Одай Аделіна Вікторівна, Калмикова Діана Сергіївна

Одай Аделіна Вікторівна, Калмикова Діана Сергіївна

студентки 511- ан групи

факультету іноземної філології

та музичного мистецтва

THE IMAGE OF SCARLETT AS REPRESENTATION OF THE SOUTH IN MARGARET MITCHELL'S NOVEL “THE GONE WITH THE WIND”

Анотація

Автор досліджує характер, поведінку Скарлетт О’Хара у романі Маргарет Мітчел «Віднесені вітром».

Ключові слова: нещадність, коріння народу, Старо-Південне, Ново-Південне суспільство.

Abstract

The author examines the character, behavior of Scarlett O'Hara in Margaret Mitchell's novel "Gone with the Wind."

Key words: ruthlessness, peoples’ roots, Old-Southern, New Southern society.

Scarlett has characteristics of the Old South and the New South. On one hand, she has a nostalgic attachment to the Old South. This is evidenced by her strong desire to be a "great lady" in the traditional mold, like her mother, Ellen, and her love for Ashley, which is based largely on her notion of him as "a gentleman" of the Old Southern sort. Scarlett's love for Tara also shows her attachment to the past. Before the war, Scarlett's life revolves around the Old Southern expectations of flirting with wealthy young men from plantation families and pretending to be ladylike [1, p. 278].

Playing the role of a lady never comes easily to her, however, as her true nature is selfish, vain and calculating, and she has a ruthlessness, greed and ambition that crave expression. These are all New Southern, Northern-influenced characteristics that she inherited from Gerald's side of the family. They serve her well when the war begins to destroy the old social structures and conventions. As the old power structures collapse, Scarlett is able to move into the vacuum. She does not really change, but she becomes more herself. As Gerald declines, she takes charge of Tara. When Frank fails to make the best of his businesses, she takes them in hand and makes them profitable [3, p. 3].

Taking advantage of an opportunity to make large profits from the rebuilding of Atlanta after the Yankee burning, she buys and successfully operates her own sawmills, earning the condemnation of Old Southern society for being "unwomanly." Her journey to self-sufficiency, which began when she delivered Melanie's baby unassisted, culminates in her supporting the Wilkes family and many members of her own family. This journey is paralleled by the South's changing from a leisure society based on slavery, inheritance and land ownership to an entrepreneurial society based on individual drive and ambition. Atlanta becomes a magnet for Scalawags, Yankees and carpetbaggers – unscrupulous, ambitious and determined to make a profit at any cost – to the disapproval of the Old Southern traditionalists [5, p. 454].

The only person who helps Scarlett consistently in her business activities is Rhett, who, like Scarlett, embodies many qualities of the New South. Both Scarlett and Rhett are opportunists and work with Scalawags, Yankees and carpetbaggers when it is profitable to them, reflecting the ideological flexibility that the South had to adopt in order to survive the war. In doing so, they become very unpopular with the Old Southern society, which refuses to compromise or change - and which is doomed as a result [3, p. 3].

So, Scarlett's identification with the New South is reflected in her moving from Tara to Atlanta. Atlanta is a bustling city, which has more in common with the New South than the Old South, being constructed around a railroad hub. During the war, the city becomes a magnet for opportunists of all kinds, many of whom become Scarlett's new friends as her Old Southern friends and acquaintances snub her. In the end, however, Scarlett returns to Tara, showing that however much of a New Southern woman she has become, her roots and the source of her strength remain in the Old South [2, p. 305].

Reference

1. Brown, E. F., et al., Margaret Mitchell's Gone With the Wind: A Bestseller's Odyssey from Atlanta to Hollywood, p. 278.

2. Farr, Finis. Margaret Mitchell of Atlanta: The Author of Gone with the Wind. New York: Morrow, 1965. p. 305.

3. Laura F. Edwards (2000), Scarlett Doesn't Live Here Anymore: Southern women and the Civil War era, University of Illinois Press, p. 3.

4. Margaret Mitchell and Pat Conroy (1936), Gone With the Wind, 75th Anniversary Edition (2011 paperback), New York: Scribner, p.103-108.

5. Walker, M., Margaret Mitchell and John Marsh: the love story behind Gone With the Wind, p. 454.

Дата добавления: 2015-11-04