An Analysis of Rhett

錢振強(qiáng)

【Abstract】Chivalry is the moral standard of the knight nobles during the Middle Ages including bravery， generosity， devoutness， honesty， sapience， politeness， the supreme sense of honor and unselfish behaviour， especially by men towards women. The objective of this paper is to dig out and analyze the Rhetts chivalry. Rhett is a complex and contradictory character of unity. This thesis is written mainly from three stages of the war between the states. According to Gone with the wind written by Margaret Mitchel， this paper can dig out and analyzes Rhett's chivalry and helps readers to get a deeper understanding and mastery of Rhett.

【Key words】Rhett； chivalry；war between the states

1. Introduction

Gone with the Wind is one of the most popular American novels， which is written by American female writer Margaret Mitchell. When it was published， its sales broke many records among the publishing circles. The novel mainly describes the life of Scarlett who is the daughter of Tara' s master during the American Civil War. Meanwhile with the hint of a triangular love among Scarlett， Ashley and Rhett， the novel depicts a wide and prosperous picture of the social life of the South in America. Not only the rich content of the novel， but also the complex plots and the contradictions between the figures of the novel have an important artistic effect on shaping the characters in the novel. Among all the roles， Rhett is the most controversial one who is full of conflicting and complicated features. He is the coalition of contemptibility and nobility.

This article analyzes and digs out Rhetts chivalry from three aspects： the first one is his wisdom before the Civil War， the second one is his contribution during the war， the last one is his kindness towards the people around him after the world. The analysis aims at showing the eternal charm of the image， Scarlctt in the novel.

2. Literature Review

In Margaret Mitchells description， its easy to find that Rhett has plenty of the warm feelings under the hardhearted and stubborn appearance. He likes children， even the son of Scarletts former husband. He does not discriminate against the person of minority race including black people. Rhett is a cynical person in the past， because he regardless of evil and hypocritical things from the world. In his eyes， there's no difference between evil and kind， profit is the most important. And he even wants to become a evil and hypocritical one so that he can enjoy an easy and relaxing life. When he meets Melanie and understands her， he is moved by her nice inclusive soul. She has a so great soul， tolerant to others， is adamant in face of the difficulties.

Rhett was not afraid to do his own thinking and to use his own knowledge. He could separate facts from opinions and dont pretend to have all the answers. He listened to others and evaluated what they said， but came it to his own conclusions

In his eyes， there's no difference between evil and kind， profit is the most important. And he even wants to become a evil and hypocritical one so that he can enjoy an easy and relaxing life. Although Rhett could admire and respect other people， he was not totally defined， demolished， bound， or awed by them. Then the brilliant thought would be hit him. Rhett was the winner， and what he had done is like this.

It can have a conclusion that many scholars have focused on studying Rhetts experience， love stories and people around him， but the analysis of his chivalry is blank. This paper is going to focus on his behaviour to dig out his chivalry.

3. The embodiment of Rhett's Chivalry before American Civil War

3.1 Self-confidence Embodied in the Opinions of the War

Rhett is a sapienbtial and honest man. Rhett was born in a family with a blue blood. But his strain was not familiar with the kind of the blue blood people. He refused to marry a girl who rid horse out with Rhett and spend a night. So he was banished from his family by his stern father. To some people， the storm in life is the disaster that leaves him nothing but the perpetual ruins. On the contrary， the Rhett see the storm as the turning point in life. He began his road which can be explored to success. Therefore， he became a winner.

“Theyve got plenty of soldiers，food and weapons. All we have here is cotton， slaves， and too much pride.”（Mitchell， 2005， p.118）. Do not like those who indulge in bourgeois self-delusion， he spelled out the apparent corrupt practice of the South. From this paragraph， it is easy for readers to discover Rhetts chivalry—honesty and sapience.

3.2 Revolt to the noble family

Rhett is a brave and honest man.Actually， Rhett has the worst reputation at that time. He was forced to leave the West Point school because of some terrible situation with a gril. Rhett was asked to marry her but he refused because he hold that he hadnt done anything to her. Then he killed the grils brother when Rhett fought with him.

Rhett rehashed all the conventianal ideas about male and female relationship and broke down traditional perceptions. He believed that its foolish for people to get marry just for staying out all night. Finally， he was thrown into the world without a penny by his father—an old gentleman with an iron will and a ramrod for a blackbone. Rather than give himself up as hopeless， Rhett accepted all the disaster and tried best to become a independent and competent man！ It can be digged out that Rhett has chivalry.

