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Rachel Dinsmore
Aughenbaugh
English 12
23 December, 2014
The Evolution of Women in Relation to Gone With the Wind
The people who have brains and courage come through and the ones who havent are winnowed
out, (Mitchell 162). Gone with the Wind is an epic tale, telling the heart wrenching story of a
young girl who must completely shed her old life only to adopt a much more difficult and trying
one filled with hardships. Though all the odds are against her, young Scarlett shows what true
woman power is and overcomes every obstacle that is thrown her way. Mitchell, the author of
this American classic, captivates her audience giving them a strong independent girl that women
everywhere can admire and aspire to be. Gone with the Wind is an extraordinary representation
of the evolution of women and their rights, creating a vivid and realistic depiction of the life of a
southern women and how it changes. Mitchell uses Scarlett OHara as a representation of the
modern day woman. Scarletts rare headstrong and lively personality illustrates that women had a
strong and positive influence on Civil War society. Mitchells novel was not always celebrated,
but in todays modern society it is finally getting the credit it deserves;
Haskells argument is mounted on feminist principles that at first glance seem
antithetical to a film widely regarded as pre-feminist fluff. She contends that Themes centering
on women are always an inferior subject matter to socially conscious critics of literature and
film. After 70 years of GWTW bashing, a credible critic says Not so fast! (Haskell 4)

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Margaret Mitchell was born in 1900 in Atlanta, Georgia. Mitchell was a bright young girl
whose parents adored her. Mitchells father was a successful lawyer and her mother was a
suffragist; both prided themselves on having an intelligent and strong daughter. Mitchell picked
up her love of reading at a young age, being able to analyze and connect with characters and
themes in books well above her age range. Mitchell went on to Smith College where she adopted
the name Peggy. She began writing her novel Gone with the Wind soon after. Mitchell married
the successful businessman Berrien Kinard Upshaw, thinking that she would have the perfect
white picket fence life, unfortunately she was sadly mistaken. Upshaw was an extremely
violent man both physically and mentally. Although Mitchell was an extremely strong woman,
she could not bring herself to leave him for quite some time. Eventually she did leave him and
went on to marry John Mash, who ironically was the best man at Mitchell and Upshaws
wedding. Mitchell kept a steady job working for the Atlantic Journal but quit soon after
marrying Mash to work on her novel, (scource)
Most believe that the hardships Mitchell faced gave her inspiration to write such a
captivating piece of work. Mitchell took inspiration from the strength she gained from leaving an
abusive relationship in creating the character Scarlett OHara. Mitchell used Scarlett to show the
strength a woman really had, making her character take charge during a time of hardship and
difficulties. Mitchell took ten years to finish her novel; in 1936 Gone with the Wind was
published. The novel instantly became a best seller and went on to win the Pulitzer Prize in 1937.
Mitchell suffered an untimely death in 1949 after being hit by a taxi operated by a drunk driver,
Mitchell was taken to Grady Memorial hospital and died there soon after the accident. Though
Mitchells death was unfortunate, her memory lives on through her novel. (source).

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Mitchells novel takes place in Georgia during the Civil War in the 1860s. The war was
very popular during this time period, men could not get enough of talk of war and women
absolutely hated it (support for this). Southerners believed that the Yankees could be beaten
within a matter of days. Their confidence was astounding given the fact the northern fleet had
much more man power as well as machines and weapons (support for this). Their confidence was
quickly flattened when the war actually began at Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861. The
Confederates were no match for the Union army; in the end and on April 9, 1865 the
Confederates surrendered after more than half a million lives were lost. The wars aftermath
brought on the reconstruction era. With the economy in ruins, plantations barely making enough
to keep afloat, the Ku Klux Klan murdering innocent Blacks, and the rising tension between the
southerners and carpetbaggers, the Reconstruction Act was founded on March 2, 1867. This
separated the former confederacy changing the lives of women and men alike forever. (tell why
reconstruction act changed everything).
Despite the lives that were taken, the southerners were proud of their part in the war,
losing the war did bring change, especially with womens role in society. Before the war, women
were seen as somewhat of an object, something that could be bought or won with the right kind
of prodding by the right kind of man. Their only goal in life was to marry a rich man and have
beautiful children; and those were more than often their only responsibilities, besides the select
few women who helped run plantations and those who managed the staff. Men were the bread
winners of the family, they assumed most responsibilities, taking care of the plantations, buying
live stock or slaves, or finding new land to call their own. The society at this time could be view
as very sexist, due to the fact that women were born and raised only to learn how to cook, clean,
win a husband, and take care of a child. While the men had rights, the right to vote, to drink, to

