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  1. Nice choice of topics for a blog post! GWTW is my favorite classic film, and among my all-time favorite movies, so it’s always a delight to read something about it!

    It’s been so long since I read the book, I hadn’t remembered that about Gerald and Ellen, but it’s true that some people are so entirely emotionally wrapped up in the other person, they cannot remain sane without them. (I know of one older couple who was like this; after her death, he quickly went downhill.)

    I’ve always had a problem with Ashley – on the one hand, I admire his strength and moral fortitude in repeatedly rejecting Scarlett’s very obvious, seductive advances, but as Rhett says, he’s committing adultery with her “in his head, just not technically.” And that is very true. In a sense, Melanie is much too “good” for him. Ashley is strong only as long as Melanie is alive – without her, he falls apart.

    Despite his reputation as a rake, Rhett has always been one of my favorite characters – and the true tragedy of this story is that Scarlett is too blinded by her obsession with an ideal (Ashley… and she does not even love him or see him realistically; she loves the idea of him she has in her head, and once she can have him, is repulsed by his actual self) to recognize the love Rhett has to offer her. If she would just settle down and see what she has, then she would know she had a good thing going with Rhett – prosperous, intelligent, charming, and fun. Silly girl.

    1. Thanks for checking out my post, Charity! These characters are endlessly fascinating. Margaret Mitchell was an absolute genius in her creation of them. Yes, I think Ashley’s biggest error was he never told Scarlett to leave him alone. Like Rhett says “he [Ashley] can’t be mentally faithful to his wife but won’t be unfaithful to her technically. Why doesn’t he make up his mind?” He obviously had some soul searching to do there, but I think that kept Scarlett hanging on for longer than she might have if Ashley had cut ties with her.

      1. Yes, if he would have had the courage to tell her in the first place that he genuinely was soppy over Melanie, she might have recognized his true self sooner and not idolized him as much. :/

      2. I’m looking for participants for the 2020 Olivia de Havilland Blogathon, taking place over her birthday on July 1 & 2nd. Short notice, I know, but I was waiting for someone else to host it. LOL I would love to have you contribute, if you’d be interested — you can find the details and sign-up at https://charitysplace.wordpress.com/2020/06/16/announcing-the-olivia-de-havilland-blogathon-july-1-2-2020/.

        Thanks for considering it! 🙂

        1. Thanks for the invite, Charity! What a great idea…I’ll give it a think and let you know if I’m able to contribute 🙂

  2. Going to go see this on a big screen Sunday. A pretty good movie, even if I am not much of a romance movie lover.

    1. I have folks in my family who are not romance fans either but they will watch GWTW. So cool…enjoy! Thanks for stopping by 🙂

  3. A terrific overview of three marriages in this film. Like a previous commenter said, it’s a shame Scarlett – being the pragmatist she was – couldn’t see through Ashley and realize what she had in Rhett. Still, we all have our blind spots…

    1. Thank you, Ruth! Ah yes, like the song says, “You don’t know what you got till it’s gone.”

  4. What a wonderful tribute to those memorable marriages. Poor Scarlett and Rhett – if only there had been marriage counseling in those days… maybe they would have made it. But, since tomorrow is another day, maybe they did! I hope so.

    1. Thank you for the lovely comment, Marsha! I hope so too.

  5. Great article on some very different marriages–one certainly more tumultuous than the other!

    1. Yes, indeed! Thank you very much, Annette!

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