Scarlett O'Hara
Scarlett O'Hara (full name
Katie Scarlett O'Hara Hamilton Kennedy Butler) is the
protagonist in
Margaret Mitchell's novel,
Gone with the Wind, and in the later
film of the same name. Scarlett is also the main character in the 1991 book
Scarlett, a sequel to
Gone with the Wind that was written by
Alexandra Ripley, and in the
1994 television
mini-series based on the book.
Scarlett is not beautiful, as indicated by Margaret Mitchell's opening line, however she is a coquettish
Southern belle who grows up on the
Georgia plantation of Tara in the years before the
American Civil War. Scarlett is described as being 16 years old at the outbreak of the Civil War in
1861, which would put her approximate birthdate at about
1845. Selfish, shrewd and vain, Scarlett inherits the strong will of her
Irish father Gerald, but also desires to please her well-bred, genteel
French American mother Ellen, from a good
Savannah family. Scarlett loves
Ashley Wilkes, her
aristocratic neighbor, but when his engagement to meek and mild-mannered
Melanie Hamilton is announced, she marries Melanie's brother Charles out of spite. Her new husband dies early in the war, and Tara falls into the marauding hands of the Yankees. In the face of hardship, the spoiled Scarlett uncharacteristically shoulders the troubles of her family and friends, and eventually the not-so-grieving widow marries her sister's beau, Frank Kennedy, in order to get funds to restore her beloved home. Repeatedly, she challenges the prescribed women's roles of her time, as a result, she becomes very disliked by the people of Atlanta. Scarlett's ongoing internal
conflict between her feelings for the Southern gentleman Ashley and her attraction to the sardonic, opportunistic
Rhett Butler — who becomes her third husband — embodies the general position of
The South in the Civil War
era.
Scarlett by Alexandra Ripley is controversial to fans. Scarlett grows up over the course of the book, and while this is appealing and believable to some readers, others claim it cheapens the original novel and film and compromises her character. Either way,
Scarlett was a runaway best-seller after its publication in 1991.
In the 1939 film version of
Gone with the Wind, Scarlett O'Hara is similar to the character in the original novel, but there are some noticeable differences. In the book, Scarlett gives birth to three children: Wade Hampton Hamilton, Ella Lorena Kennedy, and Eugenia Victoria "Bonnie Blue" Butler. In the film version, only Bonnie Blue is mentioned. (In the novel
Scarlett, Scarlett O'Hara gives birth to another daughter by Rhett, Katie Colum "Cat" O'Hara Butler.)
While the studio and the public agreed that the part of Rhett Butler should go to Clark Gable (except for Clark Gable himself), casting for the role of Scarlett was a little harder. The search for an actress to play Scarlett in the film version of the novel famously drew the biggest names in the history of cinema â€"
"The Scarlett Letters" as it was affectionately called â€" such as
Bette Davis (whose casting as a Southern belle in
Jezebel in 1937 took her out of contention), and
Katharine Hepburn, who went so far as demanding an appointment with producer
David O. Selznick and saying "I am Scarlett O'Hara! The role is practically written for me." David replied rather bluntly "I can't imagine Rhett Butler chasing you for ten years."
Jean Arthur, and
Lucille Ball were also considered.
Susan Hayward was "discovered" when she tested for the part, and the career of
Lana Turner developed quickly after her screen test.
Joan Bennett was widely considered to be the most likely choice until she was supplanted by
Paulette Goddard. However, Goddard's failure to produce a marriage license between her and
Charlie Chaplin lost her the part.
