I believe the book said "he had used her brutally and she had gloried in it."
Gable did a good enough job capturing Rhett's spirit that I don't even mind his lack of a drawl.
Welcome to the Historical Fiction Online forums: a friendly place to discuss, review and discover historical fiction.
If this is your first visit, please be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above.
You will have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed.
To start viewing posts, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.
If this is your first visit, please be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above.
You will have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed.
To start viewing posts, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.
Gone with the Wind, Margaret Mitchell
- LoveHistory
- Bibliomaniac
- Posts: 3751
- Joined: September 2008
- Location: Wisconsin, USA
- Contact:
- Miss Moppet
- Bibliophile
- Posts: 1726
- Joined: April 2009
- Location: North London
- Contact:
I recommend Helen Taylor's book Scarlett's Women for anyone who loves GWTW - all about the GWTW female fandom. Written in the 1980s so a little dated but a lot of fun to read.
- LoveHistory
- Bibliomaniac
- Posts: 3751
- Joined: September 2008
- Location: Wisconsin, USA
- Contact:
I won't rant either but I will say that professor is very closed-minded, and very likely an idiot. Many people love the story and I doubt more than a handful are racists.
Racism is not a theme in GWTW. The book is set before, during, and after the Civil War in the state of Georgia. Slavery is an unavoidable background element. Leaving it out would have been irresponsible, and demonstrated a child-like inability to deal with unpleasant realities.
Racism is not a theme in GWTW. The book is set before, during, and after the Civil War in the state of Georgia. Slavery is an unavoidable background element. Leaving it out would have been irresponsible, and demonstrated a child-like inability to deal with unpleasant realities.
- Vanessa
- Bibliomaniac
- Posts: 4378
- Joined: August 2008
- Currently reading: The Farm at the Edge of the World by Sarah Vaughan
- Interest in HF: The first historical novel I read was Katherine by Anya Seton and this sparked off my interest in this genre.
- Favourite HF book: Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell!
- Preferred HF: Any
- Location: North Yorkshire, UK
That's definitely not what springs to mind when I think of GWTW. Most people think of it as a romance, actually, but I think it's a lot more than that, too. It's mostly about war and what effects it has on people and the other things are just part of that. Some great characters.
currently reading: My Books on Goodreads
Books are mirrors, you only see in them what you already have inside you ~ The Shadow of the Wind
Books are mirrors, you only see in them what you already have inside you ~ The Shadow of the Wind
[quote=""Misfit""]It's one of those books you need to read in your teens and then years later when you are really grown up.
[/quote]
I agree... I've only read it once and when I was a young teen at that, but have really felt the desire to read it again at some point this year (probably late this summer with an LT group that is reading it in August). My interest has partly been rejuvenated by the fact that I literally live in GwtW territory on land once owned by Mitchell's forebears. I think she would sit down and cry if she could see what suburban sprawl has done to much of the land that inspired her novel and what was once largely agricultural even in her lifetime.
[/quote]
I agree... I've only read it once and when I was a young teen at that, but have really felt the desire to read it again at some point this year (probably late this summer with an LT group that is reading it in August). My interest has partly been rejuvenated by the fact that I literally live in GwtW territory on land once owned by Mitchell's forebears. I think she would sit down and cry if she could see what suburban sprawl has done to much of the land that inspired her novel and what was once largely agricultural even in her lifetime.
[quote=""Ludmilla""]I agree... I've only read it once and when I was a young teen at that, but have really felt the desire to read it again at some point this year (probably late this summer with an LT group that is reading it in August). My interest has partly been rejuvenated by the fact that I literally live in GwtW territory on land once owned by Mitchell's forebears. I think she would sit down and cry if she could see what suburban sprawl has done to much of the land that inspired her novel and what was once largely agricultural even in her lifetime.[/quote]
Oh, you'll be surprised at how differently you react to it, at least I did. I don't see it as racist at all, it's just telling it like it was. I loathe sugar coated history anyway.
Oh, you'll be surprised at how differently you react to it, at least I did. I don't see it as racist at all, it's just telling it like it was. I loathe sugar coated history anyway.
At home with a good book and the cat...
...is the only place I want to be
...is the only place I want to be
[quote=""Vanessa""]That's definitely not what springs to mind when I think of GWTW. Most people think of it as a romance, actually, but I think it's a lot more than that, too. It's mostly about war and what effects it has on people and the other things are just part of that. Some great characters.[/quote]
I've heard others denigrate GWTW as being racist -- particularly for the way Mitchell wrote the slaves' speech. But to do that is to judge her book by today's standards, not by the standards or context of the times in which she wrote it.
Hers is not the only book written pre-Civil Rights that treats black slaves in a less-than-flattering way in literature. When I re-read Anya Seton's My Theodosia earlier this year (which was also written pre-Civil Rights) the way she depicted slaves made me squirm.
For those who don't like GWTW because of the slavery, I can't blame them. But as Misfit says, that's the way it was. All I can say is, I just love the book! Not because of the slavery issue, but in spite of it.
I really think that's the way most people feel. For someone to call that racist is totally missing the mark and unfair.
I've heard others denigrate GWTW as being racist -- particularly for the way Mitchell wrote the slaves' speech. But to do that is to judge her book by today's standards, not by the standards or context of the times in which she wrote it.
Hers is not the only book written pre-Civil Rights that treats black slaves in a less-than-flattering way in literature. When I re-read Anya Seton's My Theodosia earlier this year (which was also written pre-Civil Rights) the way she depicted slaves made me squirm.
For those who don't like GWTW because of the slavery, I can't blame them. But as Misfit says, that's the way it was. All I can say is, I just love the book! Not because of the slavery issue, but in spite of it.
I really think that's the way most people feel. For someone to call that racist is totally missing the mark and unfair.
Oh, me too. Really hard to take at times but then like I said before......When I re-read Anya Seton's My Theodosia earlier this year (which was also written pre-Civil Rights) the way she depicted slaves made me squirm.
At home with a good book and the cat...
...is the only place I want to be
...is the only place I want to be