Northerners. “The Yankees can’t fight and we can”. That made them support the Civil War without the thought of the fact that they could fail.
Although Scarlett O’Hara – the main character had something different from the ladies in the South, she had the same life with them. She had such a perfect life that she was vain, selfish and self-centered. To illustrate, Scarlett quickly agreed to marry Charles Hamilton to revenge Ashley Wilkes who she loved he did not want to build a family with her but his cousin, Melanie

Ashley and Melanie are the real Southerners. They follow every standard and rule in the South. Ashley is a gentlemen who is rich, intelligent and traditional. He admires Scarlett as she has a 17-inch waist which makes her be an ideal woman but still asked to marry Melanie because she is his cousin (The Wilkes has tradition of marrying their relatives). Besides, Melanie is a true lady. She is kind and sweet. She may be a bit silly or perhaps she can pretend well. That lets her be a perfect wife. In contrast, Scarlett is an intelligent woman and she always wants to show off. She knows how to be a real lady and want to be a real lady but she hates following the rules. Rhett is alike. He is abandoned by his family as he did not ask to marry a girl who everyone thought he should get married with. Whereas Ashley did not agree to fight but still joined the army, Rhett directly said to the Southerners that he would not support the war and their dream of victory. “I think it’s hard winning with word, gentlemen.” “I mean, Mr. Hamilton, that there’s not a cannon factory in the whole South.” “I’m saying very plainly that the Yankees are better equipped than we.” As the result, he is not welcomed by the public in Clayton County. Both Scarlett and Rhett want to fight against the criteria of a true