The young English actress
Vivien Leigh, virtually unknown in America, saw that several English actors, including
Ronald Colman and
Leslie Howard, were in consideration for the male leads in
Gone with the Wind. Her agent happened to be the London representative of the
Myron Selznick talent agency, headed by David Selznick's brother, a co-owner of
Selznick International Pictures. Leigh asked her agent to put her name into consideration as Scarlett on the eve of the American release of her picture
Fire Over England in February 1938. David Selznick watched both
Fire Over England and her most recent picture,
A Yank at Oxford, that month, and from that time onward, Leigh had the inside track for the role of Scarlett. Selznick began highly confidential negotiations with
Alexander Korda, to whom Leigh was under contract, for her services later that year. Leigh was informed of Selznick's interest, and told that she would not need to screen test for the role at present as he would view her movies.
For publicity purposes, David Selznick arranged to first meet Leigh on the night in December 1938 when the burning of the Atlanta Depot was being filmed on the
Forty Acres backlot that Selznick International and
RKO shared. The story was invented for the press that Leigh and Laurence Olivier were just visiting as guests of Myron Selznick, who was also Olivier's agent, and that Leigh was in Hollywood hoping for a part in Olivier's current movie,
Wuthering Heights. In any case, Leigh was cast—despite public protest that the role was too "
American" for an English actress—and Leigh eventually won an
Academy Award for her performance.
In the 1994 TV mini-series based on the sequel
Scarlett, the character was played by
English actress
Joanne Whalley-Kilmer.
Part of Scarlett's enduring charm for women is her feminism, though recent critics have pointed out that many events in the novel are degrading to women. There is Rhett's ravishing of Scarlett (after which Scarlett is shown to have enjoyed herself immensely), Scarlett's apparent need of a man to be happy (whether it's Ashley Wilkes or Rhett Butler), and Melanie's sweet but submissive character (who is much adored by everyone).
On the other hand, there have been many defenses for this. First of all, Melanie is not offensive to women, she is simply a more traditional character. Many believe the 'rape scene' quickly becomes consensual (this theory is backed by the novel
Scarlett, although it was not written by Mitchell). And again, Scarlett is an individual character, and her need for a man should not be interpreted as universal.
Scarlett is by far the most developed character in
Gone with the Wind. She stands out because she is strong and saves her family but is incredibly selfish and petty at the same time. She challenges nineteenth-century society's gender roles repeatedly, running a store and two lumber mills at one point. Scarlett is in some ways the least stereotypically feminine of women (in other ways the most), and the more traditional Melanie Wilkes is in many ways her foil. But Scarlett survives the war, several marriages, the birth of children, and even a miscarriage. Melanie, on the other hand, struggles with fragile health and a shy nature. Without Melanie Wilkes, Scarlett might simply be seen as harsh and "over the top," but beside Melanie, Scarlett presents a fresher, deeper female characterization; she lives a complicated life during a difficult period of history.
Some of Scarlett's lines from
Gone with the Wind, like "Fiddle-dee-dee!," "Tomorrow is another day," "Great balls of fire!" and "I'll never go hungry again!", have become modern catchphrases.
While Margaret Mitchell used to say that her
Gone with The Wind characters were not based on real people, modern researchers have found similarities to some of the people in Mitchell's own life as well as individuals she heard of. Rhett Butler is thought to be based on Mitchell's first husband, Red Upshaw, who reportedly raped her during their brief marriage. Scarlett's upbringing resembled that of Mitchell's maternal grandmother, Annie Fitzgerald Stephens, who was raised on a plantation in
Clayton County, Georgia (where the fictional Tara was placed), and whose father was an Irish immigrant. Another source for Scarlett might have been
Martha Bulloch, the mother of US president
Theodore Roosevelt. Like the fictional "Tara," Martha grew up in a beautiful southern mansion,
Bulloch Hall, just north of
Atlanta, Georgia. Her physical appearance, beauty, grace, intelligence were well known to Mitchell and the personality similarities (the positive ones) between Martha, who was also called Mittie, and Scarlett were striking. Some say that some of Scarlett's plotting and scheming aspects might have been drawn from Martha Bulloch Roosevelt's beautiful and vivacious, independently wealthy and grandparent-spoiled, rebellious and attention-seeking granddaughter,
Alice Roosevelt Longworth.
