Gone with the Wind

What It's About

Beginning in 1861 on the eve of the American Civil War, this sweeping historical novel follows Scarlett O'Hara, the wilful daughter of a Georgia plantation owner. Her carefree world of balls and suitors collapses as war, the siege of Atlanta and the hardships of Reconstruction sweep away the society she grew up in. Scarlett is bound up in a tangled web of love and rivalry with the gentle Ashley Wilkes, his kind-hearted wife Melanie, and the roguish blockade runner Rhett Butler. Determined never to go hungry again, she does whatever it takes to hold on to Tara, her family's plantation, whatever the cost to herself and those around her.

Key Concepts

The novel explores survival and resilience, the pull of obsessive and unrequited love, and the collapse of the antebellum Southern social order. It is also notable for its portrayal of women managing the home front and rebuilding after the war. It has long been criticised for its romanticised picture of plantation life, its sympathetic treatment of the "Lost Cause" view of the South, and its stereotyped and often racist depiction of Black characters. Readers should expect language and attitudes that reflect the 1930s and the period it depicts.

About the Author

Margaret Mitchell (1900–1949) was an American journalist and novelist, born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia. She grew up hearing first-hand accounts of the Civil War and Reconstruction from older relatives, and later worked as a reporter for the Atlanta Journal. That local memory and history shaped the world of this novel, which she wrote over roughly ten years. She died in Atlanta after being struck by a car.