4. The embodiment of Rhett's Chivalry in the American Civil War

In the millde of April， 1861. The air was filled with excitement. Ashley and Melanies wedding date had been set on the first day of May. When she discovered this， she decided to marry Charles on April 30 to make Ashley jealous. But within two months， Scarlett became a widow. Her husband， Charles had died of a fever while in camp.

4.1 Contribution to the South

In the begining of the war， Rhett has been helping the South find supplies. South has not much medicine，clothing，and other things for their soldiers. Rhett tries his best to provide military supplies to the South.Although the quality of his goods became not as good， he would ignore the rumors and focus on what is real. He is patriotic and faithful.

After resucing Scarlett and Melanie from Atlanta， which was a city of fire and smoke， Rhett left them to help the Southern soldiers fight. “The men are crazy right now—they might try to steal the carriage， because they think there is food inside. Im leaving. Like I told you，Im going to go and fight the last battle of the South.”（Mitchell，2005， p.274）From that， Rhetts chivalry—bravery and faithfulness can be found.

4.2 Compassion and unselfish behaviour to the Scarlett OHara

Rhett is a compassionate man. On one night，there is a large party that would raise money for the hospital and send money to the fighting soldiers.At the ball， Scarlett was eager to dance and laugh with the young men， but it would not be allowed because she was a widow！In fact， Rhett has a terrible name. However， Rhett preferred to ignore the rumors and helped Scarlett satisfy her dream of dancing.

“She tried to act as if she didn t care， but Rhett had seen the look in her eyes. Before she could say anything more， Rhett had taken her by the hand and guided her onto the dance floor！”（Mitchell，2005， p.216）From this paragraph， it is easy for readers to discover Rhetts chivalry—compassion and unselfish behaviour， especially by men towards women.

4.3 Kindness to Melanie

From that time on，Christmas of 1863， the war began to get worse for the South. At the end of the war something terrible happened on one hobbile night， the Northern armies had reached the edge of Atlanta，and they were burning builings. Melanie was upstairs in the bed，crying out in pain. She was going to die，because she just had her baby and had lost too much blood.After knowing that， without thinking，he gently as he lifted her in his arms and put Melanie in the back of the carriage. Rhett was not afraid of anything or anyone， he just wanted to protect his friend， Melanie.

5. The embodiment of Rhett's Chivalry after the American Civil War

5.1 Assistance to Ashley and Frank

Rhett was a friendly and brilliant man， as Ashley and Frank was heard that Scarlett was hit by the black northern man when she passed the lonely path， he knew they must take measure to save her honor to killing that man.So Rhett was hiding on near Ashley and Frank to secure them. And later he had helped Ashley hiding the north police seeking and asking. Through he put Ashley as love enemy， but he faced Ashley as a friend who he would care about.“I was able to help Ashley defend himself.We were fighting a group of black men， very strong. But we were able to defend ourselves and escape. But it was too late for Frank. When I arrived，he was already dead.”（Mitchell，2005，p.345）From this paragraph， we can konw that though Rhett do not like Ashley， he is willing to help him sincerely. It is easy for readers to discover Rhetts chivalry—generosity and devoutness.

5.2 Kindness and love to Wade

Wade was the son of Charles，Scarletts first husband.Actually，Rhett had not been related by blood， morally speaking， Rhett should hate this boy. However，rather than hurt him， Rhett preferred to love him. Wade loved his monther， but he was rather afraid of her. Because Scarlett was angry with children when they were loud and she did not know how to tell stories and play with them. Rhett understood that Wade had never had a father and his monther did not pay much attention to him. Rhett became like a father to Wade.

6. Conclusion

There is no doubt that Rhett has chivalry for his bravery，generosity， honesty， kindness and unselfish behaviour. Rhett is a being of very complicated contradictions. Some people believe that. Rhett is clever enough， but he's also something of an egomaniac. He smuggled weapons for money and became an rich man. Others deem that he was irresponsible， he refused to marry the gril who stayed out with him all night. However， we should wise enough to not be fooled by his bad behaviours.Rhett is a legendary gigurec with chivalry. He adheres to his principles no matter what happens .In the Gone with the Wind， Rhett helped the South find supplies and save Scarlett and Melanie in the war. Moreover， he would like to show his fathers love to the other peoples children.All of this confirmed that Rhett has chivalry.

To sum up， no matter what kinds of classic literature people peruse or characters they study，its essential to explore them in many aspects.Only in this way，can the readers have a better command of the authenticity and visualization of the characters.

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