This comparative study examines Scarlett O'Hara as a literary archetype, revealing critical prejudice against strong female characters.
There are two portrayals of Scarlett O'Hara: the famous one of the film Gone with the Wind and Margaret Mitchell's more sympathetic character in the book. In A Study of Scarletts, Margaret D. Bauer examines both, noting that although Scarlett is just sixteen at the start of the novel, she is criticized for behavior that would have been excused if she were a man. Her stalwart determination in the face of extreme adversity made Scarlett an icon and an inspiration to female readers. Yet today she is often condemned as a sociopathic shrew.
Bauer offers a more complex and sympathetic reading of Scarlett before examining Scarlett-like characters in other novels, including Charles Frazier's Cold Mountain, Ellen Glasgow's Barren Ground, Toni Morrison's Sula, and Kat Meads' The Invented Life of Kitty Duncan. Through these selections, Bauer touches on themes of female independence, mother-daughter relationships, the fraught nature of romance, and the importance of female friendship.