Why I Don't Like Scarlett O'Hara

But I Admit She's An Extremely Fascinating Character

Hello!!!

This is Joyie and welcome back to my little bookish corner of the internet where I talk all things books!

This week I've been reading Vanity Fair. Have you been reading anything this week?

So, last week I talked about Gone With The Wind, and there I mentioned that I don't really ‘like’ Scarlett O'Hara. That got me thinking: why don't I like her? My favourite fictional character is literally Healthcliff. I was like, is it hypocrisy? Is it misogyny? What is it?

The thing is, I at no point in the story was able to empathise with Scarlett. I don't think that has anything to do with her being a woman, but more to do with her being the spoilt kid of a rich slave owner.

I did not like Scarlett right from the very beginning of the story. But at that point, she was only a child. Gone With The Wind is her story. How her life as she has known it, disappears, throwing her into this new unknown world that she never was prepared for. She accepts that challenge and fights tooth and nail to survive. I respect that fighting spirit. But that's pretty much all I do.

I think for me, it's easier to accept (not support) questionable behaviour from characters when I can see there's a good reason for them being that way. Now, technically Scarlett does go through hardships, but that just doesn't affect me emotionally. I'm more like, oh, so life's hard for you now that your free slave labour is gone? You're having to pick your own cotton? Oh the horror!

Her whole claim to sympathy in the book is based on something I don't buy. What she lost, I don't believe she ever should have had in the first place.

Then, when she starts running her lumber business exploiting convict labour, which is slavery in a different form, I'm like, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, does it?

I was also pissed by how she kept going after Ashley long after his marriage to Melanie.

And it also bothered me how unfeeling she is towards her children. Now it's a bit more nuanced, since Scarlett never wanted children, but she lived in a time when women didn't really have a choice in that matter, and she's literally a child when she has Wade. But when Bonnie dies, and Scarlett thinks it would have been better had Ella died instead, that pissed me off.

I did love the scene where the union soldiers are ransacking Tara and she just watches them, powerless to do anything. But when they bring out her father-in-law's sword, she stands up to the troop, and persuades them to spare it for Wade. That is my favourite scene from the book.

So, like I said, there are characteristics in Scarlett that I admire, but overall I dislike her. I’m all for flawed characters, but some flaws (like readiness to exploit slave labour) to me are a bit more serious than others.

Is Scarlett a very intriguing character? One hundred percent! One of the most complex and layered characters I've seen in literature. A very strong female lead, and I’d love to see more heroines like her in literature.

What about you? What do you think of Scarlett O’Hara? I'd love to know!!!

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That’s it for today, I'll be back in your inbox next week.

Until then,

Joyie 🌻