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gamble, women could only dream of doing such things (evidence of sexism). Nevertheless,
women had never known anything different, so it was just regarded as the normal behavior, until
the Civil War that is. Mitchell does a wonderful job in her novel portraying the beginning roles
of women in society, and their evolution before and after the war. Using her real life experiences
with struggle and hardship Mitchell tells an amazing story how a war completely remade a
society into one more like our modern day world.
Within Mitchells novel Gone with the Wind, her main character, Scarlett OHara is an
extremely strong women. She lives on a plantation that her family had names Tara with her
mother, father, two sister, and the servants that worked on the plantation. Scarlett was raised how
every young girl is, but a fire burned deep within her, a fire that wanted to see the world and
break the rules. Scarlett was in love with the dashing Ashley Wilkes, Scarlett means to tell him
this, only to find out that he is engaged to his cousin Melanie Hamilton. Scarlett is enraged and at
a barbeque she gets into a fight with Ashley, expressing her love for him in hopes he will say the
same, Ashley does not and leaves Scarlett to calm down. This whole time the dangerous Rhett
Butler is listening and watching. Appalled Scarlett dashes away, only to find herself flirting with
Charles Hamilton and eventually agreeing to marry him to spite Ashley.
The war begins that day as well, and Scarlett and Charles are married within a week
before he goes to war. During this time Scarlett becomes pregnant and Charles dies from
sickness within a month of his leaving. Scarlett moves to Atlanta to stay with Melanie and her
aunt; although this is not exactly what she wanted, she falls in love with Atlanta. While there, she
develops a relationship with Rhett Butler. This is very much frowned upon, but Scarletts wild
side is dying to have someone like Rhett to challenge her. As the war goes on, the enemy creeps
closer, eventually attacking Tara and the surrounding towns and plantations. When Scarlett hears

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of this, she knows she must go back to save what was left of Tara. Upon arrival she sees that her
mother has died from sickness, and her father is left mentally unstable because of it. To get
money, Scarlett goes back to Atlanta and marries Frank Kennedy to inherit his business and
money. Within some time she ends up running the business and opens her own lumber yard,
proving that Frank is worthless. Frank dies, and Scarlett marries Rhett. Though as soon as this
happens, Melanie dies and Scarlett goes after Ashley.
Rhett finds out about Scarletts feeling for Ashley and leaves her. Scarlett realizes that the
Ashley she knew was taken in the war and only a hallow shell of the man that used to be
remains. When she realizes she wants Rhett back it is too late and Rhett tells her his famous
words, My dear, I dont give a damn, (Mitchell 972). The novel ends illustrating Scarletts
strength as a survivor.
Mitchell portrays the evolution of women extraordinarily in her novel, mainly with her
main character Scarlett. Scarlett is a prime example of the simple southern lady; she was raised
to fulfill her purpose, which was to find a suitable husband, have children, and take care of them.
She dresses in the finest fashion to attract the attention of men, attends all the parties and
barbeques, and basically has the perfect life. The problem is that this is only on the outside Many
girls during this time period had a fire inside of them, but this was repressed due to the old
southern ways. Women like Scarlett knew what they wanted and knew how to get it, and like her,
they were not afraid to bend the rules if it meant getting what they wanted. These women
appeared during and after the war, when their true strength was needed and tested on a daily
basis. That brought on a time where women like Rosa Parks or Amelia Earhart changed society.
As the war begins, Scarlett is still her old self, a silly young girl only worried about what
she wanted and how she was going to get it. She had no real responsibilities in life, which was

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not her fault it was just how every young girl was raised. As the war progressed so did Scarlett.
When Scarlett moved to Atlanta for her indefinite stay she was not pleased with it, but she went
at it head first hoping to find something that brings a spark back into her dull life. During her
visit she realizes that she had lost herself, and that with the war comes changing of society, so
she rids of her mourning clothes and quickly and quickly falls into a more interesting life with
Rhett. Though this is selfish of her, it shows her shedding some of her good girl appearance to do
what really makes her happy. Though this does brighten her mood, she still has the nagging
thoughts of Ashley and living with his wife does nothing to help. Scarlett begins her stay
loathing Melanie, not giving her a chance; but as her stay lengthens she realizes that Melanie is
one of the few who wants Scarlett to be truly happy. Because of this Scarlett puts her feelings
aside showing a maturity that did not exist before. (textual support)
Though the changes in Scarlett are somewhat miniscule at first, she continues to progress.
As the war grows closer to Atlanta, Scarlett must get her hands dirty and help at the hospital
mending wounded soldiers. At some points during this the old selfish Scarlett peaks out, but is
put to rest by her growing maturity and realization that help is needed (prove). When the enemy
reaches Atlantas doorstep, Melanie is about to give birth at any day and cannot be moved though
the town is being evacuated. This is a point of evolution for Scarlett, where she quits her old
selfish ways to do what is right. Scarlett stays with Melanie through her excruciating labor,
helping her give birth and keeping Melanie alive though she has no medical training. Before the
war, this was something Scarlett would never even have the slightest drive to do, but with her
new found strength she finds it in herself to save both Melanie and the babys life by taking them
back to Tara with her.

