“Scarlett O’Hara is not beautiful.” Neither is Lisa Rabey.
“Men seldom realize that.” Same thing in my case.
Those words in quotes, are the first words in the book “Gone with the Wind”, which has captivated me since I was nine.
Every since then, the period and the person I have always admired the most, albeit fictionally, was Scarlett O’Hara and the civil war.
Why?
In the movie version of the book, Scarlett is portrayed as being flakey, flighty and shallow. While the main theme seemingly seems to run towards the love/romance/Civil War/anti-bellum period, I have always disregarded these passing fancies of opinions. Scarlett O’Hara is just not another ditzy woman, she is a someone worthy of respect and admiration.
She is strong.
Scarlett’s past (which we read about in “GWTW”) shows her having a semi-charmed life. She is the belle of Clayton County, Georgia, she’s madly in love with Ashley Wilkes and she has more beau’s then she does tea gowns.
But the war changes everything.
Always head strong, and independent, we watch Scarlett go through three marriages, (two of her husbands died by war and murder) moving to Atlanta. Scarlett takes over her second husband’s (Frank Kennedy) store (something totally unheard of in the 1860’s, a woman working publicly, a woman of “lady” demeanour and “good” background). She makes a killing in it. She starts expanding her business and goes into lumber, saloon and property management. She was a good little capitalist. 😉
She worked hard, she also played hard. She loved to party and have a good time. She loved having new adventures, and just living. She couldn’t understand all the rigmarole all the code of “ethics” that surrounded her during that period. Why should she wear black for mourning? Why should she have to show any respect for people who snubbed her because she lived life by HER rules and played to win?
She also loved hard. While it isn’t till later she fucking realizes she’s been in love with Rhett Butler the whole damn time, she doesn’t let go, she goes out and gets her man, anyway she knows how. She realizes her mistakes and she takes them into account and she just continues on. She doesn’t let anything stop her, come hell or high water.
I totally admire Scarlett. She is one of the very few “strong” female characters in english literature, hell, fictional or real life. She abhors weakness, she can’t stand people who don’t dream, have goals or just want to live. She was outspoken, opinionated and true only to herself.
Now, taking everything into account (which sounded more like a damn book report then reasons why), anyone who knows “me” a teeny bit, should have no problem seeing as to why I would pick her, and that time period. Scarlett took the world by the horns and wasn’t afraid to get it either. And she wasn’t prone to failure.
She was aggressive, strong, assertive, intelligent, flirtatious and totally charming.
Just like me.