The Differences between Scarlett in Gone With the Wind And Rebecca in Vanity Fair

Gu Liulu

【Abstract】Gone with the Wind is one of the most popular American novels， which is written by American female writer Margaret Mitchell. When the book was published， its sales broke many records among the publishing circles， and it is famous all over the world. The novel mainly describes the life of Scarlett who is the daughter of Tarasmaster during the American Civil War. The love triangle created between Scarlett， Ashley， and Rhett drives the narrative. Among all the roles， Scarlett， is the most successful one who is a vivid， abundant， complicated feature. Rebecca have different living conditions. While they have the same personailities.

【Key words】Cleverness； Ambition； Rebellion； Independence； Selfishness and Coldness

【作者簡介】Gu Liulu， Yangzhou technician college jiangsu province.

Introduction

Vanity Fair is a novel with out a hero， the first major work publish by William Thackeray under his own name， was published serially in London in 1847 and1848.In the pages of Vanity Fair， “all is vanity and all is vain. ” Gone with the Wind，first published in 1936， written by Margaret Mitchell， is one of the powerful historical novel. The novel mainly described the life of Scarlett who was the daughter of Taras master around the American Civil War. Meanwhile with the hint of a triangular love between Scarlett， Ashley and Rhett， the novel depicts a wide and prosperous picture of the social life of the South in America。

I. Cleverness and Ambition

Both Rebecca and Scarlett had some similarities， such as cleverness and ambition. Rebeccas appearance， expression， action and experience were just like the Vnuss arm， a room for our own imagination. Green eyes， fair skin， pretty figure， famous frontal development. Where are the ambition come from？ The key was the influences of their family and educations. Rebecca was born in a poor family， her father was an artist and in that quality had given lessons of drawing at Miss Pinkertons School. Scarletts father， Gerald O′Hara， a little， hard-headed and blustering Irish man， was not well educated， he believed that a man who wanted to be rich should be strong and not afraid of work. Her father loved land very much. Scarlett and her father were good friends. They have the same character， such as confidence， bravery and so on. In fact， her father had an impact on her whole life. “It was no necessary for her to think about anything but just to dress in new costumes to attract the sights of the boys and to join the balls. ”If she wanted to be like her mother， she must miss many things. So “Scarlett always showed her best face to her mother， concealing her escapades， curbing her temper and appearing as sweet-natured as she could in Ellens presence， for her mother could shame her to tears with a reproachful glance. ”But her real face could never be concealed. “While Rebecca took advantage of the means of study the place offered her； and as she was already a musician and a good linguist， she speedily went through the little course of study which was considered necessary for ladies in those days. ” “Many a dun had she talked to， and turned away from her fathers door. ”She sacrifices husband， child， friends to it； but she enjoys the battle. In a letter to Amelia， after Becky had gone to Queens Crawley， she says， “At least I would be amongst gentlefolks， and not with vulgar city people. ” It refered to both the Sedleys and the Osbornes， because Gerge had thwarted her marriages with Joseph Sedley. She continued， “You might lodge all the people in Russell Square in the house， I thought， and had space to spare. ”Both of them had their cleverness and ambition， but they lost a lot and won a lot.

II. Rebellion against Social Restrictions

In Rebecca school life， she was a poor little girl but she never gave up change her fate. While Screletts rebellion， for one thing， she hated the rules of society； for another， she wanted to live in a different life. Her talent was never be concealed. Rebeccas talent are music； both piano and voice. She says “I am here to speak French with the children， not to teach them music and save money for you. Give me money and I will teach them. ”In Rebeccas heart， men were in a lower position. On the one hand， she wanted to conceal this fact. On the other hand， Rebecca wanted to come back as governess and take care of the children. She filled with Gratitude， but she couldnt be his wife and let her be his daughter. “Rebecca went down on her knees in a most tragically way and taking Sir Pitt horny Black Hand between her and Mr. Pitt. looked up in her face with an expression of exquisite pathos and confidence. ” Finally， Mr. Pitt said “whether you married me or not， youre a good girl. ” When Scarlett was very young， she always had a unique character. Mammy and Ellen often told Scarlett： “Act like a lady”， Ellen told her daughter. “You must not interrupt gentlemen when they are speaking， even if you do think you know more about matters than they do. Gentlemen do not like forward girls. ” They taught her all that a gentlewoman should know， but she learned only the outward signs of gentility. Appearances were enough， for the appearances of ladyhood won her popularity and that was all she wanted. But Scarlett hated the rules of the society. Scarlett showed her distain for the artificial manners： “Im tired of everlastingly being unnatural and never doing anything I want to do. Im tired of saying， ‘How wonderful you are！ to fool men who havent got one-half the sense Ive got. “Some day Im going to do and say everything I want to do and say， and if people dont like it I dont care. ” She does as what she says with the development of the novel. Also， women were taught to act ignorant， to hang on every word a man said as if she knew nothing herself， in order to make him feel superior. They were never to say what they actually thought.

