The character I have chosen to study is from Victor Fleming’s 1939 screen adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize winning novel; “Gone with the Wind” by Margaret Mitchell. Melanie (Hamilton) Wilkes, a female lead, in the film she is also lovingly called Melly; and is played by Olivia de Havilland. The writer portrays Melanie as a delicate character, loved and admired by all except one. Melanie is ill-fated to be the best and only friend of Scarlett O’Hara. Melanie’s character is one straight from a southern fable; affluent, respected family, married to “prince charming” Ashley Wilkes. I personally do not relate to her character, her evolution interests me a great deal.
Melanie’s role is not intended to be that of the antagonist; she was meant to be the foil in the film emphasizing and bringing complexity to the personality of Scarlett. In evolving Melanie, the writer developed the character into a leading role along with Scarlett. The writer portrays Melanie Wilkes’ character as feeble, delicate, and in the shadow of Scarlett. It is not an easy task to be a multidimensional character in a film with a cast as large as Gone with the Wind. Melanie starts off rather boring and lacking by way of personality. She was a dutiful wife, well-liked by a multitude of people that ranges from community leaders to the resident madam whom I am sure if given the chance would have waited on her husband hand and foot. Melanie was also very loyal; almost to a fault. Wanting to find the best in everyone she blindly trusted Scarlett; unable or unwilling to see Scarlett for who she really was. Melanie would not hear a ill word towards Scarlett or about her.
In the film Ashley, Melanie’s husband was granted a 3 day leave after being on the front line. As he...
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...drunk”.
Melanie, in my opinion is a round character. She started off very quiet and reserved. She like many of the characters in the movie went through some hard times and as a result went through a metamorphosis. Melanie was able to think on her feet quickly and she was willing to go the distance to take care of her family. Her best friend was also her worst enemy and she was able to love her and treat her with respect to the very end. On her death bed Melanie gave Scarlett what she always wanted; Ashley. The writer left the some portions of the film open for interpretation. It was never made clear in the film if Melanie knew Scarlett’s feeling for Ashley; however I choose to believe she knew.
Works Cited
Gone with the Wind. Dir. Victor Fleming, George Cukor. Perf. Clark Gable, Vivien Leigh, Thomas Mitchell, Olivia de Havilland. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), 1939
In the movie Gone With the Wind, Scarlett, the main character was a woman with many struggles in her life. She lived on a farm with her father, her mother, and her slaves but when she left to go help the wounded, the Yankees came to her house and used it as a base camp. The Yankees took all of Scarlett?s family?s food, crops, and animals. Also while Scarlett was gone her mother got sick. Once Scarlett came back to her farm (Terra) her mother was dead. When the war ended her family was too poor to pay the taxes so she married Frank, a rich businessman, so she could pay the taxes. After her husband died she remarried a richer man named Rhett and they had a child named Bonnie.
Gone with the Wind is a novel that is set during the civil war. During the second part, the protagonist Scarlett reads a letter that was sent by a confederate soldier named Ashley. The letter talks about his opinion on the war and the reason he fights. Ashley joined the war with the hopes of fighting for States’ Rights and preserving the old ways. However, once the fighting started he realized that the old ways are not going to come back, “And I belong in those old times. I do not belong in this mad present of killing and I fear I will not fit into any future, try though I may.” He is not happy about fighting in the war, and he does not have confidence
He taught her all about how the Irish relatives and friends were at war with the English who had bought most of the land, and most were not good landlords. The landlords evicted people and burned their houses because they only wanted the land. Scarlett hired alot of these people to work in her Big House and raise crops for her. She also gave them places to live. Colum took Scarlett to a horse sale in another county one day and she was bidding on a horse that she didn't even want because she saw Rhett Butler and relized that he wanted that horse. She was the highest bidder and got the horse which resulted in her going to fox hunts with the English and spending alot of time with them.
Inherit The Wind. Dir. Stanely Kramer. Perfs. Nedrick Young, Harold Jacob Smith. DVD. MGM, 1961
In Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee’s tense drama, “Inherit the Wind”, three strong characters express powerful opinions: Bertrum Cates , Henry Drummond, and Mathew Harrison Brady. First, Bert Cates, the defendant, is charged with teaching “Darwinism” to his sophomore class . Second, Henry Drummond, the defense attorney for Cates, displays his beliefs of the right to think. third, Mathew Harrison Brady, the “big-shot” prosecuting attorney, illustrates his bigotry of creationism. To conclude, these three essential characters are fighting for their personal beliefs.
The main theme of Inherit the Wind by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee is taking a
Margaret is painted as a strong character from the very beginning. As Jessica Ray Lymberopoulos writes in her essay,
Leigh, Vivien, Hattie McDaniel, Clark Gable, and Eddie Anderson. 1939. Gone With The Wind. [United States]: Warner Home Video.
The character of Esther is widely criticized for her perfection as a character, both receiving positive acclaims and negative feedback. Esther’s reserved, quiet character illustrates the role of women during the Victorian period and what little impact on society women played. Critics of Bleak House generally praise the narration and Dickens’s use of Esther’s character, which gives direction to the novel.
Book of Genesis in the Old Testament or from the Hebrew Torah. What may be less familiar to
In the end of the novel, Esther at last, comes to terms with reality. She has got to stop living her life according to what others expect of her. She needs to start living her life for “her”. After Joan commits suicide, Esther believes that unless she turns her life around, she will also commit suicide. Esther saw so much of herself in Joan, that when Joan ended her life she was frightened that she would follow in her footsteps, due to the fact that she had throughout the entire novel. Once Joan was gone, Esther was truly free. The part of Joan that was reflected in Esther vanished. The “bell jar” that had been suffocating her was finally lifted.
Margaret Mitchell's romantic epic, Gone With the Wind, owes its remarkable popularity to the climate of sudden self-destruction and dreariness the Depression created. The Old South's grandeur, coupled with its Civil War-era decadence, provided much-needed escapism for readers, as well as paralleling the U.S.'s own plight in the 20s and 30s. In addition, Scarlett O'Hara's feminist role, her devotion to her land, and her indomitable optimism lent hope to those who had lost faith in the American Dream.
...n the woman at the bar in the movie. Norma, Charlie’s sister, was another important character who wasn’t featured in the film. She was part of the reason why Charlie was sent away. As a child she hated Charlie because he would constantly ruin things for her, like the ‘A-Paper’ incident. “Not you. You don’t tell. It’s my mark, and I’m going to tell” (81). She always felt like Charlie was a nuisance as well “He’s like a baby” (81). In the film, Rose wasn’t as senile as the novel portrayed her. She seemed to have Norma’s sense of compassion from the novel which made her character rather puzzling. In conclusion, there was a difference of characters in the film.
...e relationship with men, as nothing but tools she can sharpen and destroy, lives through lust and an uncanny ability to blend into any social class makes her unique. Her character is proven as an unreliable narrator as she exaggerates parts of the story and tries to explain that she is in fact not guilty of being a mistress, but a person caught in a crossfire between two others.
The beginning of the novel introduces the reader to Esther O'Malley Robertson as the last of a family of extreme women. She is sitting in her home, remembering a story that her grandmother told her a long time ago. Esther is the first character that the reader is introduced to, but we do not really understand who she is until the end of the story. Esther's main struggle is dealing with her home on Loughbreeze Beach being torn down, and trying to figure out the mysteries of her family's past.