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They all make the dangerous trip back to Tara, Scarlett knows she must go back because
it is her responsibility to bring Tara back to life after losing so much. Though she knows this
could mean death, it must be done (prove). Not only does this show fantastic bravery, but a
beautiful will to go on and to make things right again. Tara is destroyed, her mother is dead and
her father is insane, instead of giving up Scarlett takes Tara as her own and rebuilds it. The girl
who was once a selfish silly girl is now the resurrector of Tara. She sheds her expensive gowns
for simple and practical dresses that she can work in, and she does work day and night to make
Tara beautiful again. Unfortunately, the taxes are raised and Scarlett has to make another difficult
decision to leave Tara in the care of a friend and to go back to Atlanta to find money. Scarlett
knows this is her last chance to save her once great home and has no doubt in her mind that she
will do just that. (prove)
Scarletts original plan is to ask Rhett for the money, but he insults her quickly and she
turns down his help out of pride. She is forced to make a rash decision when she sees Frank
Kennedy in his store in town. Frank is her younger sisters beau but Scarlett knows that she
needs the money that Franks store brings in. She marries Frank; though some may say this is an
awful thing to do to ones own sister, Scarlett has to find the strength to do what she must to save
her beloved Tara. This destroys her image but by this time she did not care what people think of
her. She only cares about saving Tara and taking care of her responsibilities. (prove)
Not to Scarletts surprise, Frank ends up being a lousy businessman, so Scarlett takes
over the store. Within moths she had made more money than Frank had made in years. What was
supposed to be a mans job, Scarlett was running flawlessly. Using her modern day woman
qualities such as her strength and ambition, she broke down the barrier between men and women
in the work force and took control of an entire business, only to open up her own lumber yard a

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few months later. Scarlett was an extremely successful businesswoman. Although during the
Civil War period people saw this as absurd and inappropriate. Scarlett could not have cared less;
she was making money. Within a few years Frank dies, leaving Scarlett to tend to her businesses
herself. With time she grows lonely and seeks out Rhett for comfort. Soon after, they marry and
become the ultimate power couple. Scarlett has completely changed, becoming a powerful
woman who could not only take care of herself, but she could do it better than any man. (prove)
After she confesses her love for Ashley and Rhett leaves her, Scarlett is faced with yet
another life-altering decision. Like many times before, she chooses what makes her most happy,
which is to be with Rhett. Scarlett shows extreme bravery by going to Rhett and begging for him
back; even though Rhett rebuffs her, the old Scarlett would never have gone after a man. She
would have waited for him to make the move, out of pride. Crushed, Scarlett returns to Tara, but
instead of putting her head down like a lady should, she resolves to find some way to get Rhett
back no matter what it takes. She goes home living by the inspirational motto that tomorrow is
another day.
Like many great women throughout history Scarlett had to overcome struggles and
hardships every day; she rose to the challenge, becoming a strong, powerful, modern women.
Just as was stated before, this novel is a vivid and realistic depiction of the evolution of women
and their strength;
Scarlett manages to overcome adversity through brute strength of will. She emerges as a
feminist heroine because she relies on herself alone and survives the Civil War and
Reconstruction unaided. She rebuilds Tara after the Yankee invasion and works her way up in the
new political order, taking care of helpless family members and friends along the way. Mitchell
suggests that overcoming adversity sometimes requires ruthlessness. Scarlett becomes a cruel

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businesswoman and a domineering wife, willingly coarsening herself in order to succeed.

(Sparknotes Gone With the Wind).
Scarlett went from being known as just a piece of property, a trophy to be won, to
becoming a successful businesswomen in a time where women were seen as weak and
ineffective. Ill think of it all tomorrow, at Tara. I can stand it then. Tomorrow Ill think of some
way to get him back. After all, tomorrow is another day, (Mitchell. 983). Mitchell uses Scarlett
as a representation of the changing of gender roles within the Civil War time period. Mitchell

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Works Cited
Alexander, Bryan. Gone With the Wind 75 years USA Today 25 Sept. 2014: O2D. Biography
in Context. Web. 15 Dec. 2014.
Gone With the Wind: Character profiles Novelguide.com. Novel Guide, n.d. Web. 45 Dec.
2014.
Gone With the Wind Literary Themes for Students. Ed. Anne Marie Hatch. Volume 1. New
York: Gale Research, 2006. 242-256. Print.
Gone With the Wind Novels for Students. Ed. Deborah A. Stanley. Volume 9. New York: Gale
Research, 2000. 91-108. Print.
Gone With the Wind Spark Notes. N.p., 2014. Web. 15 Dec. 2014.
Mitchell, Margaret. Gone With the Wind. New York: Macmillan Publishing Co, 1936. Print.
Racy post of the women who created Scarlett Daily Mail. [London England] 22 Nov. 2014: 17.
Biography in Context. Web. 15 Dec. 2014.