2022年Gone-with-the-wind-乱世佳人读书笔记

1、The Report on Gone with the Wind Gone with the Wind, an American novel by Margaret Mitchell published in 1936 and won the Pulitzer Prize in 1937. The novel is one of the most popular of all time, and an American film adaptation of the same name released in 1939 became the highest-grossing film in th

2、e history of Hollywood and received a record-breaking number of Academy Awards. Mitchells work relates the story of a rebellious Georgia woman named Scarlett OHara and her travails with friends, family and lovers in the midst of the antebellum South, the American Civil War, and the Reconstruction pe

3、riod. It also tells the story of the love that blossom between Scarlett OHara and Rhett Butler. Introduction of the Author Margaret Mitchell was born in Atlanta. Her mother, Maybelle Mitchell, was a suffragist and father, Eugene Mitchell, a prominent lawyer and president of the Atlanta Historical So

4、ciety. Mitchell grew up listening to stories about old Atlanta, and the battles the Confederate Army had fought there during the American Civil War. At the age of fifteen, she wrote in her journal: If I were a boy, I would try for West Point, if I could make it, or well Id be a prize fighter anythin

5、g for the thrills. Mitchell graduated from the local Washington Seminary and started to study medicine at Smith College in 1918. She had adopted her mothers feminist leanings, which clashed with her fathers conservatism surroundings, she lived fully the Jazz age. in the new When Mitchells mother die

6、d in 1919, she returned to home to keep house for her father and brother. In 1922, she married Berrien Red Upshaw. The disastrous marriage was climaxed by spousal rape and was annulled 1924. Mitchell launched her career as a journalist under the name Peggy Mitchell, writing articles, interviews, ske

7、tches, and book reviews for the Atlanta Journal. Four years later, she resigned after an ankle injury. Her second husband, John Robert Marsh, an advertising manager, encouraged Mitchell in her writing aspirations. From 1926 to 1929, she wrote Gone with the Wind. The outcome, a thousand page novel, w

8、as published by the Macmillan Publishing Company in 1936. The retail 零售 price of the book was $3.00. Plot Summary Scarlett OHara is the belle of the county and knows it. She participates in a seemingly endless round of parties, dances and barbecues, always surrounded by boys with whom she appears to

9、 be playing an elaborate game. She receives the first shock of her young life when Ashley Wilkes, son of a neighboring plantation owner, announces his engagement to his cousin Melanie Hamilton. When she cannot convince Ashley to change his plan, she quickly throws herself at Charles Hamilton who is

10、shocked and thrilled to think that she would even consider him. Her plans are further disrupted when war breaks out, taking the young men away as soldiers, and Charles is among the first to die. She spends several years in Atlanta where she tries to enjoy life in her own way in spite of the disappro

11、val of other women of her class. Her life is further complicated by the presence of Rhett Butler who is known to be a privateer and opportunist and is not received in his own hometown of Savannah. Scarlett admits that she is fond of Rhett, but his candor and frank observations of her character infur

12、iate her whenever he is near. During the siege of Atlanta, she flees home to Tara along with her sister-in-law, Melanie, and the newborn baby Beau. There she learns to survive unspeakable hardships from work in the fields to shooting a Yankee soldier in defense of her home. Just when Scarlett thinks

13、 the war is over and she can finally put Tara to rights, a major crisis comes in the form of new taxes-levied deliberately by the new government administrators and scalawags to try to take Tara away from her. She returns to Atlanta, hoping to trick Rhett into marrying her so she will have access to

14、his money. When this fails, she steals her sisters fianc , who happens to have a store and a little money saved toward his wedding. She marries him and takes his savings to pay her taxes. Two weeks after the wedding, she borrows money from Rhett to buy a lumber mill. She manages the mill herself and

15、 runs sharp bargains with her lumber, stealing customers from other lumber mills and preying on the sympathies of Yankees to sell her own. As the political climate in Atlanta worsens, Scarletts careless behavior turns the people even more solidly against her. Finally, expectations are fulfilled and

16、Scarlett is attacked. The Ku Klux Klan, of which nearly all the men are a part, pursues vengeance on her behalf and her second husband, Frank is killed. Scarlett finally marries Rhett who believes he cant get her any other way, and the two have a tempestuous marriage in which Scarlett often fantasiz

17、es that Rhett is Ashley. Any chance of salvaging a relationship with Rhett is lost when their four-year old Bonnie dies in a fall from her pony. When Melanie dies, leaving Scarlett virtually friendless, and then Rhett leaves her, she returns again to Tara. The only thing she still has, and tomorrow

18、is another day. Characters Analysis Scarlett OHara She is The main character of the novel. She is the daughter of Gerald and Ellen OHara and is accustomed to getting her own way, whether with clothes or boys. She surrounds herself with young men, flirting mercilessly and is not above stealing the be

19、aux of other girls. She is willful, conniving, and yet far more intelligent than well-bred girls are supposed to be. Ashley Wilkes Husband to Melanie Hamilton and object of Scarletts life-long fantasy. He is a true member of the old south who feels unable to cope with the new world. Melanie Hamilton

20、 Wife to Ashley Wilkes and sister-in-law to Scarlett. Described by Rhett as the only truly kind person he has ever known. Unable to believe anything bad about people she loves. Rhett Butler Scarletts lifelong antagonist who is in love with her from the moment he sees her. He is an opportunist willin

21、g to take advantage of any situation, but not without kindness or generosity under the right conditions. Mammy Scarletts childhood nurse and life-long servant and companion. Mammy understands Scarlett better than Scarlett understands herself and is remarkably intuitive, but also protective and mothe

22、rly. Conclusion The mood of this novel is very sympathetic toward the south and the old customs, but avoids sentimentality. The narrator objectively acknowledges the changes brought by the war and the need to accept and live with change. Although she creates Scarlett as a rather unlovable character,

23、 a reader soon develops a love/hate sensation toward her. The historical passages are presented as objective and factual which makes them seem more accurate than they are at times. With its richly detailed evocation of a former age, its narrative engagement, its compelling portrait of the archetypal

24、 human instinct for survival, and its reflection of the contrariness of romantic dreams, Gone With the Wind continues to capture entertain, excite, and sometimes exasperate readers. As well as being a gripping novel of epic proportions, it is valuable as a historical document though one that must be carefully read. A vivid record of a segment of life in the ninet