III. Independence in their Life

Rebecca was a poor little girl. When she was born， she laked parents love and care. After her mother died， she attended Miss Pinkortons academy where earned her keep by teaching French. She became Amelias friends and went to her home for a long visit when the two leave the academy. Rebecca engagement was owing to the remonstrance of Mr. Pitt Crawley ever had， to the only person， besides her children， for whom she entertained a little feeble attachment. She used her own way enter the good society. It became naturally Rebeccas duty to make herself， as she said， agreeable to her benefactors， and to gain their confidence to the utmost of her powder. She set a good example to all of us. Scarlett was a rich lady in south of American. Scarlett found the house in Tara in ruins， the crops burned； most of the slaves ran off， her mother and Mammy dead， her father demented， and her two sisters sick with typhoid. Scarletts independent was reflected when she returned back to Tara. She walked personally to the destroyed Twelve Oaks to look for something to eat， and even used her elegant hands to dig greens， to do excavation， to split the wood， to crush the milk， to pick cottons， even to plough the field which used to be done by slaves. Scarlett has a practical nature and willingness to step on anyone who didnt have her familys best interests at heart， including her own sister. Even though she was abused by the southern royalty to be greedy， selfish， shameless， cruel and cold， she was an adventure， an upstart and a great heroine who had survived in the war. Without Scarlett to be an evil， Melanie could not be respected as an angel. Therefore， Scarlett was the real respectable person because of her independence and strong characteristic.

IV. Selfishness and Coldness

Everyone knew that Rebecca and Scarlett were selfish persons. I divided Rebeccas selfishness and coldness into tow points. First is about her attitude towards love and her son. Second is about her attitude towards friends. To some extent， Rebecca and Scarlett had the same attitude towards love. She became Amelias friend and went to her home for a long visit when the two left the academy. She deceived her husband， as he deceived everybody； her soul was black with vanity， worldliness， and all sorts of crimes. Her vaguely defined relationship with Lord Steyne provided both money and position until Rawdon walked in on them and both men abandoned her. Scarletts selfishness and coldness could be reflected from her attempts to get Ashley in any mean. Scarlett believed she was in love with Ashley Wilkes， her aristocratic neighbor， but when his engagement to meek and mild-mannered Melanie Hamilton was announced， she married Melanies brother， Charles Hamilton， out of spite.

V. Conclusion

William Makepeace Thackeray and Margaret Mitchell gave us not only a selfish， stubbornness Rebecca and Scarlett， but also a brave， energetic， realistic Rebecca and Scarlett. They were the lead characters in the novel； they made the Novel charming and valuable. Due to their different living environment and experience， they met different difficulties and fate. Finally， as the weaker sex at that time， Rebecca and Scarlett set a good example to us.

References：

[1]施經碧.適者生存—簡析《飄》的主題[J].南京理工大學學報（社會科學版），2004，17（2）：65.

[2]（美）米切爾（Michell，M）.Gone With the Wind[M].清華大學出版社，2009.01：70，69，93，41，32.

[3]（英）薩克雷.Vanity Fair[M].伊犁人民出版社，2001.12：17，15，77，17， 179，98，108-109.

[4]鄧玉芬，斯佳麗.“飄”不走的夢和人-對《亂世佳人》的女性主義解讀[J].湖南科技學院學報，2005，26（2）：183.

[5]楊福玲.重返陶樂-評瑪格麗特·米切爾與《飄》[J].天津市工會管理干部學院學報，2004，12（1）：61.